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You can do anything you want to do. A home-based business may be your only source of income, or it can be a part-time supplement to other income. Most of the examples in this article are operated in the United States, but many of these ideas will work in other cultures with little or no adaptation. Wherever you are, start a home-based business now for your continued well-being.

Why Consider A Home-Based Business?

Everyone should have more than one way to make money. Young entrepreneurs ought to begin one or more home-based operations during high school or college. Young people often don’t realize the many pitfalls inherent in life. Everyone should begin a sideline business as soon as they see the value, even if they are middle-aged.

Upon taking her first job, the young employee probably enjoys getting out in the crowds and rush hour traffic. There is an element of excitement to every day. Soon she realizes, however, that time is being wasted. Wouldn’t it be a lot more fun to play golf or fish rather than waiting in traffic?

Getting to your office in your bare feet in about 10 seconds is one of the greatest benefits to the home-based entrepreneur lifestyle. You have time to do what you want whenever you wish.

The financial rewards can be great, too, but often these take time to build. That’s why you should begin as early as you can. There are no get-rich-quick secrets. Start a business doing something you like; if it’s something you are passionate about, that’s even better. A willingness to learn and perseverance are the necessary ingredients for success.

What’s Wrong With The Way Our Parents Did It

Almost from birth we are taught to work for somebody else. Get a job with a good company, work hard, be loyal, move up the employment ranks, and retire with a good pension.

Early in the Industrial Revolution that may have worked, but it has been many years since this has had any validity at all. All companies are not like Enron, but far too many will go out of business or terminate employees when the bottom-line profits begin to shrink.

There’s still another reason to begin your home-based business as soon as you can. Fortune magazine, in the March 17, 2003, edition, quotes a major accounting firm as admonishing baby-boomers counting on a great retirement package from their employers: "Don't take for granted what you have today."

Companies are beginning to change their pension plans and renege on promises made to workers years ago. Workers getting near retirement will likely see the money they expected for retirement cut in half. Certain benefits, like early retirement buyouts, may be eliminated altogether. This is frightening!

A sideline home-based business can be your safety net. It may also provide extra retirement income. By the time you retire from your regular work, your home business may be almost running itself, so you don’t have to work very hard to bring in extra income.

Home-Based Entrepreneurs Need A Support Group.

Family, friends, and acquaintances will often tell the aspiring entrepreneur he can’t possibly succeed on his own. They will say it’s impossible to get along without a “real job,” whatever THAT is.

This is why Napoleon Hill says you need a small group of people who think like you do to act as advisors. Every entrepreneur who wants to be successful should establish such a group.

These People Did It!

Notice the variety in these profiles of some currently operating home-based businesses throughout the U.S.:

Natural Impulse, http://www.naturalimpulse.com/aboutus.html, specializes in hand-made soaps and fragrances. A lady electrical engineer started this business in 1997. She began to get a stomach ache on the way to work every day and decided to work for herself. She and her husband, Phillip, sell their products at craft fairs and on the Internet. Their business is in Alabama.

Sharon Marzonie operates Cyan Rift, http://www.cyanrift.com/about_me.htm, from her home in Arizona. She makes exquisite one-of-a-kind beaded jewelry. If you have a personal request, she will try to fill it for you. Her materials come from the finest international sources. This business began in 2000.

Rustic Accents, http://www.rusticaccents.com/, is a home business in Tucson, AZ. Their specialties are Western, Southwestern, Wildlife, and Rodeo home decor items. They use rustic metals and hand-coiled, aged, barbed wire in their products.

Military and historic reenactment leather goods are made by Border States Leatherworks, http://www.borderstates.com/. This Arkansas home business counts Fort Myer, Arlington National Cemetery, and other historic sites among its clients. They will produce custom leather items to your specifications.

Since 1998, Paula Johnson has made and sold cloth dolls and doll-related patterns from her home in the Ozark Mountains. Paula’s Crow Mountain Doll House, http://www.paulasdollhouse.net/, sells worldwide. She will even teach you how to make dolls!

Recycled cards, ribbon, game boards, and other reject stuff go to make Patty O’Rourke’s collage products. Papor Products, http://www.papor.com/, is Patty’s company.

Believe it or not, Impressive Inscriptions, http://www.impressiveinscriptions.com/, is operated by Rosemarie and Rose Marie! It is really two separate home-based businesses in New Jersey. Impressive Inscriptions produces personalized bookmarks and custom prayer cards. See their “Ideas and Uses” page for an unbelievable number of ways to use bookmarks.

Majid, Inc., http://www.majidbags.com/main.htm, operates from Nags Head, NC. Their products include various handbags and travel bags. These items are unique because they are made from old woven fabric collected throughout the Middle East. Most were made and used by native nomadic people from these areas. You might consider them as recycled Persian or Oriental rugs.
By studying these examples, you should get one or two ideas that interest you. Investigate several of them thoroughly.

In today’s economic climate, no one should be without some income they can control. A home-based business is the best way to do this. Start one as soon as you can.

If you already are a home-based entrepreneur you, may want to consider adding a complementary business. Perhaps this report will help you find just the right one.

RESOURCES

Allen, Robert. “Multiple Streams of Income.” http://www.nightingale.com/, 1-800-323-5552—This set of six CDs (79.95) or audiotapes (69.95) from Nightingale

Conant makes the case for needing more than one stream of income and offers detailed information on ways to accomplish this.

A Home-Based Business Online (AHBBO), http://www.ahbbo.com/ideas.html—Elena Fawkner provides an extensive list of home-business ideas. If you want details for these, she also has a downloadable book for $19.95.

HomemadeInAmerica.com, http://www.homemadeinamerica.com/—This site offers a list of hundreds of operating home-based businesses in the U.S.

Article by Yank Elliott, IAHBE staff writer. Yank is a home-based entrepreneur and freelance business writer in Belhaven, North Carolina, USA. His Website is http://www.furriwhalesworld.com/. Contact Yank at globalbiz@furriwhalesworld.com.