Whether your goal for your home based business is to generate a little extra income through part-time work, or to create a full-time job that pays all your living expenses, the first decision you make is the most critical:

What kind of business should I start?

You might begin answering this question by researching what kinds of home based businesses seem to be the most lucrative. Be cautious about believing everything you hear or read about what the "hottest" home based businesses are. Many times this information comes from people trying to sell you something to help you get started. In any case, the question is actually about more than money. Here's an approach that might help you decide:

Inventory your talents. What are you good at?
What is your prior educational or career background, and what skills have you developed along that way that can help you succeed in your home based business?

A small, start-up business faces stiff competition, and you must offer products/services to your customers that give them the most value for the money relative to other firms they could hire.



What talents do you have that give you a potential competitive advantage?

Inventory your interests. What do you enjoy doing?

Starting any business generally requires a great effort, and the ability to overcome challenges and obstacles.

If you are doing something you really enjoy, chances are you can deal with these challenges without becoming discouraged or frustrated.


A great example of this would be professional writers. Many would-be novelists go through months and even years of rejection before they sell their first manuscript. What keeps them going? They love to write!

Do a personality assessment. Are you outgoing or introverted?

Do you enjoy being around people all day or can you be happy working quietly by yourself on your computer?

Are you good at cold calling, even via e-mail? Just as employers try to find job candidates with a personality that fits the job requirements, you need to choose a business that matches up with yours.

Take a look at your finances. Just because you are starting a small, home based business doesn't mean it won't require a capital investment on your part.

It's unlikely you will be able to find an outside investor to contribute capital, unless it's from a friend or family member.

So you will be the one paying for the start-up costs, and funding the business until it achieves positive cash flow. You won't need to worry about paying for office or retail space, but there may be significant expenditures for marketing, website design, or perhaps even inventory.

Two effective strategies are to choose a business that generates immediate cash flow, or one that can be started on a shoestring budget and then scaled up as cash flow allows.

How much time do you have...and what is your typical daily schedule? If you are juggling a number of responsibilities at once—family, your current job, perhaps going to school, travel—you may not be able to block out the same number of hours each day for your home based business.

Some businesses can just "sit there" until you have time to get back to them, others require regular hours. For example, customers expect their phone calls or e-mails to be answered that same day, or at least within 24 hours. If you can't commit to being available, you may end up losing potential business.