Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Forums About Advertise Blog Network Contact Be An Author

Legitimate Home-Based Business: Finding a Needle in a Haystack?

Legitimate Home-Based Business: Finding a Needle in a Haystack?

Tired of working? Join the club! Millions of people just like you are tired of the daily grind, forced to work for someone else on a fixed schedule that doesn’t provide the flexibility needed to deal with life’s little surprises. A long commute, the hassle of finding good childcare, and measly benefits are all factors in many people’s growing dissatisfaction with their traditional 9-to-5 office jobs.

Fortunately, you don’t have to suffer in silence. If you have the courage to leave your job and start off on your own, many home-based business opportunities are available to you – if you know where to look. The trick is to sort through these myriad opportunities, sorting out the legitimate home-based business opportunities from the obvious frauds.

Once you start looking around for legitimate home-based business opportunities, you’ll discover that there are many individuals and companies offering to sell you their tips or fail-proof guides to opening a home-based business. Some are the real deal, offering invaluable advice that will put you well on the road to entrepreneurship, but unfortunately others are scams designed to make money – for them, not for you!

Here are five things that you should consider as you work to separate true, legitimate home-based business opportunities from the frauds.

Five Tips for Avoiding Frauds

First of all, stay away from any offer that seems too good to be true, because it probably is! Get-rich-quick schemes are almost always fraudulent. As anyone who has a successful, legitimate home-based business can tell you, success requires a lot of hard work and usually slow growth over time. Companies that offer an overnight solution are usually just out to get your hard-earned money.

Second, do some research about the company that is presenting the opportunity. Is a legal company that is officially registered with all the appropriate regulatory agencies? Have complaints been filed against it with the Better Business Bureau? Find the company’s contact information and make a phone call to try to find out whether it’s legitimate.

Third, find out what other people are saying about the business. Call and ask to speak with someone who has successful made a legitimate home-based business out of the opportunity being touted – or, better yet, ask to speak with several of them. Of course, the people the company puts you in touch with could be part of the fraud, so take extra measures to try to get true testimonials. Search for the company’s name in an Internet search engine and see whether you find praise or complaints.

Fourth, get as much information as you can about the product that the company actually sells. Many companies claim to offer informative books or videos, but they’re too often mere collections of facts that most people would consider to be common knowledge. Make sure you know what you’re getting before you share your payment information! If possible, request an excerpt of the product so that you can assure yourself of the quality and usefulness of what you’ll be purchasing.

Fifth, pay attention to what kind of payment the company accepts. In general, companies that have their own merchant accounts for accepting credit card payments are more established than those that use third-party providers such as PayPal. Ask for a copy of the company’s refund policy, so that you can return the product if you are dissatisfied with it for any reason.

Follow Your Passion

Once you’ve eliminated the obvious frauds, you should further narrow your list of legitimate home-based business opportunities by comparing and contrasting them with your personal interests and passions. Whatever excites you and makes you want to jump out of bed in the morning is exactly the type of thing that you should try to build your home-based business around. It’s not as difficult as it might seem!

Almost any personal interest can be made into a legitimate home-based business. For example, if you like cooking, you might want to start selling your home-baked goodies or begin catering for small events. If you have a green thumb, try selling your fresh, organic produce, or offer landscaping and gardening services within the local community. Writers, editors, and accountants all have myriad freelance opportunities available to them. If you enjoy working with children, you can even open a daycare center in your own home. Likewise, if you enjoy working with the elderly, consider offering in-home eldercare or other personal services.

Even though you’re creating a home-based business, don’t limit your vision to the local neighborhood. Today, given the power of the Internet, it is easier than ever before to reach a huge national or even international customer base from the comfort of your home office. It is now easy to find clients or buyers on the other side of the world, at the click of a button!

Set Yourself Up for Success

Once you’ve identified the type of legitimate home-based business that you want to pursue, make the requisite initial investment of time and money to set yourself up for success. Carefully consider what type of equipment and supplies you’ll need to be successful. Let your business put its best foot forward by getting all the right licenses and certifications, as well as a name, logo, letterhead, and other assets that will give your products and services credibility from the customer’s perspective.

In addition, set up separate bank accounts for your home-based business. If you’re going to accept credit cards, a practice that is highly recommended for most businesses, form an alliance with a reputable merchant account provider as early as possible.

You may be anxious to begin your business practices right away, but taking the time to do the necessary research and make some initial investments is the best way to make sure that your newly found business venture will be a success.





Legitimate HomeBased Business Finding a Needle in a Haystack - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Lax's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

Article Feedback
 Article Feedback No article feedback found.
  Leave Your Feedback
article feedback

Article Feedback
Richard Jefferies
For an online Car Loan Calculator and finance for a cheap car loan. Get approved on car loans or car finance in Australia with cheap bank car loans and finding a car finance broker. Commercial car loans including business car finance and car lease. Car Loan Calculator has information on finance companies and getting the right cheap car loan from banks at best car loan rates and a online car loan calculator for all finance in Australia. Get the best car finance with our help at Car Loan Calculator and Finance Ezi. - Visit Richard Jefferies's Website

David Barr
David Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website

Anne Barr
Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website

Casey Gollan
Casey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website

Kim Castle
With nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website

Jeff Foster
WebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas.  We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing
- Visit Jeff Foster's Website

David Acheson
David Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns.  David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website

Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website


To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us.

About The Author


Andy Lax
(Visit Andy's Website)

Andy Lax is a Bronze author on EvanCarmichael.com
About The Author

View Author Blog
Merchant Account Blog for Business Merchants - Sharing information on the payment processing field, providing insight to merchants who need to establish/manage a merchant account.
Merchant Account Blog for Business Merchants
View Author Blog

View Author Video
View Author Video

Free Downloads


Andy Lax's

Complete
List Of
Home-Based-Business
Articles

Name
Email
If you enjoyed this article, get Andy Lax's Complete List of Home-Based-Business Articles For FREE!

More Andy Lax
Legitimate HomeBased Business Finding a Needle in a Haystack
Top Ten HomeBased Businesses
Free Downloads


 
 
 


Evan Elite Authors
David Barr  
Stephanie Robey  
Joe Dager  
Evan Elite Authors

Become An Author
Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details.
Become An Author

Evan's Latest Video
Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media
Evan's Latest Video

Business Opportunities
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"

How to Start An Online Business

Click Here To Learn More
Business Opportunities



Evan's Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Evan`s Newsletter

Free Downloads
Power of Concentration Icon Power of Concentration
The Flowing Point Icon The Flowing Point
Definitions of Success Icon Definitions of Success
Innovative Thinking Icon Innovative Thinking
The Human Network Icon The Human Network
Free Downloads - Complete List

Entrepreneur Tools and Guides
Choose A PR Topic
Choose A PR Topic
Press Release Builder
 
Write The Press Release
Write The PR
Press Release Builder
 
Entrepreneur Tools and Guides

SEO For Africa
SEO For Africa
Hortance Umutoniwase Nyarugenge/Kigali, Rwanda,
Hortance Umutoniwase
Nyarugenge/Kigali, Rwanda
SEO For Africa

If I Were A Startup...
Brian Scudamore, $200k to $8 Mil in 5 years
Brian Scudamore
$200k to $8 Mil in 5 years
Erez Zevulunov, $150k to $504k in 2 years
Erez Zevulunov
$150k to $504k in 2 years
If I Were A Startup... - Complete List

Famous Entrepreneurs
Paul Orfalea, Kinko's
Paul Orfalea
Kinko's
Rachael Ray, Rachael Ray
Rachael Ray
Rachael Ray
Famous Entrepreneurs - Complete List

Entrepreneur Advice
David Allen, Getting Things Done
David Allen
Getting Things Done
Brad Feld, Venture Capitalist
Brad Feld
Venture Capitalist
Entrepreneur Advice - Complete List

Popular Articles
(Premium Authors)

     ROI vs Return on Relationships syndrome
By Michel Amour
     Effective Coaching and YOU
By Michel Amour
     Rolling with the punches or rolling out?
By Michel Amour

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

More Evan Carmichael
More Information