Finding a Great Home Based Business

There are many reasons to make the decision to work from home. For many parents, it is the desire to spend more time with children and family. Even if you have the best quality child care available, there is no substitution for the love and care that you can provide as a parent. It is so rewarding to watch your child take those first few steps, speak those first words, and later on to be able to attend school events. For other people it is the flexibility of being in charge of your own schedule and earnings. For people with disabilities, the opportunity to work from home can allow you to be able to earn a living without the hindrance of commuting to a work place. And with today’s high gasoline prices, working from home makes more and more sense with the money that you will save by not having to commute.

Now that you have made the decision to work from home, how do you go about selecting a suitable and profitable home business? Here are some suggestions:

1) Telecommuting – You might already be working for a company and like your job. There are many jobs that can be done just as well from home such as bookkeeping and accounting, data entry, advertising, editing, and many others. Discuss with your manager the feasibility of being able to work from home for all or part of the work week.

2) Special knowledge and expertise – If you have special knowledge, experience, or talent, put this to work for you as you start a home based business. For example teachers can start a tutoring service. People talented and skilled in music, art or theater can give lessons out of their home or even start a small school or studio. If you are skilled in market research, accounting, advertising, human resources, website design, computer programming, or other business related areas, consider becoming a free lance consultant or starting your own advertising, accounting, internet marketing, or other business service.

3) Choose a service or product you are passionate about – When choosing a totally new business, be sure to choose something that you are truly passionate about. If you are passionate about ecology, choose a product or products that benefit the environment. As a Senior Regional Sales Director for AmeriPlan, the discount dental and medical benefits company, some of my best team members are those that are very passionate about wanting to help people save money on their health care.

4) Hobbies – If you have hobbies like making jewelry, sewing, writing, and various crafts, consider turning these into businesses.

5) Work at Home Jobs – While there are many legitimate work at home jobs, do investigate them thoroughly before signing up. Generally, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Beware of such schemes as envelope stuffing, mailing letters, and assembling products. In some cases they are just trying to get your money for the purchase of a kit, and then there is no real work behind this. From my own experience, filling out surveys is time consuming, and most turn out to be just contests. Filling out surveys is very unlikely to pay your bills.

As with any important decision, be sure to do your research when selecting a home based business. Read as much as you can about the company, and speak to people who have been successful in similar businesses. If you will be working for or representing a company, be sure to qualify this company. How long has the company been in business? What credentials does the company have? Are they members of any professional or industrial associations? In addition, learn all that you can about their products and services.