A Legitimate Home Based Business

in Work and Money

Ready to move to the country, but scared that you'll never replace your city income? If you've been surfing the web for any amount of time, looking for a legitimate home based business, and been confused by some of the opportunities, please let me help you.

I've been working from home in the country, with an online business, since late 1995. It's been a journey and my business has seen many roads along the way. However it's always been legitimate business ventures and I can thankfully say that I've always been proud of my work at home job.

As the years have rolled by, and more people have found their way online, so have a number of business opportunities. And with that has come many scam artists.

Make no mistake here, the online scams are as slick as car salesmen and it's so easy to make an opportunity appear viable and lucrative on a computer screen. However when it comes down to the wire (once your money has been invested) all too often online want-to-be entrepreneurs are left with little but an inflated credit card bill. Those are not a legitimate home based business. My job is to ensure that such a thing doesn't happen to you.

Home Based Business Ideas

There are two ways this letter to you is going to go. First we'll cover working from home at a legitimate in-house business that includes interaction with the public or close personal contact with clientele. Next we'll cover working from home with a legitimate online business (also covered in other pages throughout the site).

Working from Home - In House Business

Love to cook? Love kids? Love to shop? Love people? You can put all or any of these personal traits of yours to work for you - doing something you love, while working from home, in your new home based business.

7 Reviewed Legitimate Home Based Business Ideas and Guides:

Run A Child Care Center - If you love children and know there's a need for child day care in your area, this could be a lucrative and satisfying home based business for you!

You can pick up some really good books at your local Chapters or online from Amazon that cover everything from getting startup funding, naming your daycare, setting your rates, menu planning and activities for children, plus all the business forms you'll need to get this business comfortably off the ground and into profits. Ideas and help here: Run A Child Care Center
Run A Home Based Bed and Breakfast - Getting away from it all seems to be on most people's mind, but when we get away we often find that we're in the same stresses, just in a different town.

As a result more and more people are looking for the comforts of home while on their vacation. Don't believe me? Bed and Breakfast businesses are now the fastest growing sector in the tourism industry.

If you've got a spare room in your home, you like meeting new people, and you're looking for an interesting, lucrative and fun home based business, this may be just the right opportunity for you.

Learn the ups and downs before you start though as you may have to invest a few dollars in room decor, advertising, accessibility, etc. before you begin to make any money.

You'll need a guide on running a bed and breakfast - including forms, business plans, as well as tips and tricks to market, promote and run your new home based business! Start here: Run A Home Based Bed and Breakfast
Run a Gift Basket Business - Love to Shop and Give Personalized Gifts? This could be a great business for you - at any time of year! You're not going to want to start this business cold either because there are a lot of ways to save money on the items in your baskets, plus ways to beef up the perceived value so that your customers will love giving your baskets to friends and family!

This home based business also how to sell gift baskets online, and the type of customers you want to attract - so they come back to you over and over again and bring their friends! Resource: Gift Basket Business from Home
Run A Catering Business from Your Country Home

This could be a great business for you if you like to cook and organize. But be careful - it could also be a money pit where you end up working long hours for very little pay.

You need to know what you're getting into before you start so you don't waste time waiting for the money to start rolling in. I've just reviewed this new guide that will give you the inside's edge from the start. You'll learn what is required to get your catering business off the ground on the right foot, how to cost out meals, what to charge for your unique menu ideas and how to attract your first clients. Also included are some very helpful resources on accounting, invoicing and record keeping.

If you're serious about this, don't wait, get the info before you decide if this is the right home based business for you. Here's the resource: How to Run A Catering Business from Your Country Home.
Caring for Seniors, Elders or the Aged in Your Home

September 2004's issue of Entrepreneur's Be Your Own Boss magazine projected that seniors are the fourth hottest market for a lucrative home based business.

The article stated that:

"In 2003, 35.8 million Americans were older than 65; this year, 36.1 million will be older than 65...In 2002, MarketResearch.com estimated U.S. consumers older than 65 had $713 billion in buying power. By 2007, their buying power is expected to increase to $974 billion."

And yet they're wildly under-served and we've no place to care for them on a grand scale.
This could be your ticket to the most rewarding and profitable home business right now.
Find out what it takes by grabbing the Elder Care Provider information kit. Home Business Guide to Caring for Seniors, Elders or the Aged.
Do you like to plan parties, social events, or business meetings? Is organization one of your strongest skills?

This lucrative and legitimate home based business may be just up your alley then!

Many years ago, while working at City Hall, this was one of my positions and it was both challenging and exciting. Back then, City Hall had the budget to keep staff on for party and event planning, but not all companies have that luxury - and they're happy to hand the task and the money over to a small business owner like you!

As people become more and more stressed about all they have to do, and corporations become more and more under-staffed, Event Planners become more and more in demand!

Of course you'll need to know the secrets of the profession and how to get your foot in the door before you venture out in this business. That's why I'm suggesting this report before you start - Become an Event Planner and Have Fun with Your Business!

Start Your Own Cleaning Business
If you know me personally you'll know that this type of a home based business isn't really up my alley. I just don't like being away from home enough to work elsewhere, meet with clients, assess rates and so on.

But I've had friends that ran their own cleaning business who barely ever left home. How? They hired staff to perform the work while they stayed home and ran the business.

Again, if you're planning on pulling something like this off, you should really arm yourself with some good advice and knowledge before you start. Remember my motto: "Learners are Earners!"

So I found this extensive info resource on running, organizing, marketing and managing your own cleaning business.

It also includes all the contracts, forms, examples and scales you'll need at start up, whether you want to work at it full time or part time. Click here: Start Your Own Cleaning Business

Other Legitimate Home Based Business Ideas

I hope one of the ideas above fit your personality and mandate, but if you're anything like me, you're happy to work alone, at your own pace and from the comfort of your home. If so, I urge you to consider starting an Internet business!

You know, the internet is still growing at an alarming rate. This means that the market for any site you own, product you sell or information you'd like to share could quickly have a worldwide audience.

It's easy to get started if you buy an established website on ebay. You can find a number of these sorted, sifted and listed for you on a few other pages of GoodByeCityLife.

Most of the listings in online home based business, offer the chance to jump right over the learning curve of how to create websites and head straight to the front of the class (to learn how to promote and grow your business).

To your success,

Laura Childs
Living the Dream
Life in the Country, Working from Home

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Finally, if you just need a little one-on-one consultation to get you started on the right path, don't hesitate to drop me a line here - contact Laura Childs.