Legitimate Home Businesses - How To Find The Best Opportunity For You

What is it that differentiates a legitimate home business opportunity from the rest of the garbage out there, and how can you find the one that is clearly the best one for you?

Well, the answer is simple, but not blatantly obvious. The main reason that most people have a difficult time finding a top-tier home business opportunity is because most of what they stumble into nowadays doesn't possess the most important critical success factors that are absolutely necessary to insure the highest probability of success for the incoming entrepreneur.

I've spent the past six years trying out different home businesses. Some had good potential, most didn't. I can honestly say that the ones that did have potential but didn't work for me was because those particular businesses weren't a good fit for me personally.

So how can you spot a great (not good, but GREAT) home business opportunity for you?

Here are the nine critical success factors that I've found to be of prime importance to insure the highest probability of success in a home business for you:

1. Define Your Dream

This might sound silly, but it's absolutely the first step you should take before researching potential home business candidates. Why? Well, not articulating what it is you are going to be working for is, in my opinion, a waste of time. It can be as simple as "I want to work for 6 months and then vacation for one month" or "I want to earn $40,000 per month for the next 5 years and then sail around the world for 10 months" or "I want to create multiple streams of income, most of which are on auto-pilot, so that I can do whatever I want, whenever I want." Whatever it is, it's not silly - it's your dream! But without having a clear picture of what that dream is, most people tend not to be very successful in their businesses because the major motivating factor isn't there.

2. "Home Business" or "Work From Home?"

Most people don't realize that there is a humungous difference between the two. A legitimate home business opportunity will provide you with a program or system that enables you to build a business that does not require you to be anywhere outside of your home office to be successful. Work-from-home opportunities simply provide different "jobs" that enable you to earn income from home, typically paying on a batch-job basis (i.e., earn $20 for every 1,000 envelopes you stuff). Big difference here, so make sure your work-from-home program isn't cloaked as a home business opportunity.

3. Find a Mentor

This is one of the most important steps you'll ever take after getting a good grasp on what it is you're working toward. You should find someone who (a) you can trust, (b) has the expertise to guide you, coach you, and mentor you, (c) has already achieved the results you are seeking, (d) has a proven system that you can leverage to build a profitable business as quickly and efficiently as possible, (e) has a vested interest in your success (i.e., they get paid every time you do), and (f) has good duplication on his or her team - if others are also having success with this mentor, then ask for an introduction to a few of them.

4. Choose Top-Tier Products

This is where most home business opportunities fall short. There are many companies that promote larger-than-life income opportunities for a business that distributes products that are nothing more than a cover-up for a money game. In short, don't just look for products; look for products that you feel have value that is much greater than their price tags. Ask what percentage of products sold are retail versus to other business owners who joined the program. That's good proof you're dealing with great products.

5. Leverage A Turnkey System

Successful home business owners all have one thing in common: they leverage a system that has a proven, results-oriented track record. Look for a company that will be able to provide you with a system that you can easily and quickly plug into and not have to be out on your own with regard to lead generation. If you're directed to rely on approaching your friends and family, purchased leads or handing out flyers - just run as quickly as you can in the other direction! You need to have access to a turnkey system that will bring qualified leads to you. This is a very common weak link. What you're essentially after here is a system that eliminates 90-95% of the variables that cause most businesses to fail.

6. Find A Company With A Solid Foundation

If you're going to make a long term commitment to a successful home-based business, it's absolutely critical that the company you're relying on for your business has a solid foundation with respect to long term vision and overall business plans. One thing to look out for is if the company is based outside of the country, hiding from the scrutiny of the government. Search the Better Business Bureau for unsettled complaints. Compare the number of complaints to the company's competitors to give yourself a benchmark of the quality of this company. Obviously, every company has at least some complaints (we consumers don't speak much about the good, but we love to scream about the bad!). Simply do your due diligence and be careful!

7. Choose The Right Business Model

Let's face it, there are many ways to build a business, and if you choose one that will give you the highest probability of success, it will save you a lot of heartache and pain. My personal preference is to find a reputable direct sales company. I am not a fan of multi-level marketing (MLM) models primarily because they require you to recruit thousands of people before you can start collecting decent commission checks. The attrition is huge and the commissions are typically very small, which is why building a very large team is required. With a direct sales model, when you combine a high quality product that pays a substantial commission with a proven turnkey system, you're giving yourself optimal ingredients for success.

8. Training, Support and Professional Development

Point blank, you're going to need all three. There is going to be a learning curve with the products, the system, your marketing, and growing your business. You need real people who will provide you with good training to get you up and running quickly, support in all stages of the sales cycle, and development (both personal and professional). The benefits to your business with the right dose of these three components will catapult your business to where you need it to be.

9. Part Time or Full Time

During your planning stage, you'll need to assess whether you're going to build your business on a part-time basis while still working at your current "job" or business or if you're going to jump into it full time. This is needs to be entirely up to you based on your current financial situation and based on your goals and objectives. Do not, under any circumstances, get coaxed into going full time right out of the gates if it's going to put you in any financial distress. If the business opportunity you're looking into is urging you to go full time, just walk away. It's your business and you can do whatever you want to with it. Most of the time, starting off part time is the best option since it allows you to maintain the income stream you're currently used to and use that to finance your business in the beginning months until you develop an income stream from your home business that allows you to step away from your job and realize your dreams.

Final Thought

At the end of the day, trust your intuition. Your gut feeling can be one of your most trustworthy sources of information when it comes to choosing the right home business for you. I'm sure you know the adage, "If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't."

So define your dream, find the best home business opportunity out there, and I'll see you at the top!