Starting you own wordprocessing service can be a very lucrative way to
 enter the world of business computing.  You also have the advantage of
 working hours to suit yourself.  For instance you may wish only to work
 part time, perhaps for a few hours after your normal occupation or you
 could consider puting all your efforts in to building up a full time
 business.  At the end of the day the success of your business venture will
 depend on you and how much effort you are willing to apply to it.  Whether
 you own a œ2000 system or a humble Spectrum, the return on your investment
 will depend on how you use these machines to their best advantage.  It is
 the purpose of this section to show you how to do this.


 BASIC EQUIPMENT
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     The basic equipment you will need to operate a word processor are a
 computer, any model will do, and a printer to output your letters and
 documents.  You will also need a wordprocessing software package. 
 Supposing you owned a Sinclair Spectrum computer, you would need to have
 use of a printer with a reasonable quality typeface.  The range is
 considerable.  Always make sure that the printer you are considering buying
 is compatible with your computer.  Other factors you should take into
 account are:

     Does the printer posses the capability of near letter quality printing.
 Draft mode is fine for rough work but for business letters you will need
 good quality type.

     Some printers are faster than others.  In near letter quality mode for
 instance, a Citizen 120D prints at the rate of 24 characters per second
 (CPS), while the Panasonic KX P1124 gives 38 cps.  Generally, the more you
 are willing to pay for a printer the faster the rate of printing.

     The noise that some printers make has to be dampened in some office
 environments by enclosing them in a case.  If you are working from home you
 may find this noise very annoying if you have a lot of printing to do.
 Listening to the printer working before you buy it will save you a lot of
 headaches.

     You also need to consider the economic factors involved in running a
 printer for long periods of time.  The printer ribbon will only last so
 long, so you will need to keep a spare one handy all the time.  There could
 be nothing worse than being half way through an important document only to
 find that the ink is beginning to run out.  Apart from the visual effect on
 the paper you will not be able to continue working until you have a
 replacement ribbon.  Some printers eat ribbons while others seem
 indestructible.  Also some printer ribbons cost only a couple of pounds
 while others may cost several pounds.  Make sure that the printer you buy
 can support tractor feed as well as single sheet paper.  The tractor feed
 or continuous paper is ideal for making rough drafts on or for program
 listings, and can be bought quite cheaply while you will need single sheets
 for individual letters.

     If it is pratical try to see the printer working with your make of
 computer, before you buy it.  Take note of the speed, quality and noise of
 the printer.  If funds are limited you may find it advantageous to look
 around for a second hand printer.  But bear in mind that you will not have
 the guarantee or after sales service that a dealer can offer, so you need
 to be very sure of what you are getting for your money.

     At the other end of the scale are the 24 pin printers.  These are
 quite expensive, but they offer a high quality typeface and better speed.
 The Star LC and Epson LQ range of printers offer a very high quality finish
 to your work.  If you are considering using this type of printer you will
 need to pay somewhere in the region of œ300.  These days the name Amstrad
 is synonymous with wordprocessing.  They are currently dominating the
 market for this kind of package.  If you are contemplating buying a
 wordprocessor from scratch then these computers are worth considering.  The
 least exspensive models are the PCW models.  These packages have the
 advantage of being 'all in one', you get everything you need to start,
 including a printer, but please check with you dealer first.  As
 'dedicated' word processors they are cheap and easy to operate, but there
 are a couple of draw-backs to them.  Because they use a built in 3 inch
 disk drive they will not run files that you may need to work on if they are
 on a 3.5 inch disk.  The only way around this is to use the services of a
 computer firm which specialises in transferring data from one source to
 another.  I mention this because there always is the chance that a firm you
 are engaged in wordprocessing work for may hand you a file on a 3.5 inch
 disk that they wish you to process.  Most business computer users employ
 computer systems that use 3.5 inch disks or the older 5.25 inch disks.
 Whether or not you are faced with this situation will depend on the kind of
 services you are offering, and the kind of computer system you are working
 with.  The Amstrad PC 1640 and PC1512 range posses built in 3.5 inch disk
 drives and are very popular as entry into the PC world.  They will also run
 a greater range of software such as classic wordprocessors, Wordstar,
 Wordperfect, Sage and Lotus 123, Supercalc 3 spreadsheets.

     When buying a printer or software ensure that they are both compatible
 with each other, as some software may not drive some printers in the way
 you expect.  Generally, if the printer is known to use Epson ESC codes
 there should be no problem as this is the industry standard.  If you have
 any doubts about the suitability of a software package and printer, go to a
 computer shop and ask for a demonstration.  Most good shops will be glad to
 do this for you and those that won't will proberly sell you something not
 suitable for your needs anyway.

     The greater flexibility you have the more aspects of computing in the
 business sector you can take advantage of.  What ever system you buy must
 perform what you want it to do, so be careful in your selection and find
 out as much information as possible either by talking to experienced users
 or reading the reviews in the computer magazines.  If you decide to buy a
 PC then you will be compatible with the business world, but you will lose
 out on the vast range of entertainment available for computers such as the
 Spectrum or Commodore 64.  The Atari ST range of computers offer excellant
 flexibility and are ideal for setting up a computer service from home.  The
 PC emulator 'PC Ditto' claims to run most software that is written for the
 PC compatibles.  Such a system as this provides the user with enormous
 potential in the areas of wordprocessing, document proscessing, desktop
 publishing and spreedsheet analysis.  Here you have the advantage of
 compatibility with the majority of business software and the range of
 entertainment software that is available for the Atari ST and the IBM PC.
 The Commodore Amiga also posses this same flexibility.