The prior article in this series – “Home Business 101 – Are You Right For A Home Business?” – posed the question are YOU right for a home business? This article turns that question around and asks “is your home business RIGHT FOR YOU?”The question still gets back to you, but this time it matches you with a specific home business, not just any home business. Once you have a home business in mind, here are some questions you need to answer:Do you have enough PASSION for the product or service? – Enthusiasm, bordering on passion, for the product or service will be essential to carry you through the long tough times and sacrifices that starting a business requires. The only alternative is to be passionate about achieving your dream (your WHY), but while this may work if you are involved in a work from home job (telecommuting), it will fall short if you are in business to market and sell a product or service. How can you sell something you don’t believe in and feel strongly about?How much TIME does it require? – Be realistic. In the beginning this question could almost be “how much time do you have”, because it usually requires far more time to get a new business up and running than anyone who has not done it before can imagine. The key is to be realistic, and to schedule and prioritize your time.Do you have the SKILLS needed? – Think; Product or service knowledge – Sales (especially closing) – Marketing (on and off line) – Computer – Copyrighting – Social Skills (People skills) – Time Management. How will you market and sell the product and service – and yourself? How will you deliver the product and service, and get compensated. These questions will identify the skills you will need for this specific business. Note; do not give up your idea because you lack a certain skill. Any skill can be learned. As one of my mentors, Jim Rohn, used to say “Don’t wish it were easier – Wish you were better.”Do YOU use this product or service yourself? – Once again, how can you know enough about a product or service, or be enthusiastic enough, to promote and sell it, if you have not experienced it for yourself. I suppose some can do this, but I think the term “charlatan”, rather than “businessman”, often apples to these people.How will you be compensated? – Don’t confuse a work from home “job” (telecommuting) where you will get paid piecework or hourly, with a “business” where you only get paid commission if a sale is made or some specific action is taken by another person. For instance you think you will be paid for posting classified ads, only to find out you are only paid if someone purchases the advertised product, or for assembling some product only to find out you have to sell the product to make money. You may be very good at working for someone (a job) but not like, or be good at, marketing and selling.Is the business a legitimate business or job, or is it a scam or pyramid scheme? – Of course, if the product or service is yours this would not apply, but if not – HEADS UP! While most offers of a work at home job or business opportunity are legitimate, there an awful lot of “job” offers that are outright scams, and “business opportunities” that cross the line into pyramid schemes (illegal in just about every state). A lot of people have lost a lot of time and money, don’t let it be you. The last thing you would want to do is get mixed up in a scam or pyramid scheme and lose your life savings, your friends and your reputation. How can you tell the difference? That’s for another whole article, but here a few key considerations, and a tip to help you check out any offer. “Job” offers – beware of any “job” where you have to pay money up front in the form of a registration or application fee. In fact, my recommendation is “never pay money for a job, unless it’s to a local employment agency you can trust”. “Business opportunities”- let’s focus on Multi-Level (a/k/a Network) Marketing. Here the main problems are the realistic value of the product or service, and the emphasis on product sales versus recruiting others into the company. If you can buy an equivalent product or service locally for less money, you may sell the first one but you will not get repeat sales and residual income (which should be the real goal of a home business). And, if the company’s marketing efforts and compensation plan are slanted much more heavily towards recruiting others into the company, than they are on product sales, beware – that’s the line where it may become an illegal pyramid scheme.Tip – Check any “Job” offer or “Business Opportunity” with local and national Better Business Bureau, and your states Attorney General before committing time or money to the project.OK, if you’ve stuck with me this far, I know you feel YOU are right to work from home, and have identified a job or business that is right for you. Next step – look for the next Article in this series; “Home Business 101 – On-Line/Off-Line – Part Time/Full Time”.

So you want to start your own business at home. This, of course, is not an easy thing to do unless you know how to best go about it. If you know what you are doing, you can maximize your profit and create a business that will be very successful in the long run. Here are some valuable home business tips just for you.The first part to start a home business is to start with an idea. You want to have an idea for a business that you will enjoy. But you also want to make sure that people will want to pay for your services or goods that you provide. Consider if you would want to buy the product or service as a customer in order to decide if your idea will prove to be a useful business.Once you have your home business idea, you need to start business plans. Starting a small business plan is the best method for this. If you don’t know what a business plan is, it is a written description of your plans for the business, your expenses that you will have to spend money on and any other relevant information for the business. It will guide you through the process of getting set up and getting your home business started.When you have your plan, the next part is to spend some money. You have to buy the equipment and items that you will need in order to make your plans a success. These will vary in cost and number, depending on the particular type of business that you are opening from your home. Some people may have to buy nothing at all, while others may have to buy a lot of items and equipment.If you have to spend too much money to start a home business operations, then you can get some extra funding by applying for a small business loan if you qualify. Of course, this loan will require the presentation of your business plan and some collateral, but if you can do this then you can get the money that you will need in order to start a home business.After you get the money and get all ready with whatever supplies you need, the next step is marketing. You have to let people know that your business is up and running in order to make money. This may take some additional money if you decide to buy an ad. Of course, there are free methods as well for getting the word out there that you can take advantage of in order to keep your costs at a minimum. The most common of these is through social networking.When you want to make money at home, home business plans. These tips will guide you through the process so that you can get everything done that you need to do in order to get your at home business up and running. With this article, you can start making money at home.