Is a home equity loan a good idea for financing my new business?

I am a web developer and am thinking about quitting my day job and starting my own company. I've got some clients lined up already but need some financing to pay for startup costs such as equipment, supplies, and my office lease. Dipping into personal savings is not an option since there isn't much there. :-) We've got a good amount of home equity. Would a home equity loan be my best option for getting the ball rolling on my business?

Thanks for the suggestions so far - much appreciated. Forgot to mention a few things:

1 - I'm set up as an LLC
2 - Office "lease" is month-to-month and I will take over my current employer's payments of (a whopping) $150/month
3 - Two small kids at our small house so the cheap office is better than a home office at this point. :-)

You have one comment in here that really caught my eye. It says "we've" got a lot of equity built up. Based on we being a wife or partner make sure that your wife is ok with the home equity loan first and foremost. If she is at all hesitant, run away. You are partners and you never want her saying "see, I told you not to take out the loan.". Based on what you are trying to start and having some clients already lined up, I would recommend you start doing some of your work in the evenings and on weekends. You can work from a home office, even if it is just a computer on your kitchen table. You can meet with your clients at starbucks, you can buy equipment and supplies on a credit card (find one with no interest for 6 months to help you finance) and stay away from an office lease until you absolutely have to get one. Think about the entire cost of the lease vs the monthly. If you sign a 12 month lease for $2,000 a month you have just committed $24,000 to your new idea. You should not have a lot of start up expenses in this type of business. Try to do it on current income and some short term borrowings. Think about your home and your retirement account as retirement investments.

presuming you cannot get a small business loan, it sounds OK to me. I would try and set up a corporation and get a loan to the corporation first, so your home can be protected.

I think so, because at home you can be fredoom for do all that you want.