If you have a burning desire to work from home you are not alone. I joined the almost 4 million Americans who successful make a living working home based businesses about a year ago. It was literally overwhelming to look at the endless possibilities in the home based business arena. To make matters worse 99.9% of the folks you are going to run into will surely try to sell you on their “amazing” opportunity. Choose wisely my friends. Over 95% of home based entrepreneurs fail. I believe this is because they jump into a business that does not fit them. Read this article to get started.If you are looking for specific ideas, I have hundreds listed in some of my other articles. In this article I am going to stick with a critical overview of the five basic structures of business that cover about 99 percent of home based businesses. By choosing a category to look into, you can narrow your search and hopefully start to hone into what is going to work for you.The question to ask is not how good an opportunity looks, but does it really fit you? Does it fit your time? Does it fit your skills? Does it fit your passions? Does it fit you realistic investment money and needed income? You must put on your critical thinking hat and look at the process as a type of reverse job interview. There are over 2,700 MLMs currently n the US and over 10,000 home based franchises, affiliate opportunities, and other home based businesses. Anyone can find a business that will make them a decent living from home- if they do their due diligence to find a truly “good fit!”Below are the 5 main categories that home-based businesses fall under. I have listed them with the main pros and cons of each structure. 1) Affiliate Marketing Pros: Good income potential: Previous proven and somewhat branded productsCons: Some have little to no ongoing training or mentorship: Affiliate Marketing is just that “marketing”2) Home Based Franchise Pros: Franchises usually have very well-developed products, services, and marketing plans: Many leave a lot of room for individuals to run their business in the way they choose to: Some provide comprehensive trainingCons: Start-up cost for franchises are significantly high than other forms of business: Many franchises require a set of specialized skills to run effectively3) MLM (network Marketer) Pros: Compared to other forms of business MLMs have a low cost to join: They have very flexible hours: Almost all have a pre-existing plan to followCons: Most MLMs have ongoing financial commitments: Only about 1% of folks in MLMs make a living in the industry: It normally takes several months to build a large enough down-line to see a significant ongoing cash flow: Out of the more than 10,000 MLMs that have been created over the last 60 years only 50 have lived to see their 10 year anniversaries4) Online Business (all other forms can be worked online) Pros: Working online provides an unlimited income opportunity: Flexible hours: Can be easily worked around current employment in needed: Fits almost any nicheCons: 97% of folks who attempt to make a living fail because of a lack of ongoing training and mentorship: There are specific skills and knowledge that must be learned to make money online5) Unique Original Ideas Pros: Started a business from scratch can be a very personally rewarded experience: If a new business is created, marketed, and branded it can create significant wealth for the ownerCons: There are many skills needed to successful run a business as a startup: There can be large startup costs: Many underestimate the time commitment needed to get a new business off the ground
Take a good look at the pros and cons of the different structures. I have successful owned and operated a number of businesses over the years; however, it was honestly an affiliate that allowed me make enough money to quite my “day job” and work completely from my home office. That being said, I know many folks who successfully run home based businesses. Many work in the MLM industry, own franchises, and some have started their businesses from scratch.