Key Questions To Ask Yourself

• Why do you want a home business? To do what you love? Improve your lifestyle/family life/location? Launch a big business? Lower the cost of being in business? To make ends meet? To get away from a job you hate? The clearer the reasons, the more likely you are to achieve your goal.

• Do you intend to work full or part-time? Starting part-time is usually safer, but can the business be done in the hours you have available?

• Do you want to stay with the work you know, so you'll experience less of a learning curve and have existing contacts? If there is no market for you in your own field or industry, is there a field that needs your skills?

• Do you need a change or want to do something more enjoyable?

• Don't end up like the person who said: "I heard could earn a good living in this business and I do, but I sit my desk all day, and I hate it. So now I'm looking for something I'll enjoy doing." Motivation is the key to persistence, and persistence is the key to success.

Indications To Buy A Business

(Franchise, Business Opportunity, Direct Sales)

• You prefer guidelines already established to creating something from scratch on your own.

• You prefer a recipe or blueprint to making up one of your own.

• Your primary objective for being in business is to produce an income.

• You have no problems following policies developed by others.

• You prefer to do something proven rather than start something new.

• You prefer to turning  to others in time of stress instead of keeping things to yourself.

• You prefer working within a system to being completely independent.

• You prefer to follow trends rather than set them.

Factors To Consider When Choosing A Business

• How much  you like to work

• Income potential

• Ease of entry

• Market demand for what you offer

• Your existing know-how, contacts and reputation

• Recession resistance

• Start-up costs and overhead

• Long-range security

• Competition

• Hours of work/stress level

• Suitability to your personality

Your Potential Customers - What People Will Pay For

• Who needs what you will offer?

• Talk with existing and potential customers. What problems can you address? What are people complaining about? Make  a list. From whom, when, what, where do they buy now? Listen and watch for reactions.

• Test your product or service through mailings, seminars, exhibits or prototypes.

• Can your current employer become your first customer? Almost 1 in 2 businesses do.

• Can customers or clients from your current work place or business ethically become yours?

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