What to Look for in a Home Based Business Opportunity

When you were younger, did you ever dream about having your own home business? Were you sidetracked somewhere along the way and now find yourself caught in the 40-40-40 rut?

40-40-40 Plan (Rut)

40 minutes going to and from work
40 hours of work per week
40 years of life spent working slaving away for someone else?

When things get unfairly tough at work, do you still dream about your own home business – what you would do, how you would run your own home business, how you would treat your employees, what kind of money you would make, what product you would sell? Then when you decide to make a change in your life, do you look for another 40-40-40 job, putting your dream of your own home business on the back burner again for more of the same?

Do you know the end results of the 40-40-40 plan?

1% are wealthy enough to retire in comfort
3% are barely able to survive
27% are dead
69% are dead broke

Do you want to be in the top 1% that is willing to do something about it now, before it is too late? Being a former Human Resource Manager, I knew these statistics all too well, and I decided to take preventative measures.

Since you are still reading this article, I am going to assume you are looking for a change, moreover, a change as quickly as possible. So, let me share some of the wisdom I have gleaned from looking for a home business opportunity.

The two major focal points when looking for a home business opportunity are ones that will:

· optimize your efforts and time
· produce optimal financial rewards

Below are seven simple criteria to consider when looking for a home business opportunity:

1. Look for a business opportunity that offers a product or service that is, or will be, used daily by every household and/or business...

Think about products or services in your house that probably everyone around the globe uses on a daily basis. For example, services such as utilities, communication, appliances, etc., or products such as shoes, clothing, soap, etc.

Now think bigger – a product or service used on a daily basis AND that would represent a paradigm shift. For example, a paradigm shift was created in global communication when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Before 1885, no one had a telephone, nor had they ever heard the word "telephone". Today, how many people do you know that do not have a telephone or cell phone?

Another paradigm shift was created when the first flight was made by the Wright Brothers in 1903. Today, man has already stood on the moon. Make yourself a list of products or services in your house that you can research to consider for a business opportunity.

2. Search for a home business opportunity that offers a product or service that has a global market...

It's a small world. Plain old common sense would tell you that a home business opportunity with a product or service that has a global market would produce warp speed revenue when compared to one that is only within a local, regional, or national area. For example, the revenue produced from Microsoft with a global market is light years greater than that of a local shoe repair shop.

In addition, as you research this global home business opportunity, you will want to make sure that you are not required to stock products. It is time consuming to order products, receive and send out the products, manage backlogs, etc., not to mention the additional costs out of your pocket for shipping and mailing. You also encounter product changes or upgrades that makes your stock obsolete. So, avoid these types of home business opportunities like the plague.

3. An absolute must! Find a home business opportunity that incorporates leverage in its pay plan...

A business opportunity that incorporates leverage in its pay plan provides the best of both worlds. Leverage is a relatively simple concept. The best example is probably Ray Kroc and McDonald's. Ray Kroc set up franchises for McDonald's that agreed to pay him 3% of their profits.

In essence, McDonald's sits back and collects 3% of the profits resulting from others exerting their time and their efforts. Let's say, just for discussion purposes, that Ray Kroc sold 100 franchises and each produced profits of $50,000 that year. 3% would have produced $150,000 for Ray Kroc, yet he personally exerted no effort or time himself. What he did do though was brilliant, as he applied leverage by selling franchises, and became quite a wealthy man as a result.

Leveraging your home business will minimize your time and effort while maximizing your financial rewards. In a relatively short period of time, your home business will take on a life of its own, and you will be on the fast track to healthy wealth.

To find a home business opportunity that will rocket you into financial freedom, the company should incorporate leverage, not only in their business plan, but also in their financial rewards, preferably on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis – one of which should be residual. Residual is important because you want some form of steady income that you can depend on.

4. Search for a home business opportunity with a company that has live 24/7 support available...

Perhaps you have experienced the nightmare of attempting to make an automated payment where you could not figure out which button to push next, or what they meant by their selection choices, and you were unable to talk to a real person to get your question answered. The frustration even compounds when there is a deadline involved for a continuation of service.

Repeat customers comprise 75% of businesses, and satisfied customers will be the main reason for their repeat business with you and your product or service. Even in this automated society, the person-to-person contact is preferred, at least by the customer. Therefore, your success is dependent upon a home business opportunity with a company that has live, warm bodied live support 24/7 – whether it is support you may need, or support your customer may need.

Another important aspect of a home business opportunity with a company that offers live support 24/7, is the global perspective. What is morning for you may be the next day for someone else on the other side of the globe. To be honest, I am hard pressed to think of an international company with live personal support. Locally, they are even hard to find! So, when you locate a global home business with a personal touch, you have found a true gold nugget.

5. Seek a home business opportunity with a company that has a proven success record...

A lot of people, and a lot of companies offering their business opportunity, will tell you anything they think YOU want to hear in order to separate you from your money. When you talk to someone about a home business opportunity – turn the tables. You interview them.

Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions like what they are making on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis with their home business. Ask them how long they have been running their own home business. Find out how many hours a day, week, or month they spend working their business. Ask them to give you examples of how they market their home business. Especially important is to ask if they have to spend additional money for items such as business cards, advertising tools, etc.

An example of a company with a proven success record is Xerox. Although Xerox is not a home business, it has a proven success record. In fact, they were so successful that their name is not only an icon, but the name "Xerox" is synonymous with the word "copy".

6. Look for a home business opportunity with a company that incorporates training from experts and other professionals...

The majority of people on the Internet do not know how to harness the power of the Internet and turn it into wealth machine for themselves. Most people do not know how to market a home business. Therefore, a home business opportunity with a company that incorporates professional, expert training, taking you from the basics thru the advanced stages of a marketing system, including how to use software programs, marketing tools, etc., is a virtual gold mine.

Since the majority of people on the Internet are not savvy with how to harness its power, a home business opportunity with a company that incorporates professional expert training is a definite requisite for success.

7. Look for a home business opportunity where the company works as a Team.

We all have our own weaknesses and strengths. We all like to have periods of "fun" when we work. When you have a business opportunity where the company works as a team, then your weakness may be a team member's strength. For example, you may be detail oriented and have a harder time conceptualizing or seeing the whole picture. However, someone on your team may be the opposite. Combining your strengths will optimize your productivity.

In addition, we all have our "good" days and our "bad" days. Have you ever been around a negative person for any length of time? They pull you down too! If you have your own home business, you need to be upbeat and project a positive outlook at all times. So, when we have one of our "bad" days, it is always helpful to have someone from the team help to re-focus on the positive. Then when all are sitting around on the beach somewhere sharing war stories and battle wounds, everyone will have a good laugh.

Well, those are my nuggets of wisdom when looking for a home business opportunity. If you would like to minimize your search time and discover a home business opportunity that incorporates all 7 criteria, I can offer you one final nugget -- simply go to: http://members.shaw.ca/sportxperience/deecapture.html

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Dee Scrip is a well known and respected published expert author of numerous articles on Home Business, Business Opportunities, Fundraising, VoIP, VoIP Security, as well as other related VoIP issues. Other articles can be found at http://www.free-pc-phone.com