In order for your business to operate, you must be able to communicate within your business environment.  You must be able to exchange information with your employees and contractors, with your vendors and most importantly with your customers.  Depending upon the nature of your business, you may communicate face to face, by phone, by email, by regular mail, through a website, or on a blog.

You need a website.  Your website may run the range from a mere electronic brochure to the entirety of your business.  As your business grows and becomes more complicated, you may need to move to a custom design.  However, you must maintain control over this vital component of your business.  No matter how complex a service or subject may be, whether you are talking legal matters or computer programming, you must know enough about the subject to make key decisions.

You need a phone.  This may be a land based line, a cell phone or a VOIP (Internet).  Consider keeping all communications with a single provider: Email, phone and web hosting.  This reduces the number of your vendors and avoids finger pointing when one part of your communication system does not work with another.