Are you thinking about working from home and need some home business ideas? Here is a list of ideas to help you start your thought process.

CREATIVE: Cake/candy making or decorating – DJ – seamstress – music teacher – greeting card design – web design – writing – photographer – event planner – scrapbook making – growing vegetables – pet grooming – landscaping
Creative home business ideas require an artistic mind with an eye for detail. Most of these ideas can be learned through practice and more information can be obtained from the internet, library or local vocational colleges.

Although local laws do vary, so you should check with your local secretary of state, most of these home business ideas do not require licensing.

PROFESSIONAL: CPA/Tax advisor – massage therapy – counseling – doula – childcare – bed and breakfast
Professional home business ideas for the most part will require a special education and local licensing from state agencies. These business opportunities will tend to be more lucrative though because of the education required to perform them. It is recommended that you seek out legal counsel to ensure that you have all the proper permissions to limit liability.

LABOR: auto repair – antique repair and sales – small engine repair – personal assistant /shopper – flea market booths – taking online surveys – online trading – housekeeping – handyman services – data entry – catering
Labor home business ideas are the jobs that require a little more work than skill, although skill is required of any valuable service. Some of these ideas require specialized knowledge or experience. Most people cannot simple pick up a wrench and start fixing an engine without previous experience doing so. Some may require a license or certification from the state. Some of them a person can just put forth some effort and take off doing.

No matter what home business idea you decide upon, you need to develop a plan, invest some money to get some equipment, to meet state requirements, get an education, and probably some basic advertising material (i.e. business cards and fliers). All of the above home business ideas will require effort. To develop business you will need to talk to all of your friends and family to let them know you are in business and ask for referrals. After you have done that, you will likely need to market and sell your service or product to the general public if you want to keep income coming in. If you are not working, you are not making any money. You will want to make sure that you keep detailed records of all income and expenses for tax reporting purposes. And make sure you check to see if you will need special insurance for liability coverage.

There is one more home business idea that is worth mentioning. It has been saved for the last because it is different than the afore mentioned opportunities. Network marketing, also known as multi-level marketing, affiliate marketing and online marketing are unique home business opportunities that can offer a few added benefits.

Similar to ‘traditional’ home based businesses, a person starting one of these marketing businesses will need to have a plan, get a little bit of education, put forth a little or a lot of effort depending on how successful you want to be, invest some money to get started, market and sell your product or service to your family, friends and then the general public. However where network and affiliate marketing differ from a ‘traditional’ home business idea in that over time as you build a base of clients and build a team of other people needing to work from their homes, your income becomes less dependent on your efforts and can actually start growing exponentially without much work on your part. The key, with any MLM type of business, is to learn, follow and teach a duplicable system and then you will start to make a percentage off of the efforts of those that you teach how to make money from home.

There is a lot of benefits to working from home. Tax benefits, lower overhead costs, freedom of time (to some extent) and flexibility. Whatever home business idea you decide to choose, make sure you take the time to look into what you need to have to do it properly. Many people rush into starting a business and end up costing them much more than they could ever dream of making from fines, lawsuits and penalties. Legal fees and court costs from lawsuits or even criminal charges if you do not know what laws apply to your particular home business can bankrupt most home business owners.

I hope that this article has helped you in your quest of fulfilling your dream of working from home and building the success and freedom that you are dreaming of. Good luck and much success!

Every successful dish starts out as a trusted recipe, if the recipe is followed, the dish is successful every time. It is almost impossible to determine the amount of money lost through small business failures during the last five years. In 2009, the Kauffman Foundation estimated the start-up cost of a small business at $30,000, while the US Small Business Association estimated the start-up cost of a home based micro business at $1,000 to $5,000. In 2013, approximately 28 million small businesses in the USA. Assuming a one to one ratio of success and failures, it is clear that US entrepreneurs loose an enormous amount of money to failed businesses. If there was a recipe for a success in business, it would include outstanding customer service, strategic partner selections, strong processes, effective marketing and monitoring.

Outstanding customer service: Small business owners must be mindful that customers have the right of choice and a wide range of options from which to choose. Therefore, outstanding customer service must be both a defining principle and a clearly defined goal. Satisfied customers are your best referral and advertising tools.

Strategic partner selections: No one succeeds alone, the relationships we form are critical to our success. Whether business partners, team members, referral sources or key vendors, entrepreneurs need to be deliberate and strategic about these relationships. All of these relationships have the potential to affect customer service and profits.

Strong Processes: A good business process cuts across many, areas of business operation. Therefore, it creates efficiency, lowers costs and improves customer service. Business operations are impacted by people, technology and, processes; with processes working as the glue that holds the people involved and the technology applied, together.

Effective marketing: Understanding the difference between being a business owner and a technician is critical to success. A business owner’s time is better spent working on the business. But most entrepreneurs cannot afford to relinquish all technical responsibilities. A workable solution is for small business owners to set aside at least 30 percent of their time to work on marketing and monitoring. Marketing can impact current and future product and service offerings, it requires interaction with existing and would-be customers, improve customer retention and loyalty and add to profits. Monitoring is equally important as there is no other way by which to measure business goals and make timely adjustments which can result in minimizing losses in customers and profits.