There is a lot of argument concerning what the best home based businesses really are. The fact is there are people making tons of money from home doing thousands of different things and following countless opportunities. The reason that over 97% of people fail at working from home is because most folks jump into the first reasonable thing that’s put in front of them without careful thought. Just because a system worked for someone else does not mean it is right for you. There are many skills, and environmental factors that must be considered.In part 2 of this article series we are going to look at some of the main home based business structures and the pros and cons of each one. This will give you some more guidance and get you closer to making the right decision to bring you home based success!In part one of my three article series titled Best Rated Home Base Businesses I discussed the four main personal considerations when analyzing a home base business opportunity. If you have not reviewed that article I would encourage you to do so. The next step is going to be to consider the different structures of home based businesses and likely pros and cons of each.The 5 Main Categories of Home-based Businesses 1) MLM (network Marketer) Pros: Low cost to join most MLMs, very flexible hours, pre-existing plan to followCons: Most MLM opportunities involve selling to folks you know, there is usually some ongoing financial commitment involved, to make money in MLM marketing you must build a team which can take months of hard work in most cases2) Home Based Franchise Pros: Franchises have a previously developed product or service, many allow an individual to input their own creativity and personal touch when running the business, most opportunities provide some kind of training and plan to followCons: Start-up cost for most safe franchises are high, many take a set of specialized skills to run3) Affiliate Marketing Pros: Many have a good income potential, there is a previously branded product or serviceCons: Many affiliate marketing opportunities come with little training or mentorship, “marketing” is the key skill necessary to succeed4) Online Business Pros: There can be major income opportunity online, very flexible hours, this is a type of business that most people can do around their current employment until they can afford to quite their jobCons: There are specific skills needed to be successful online, 97% of all online endeavors fail do to a lack of knowledge on the part of the entrepreneur5) Following Your Own Idea Pros: This can be the most rewarding personal experience; if one can brand their own product or service they can create substantial wealthCons: Most folks underestimate how much time, money, and work it is to get a “good idea” off the ground, there are many skills necessary to run a successful, unique home based businessI would encourage anyone looking into working from home to thoroughly look at the different structures of home based businesses and the pros and cons of each. To fail at working from home can be costly. Many invest countless dollars and time to eventually find themselves facing foreclosure and bankruptcy. I would encourage anyone who has a serious desire to work from home to take the time to consider all the possible options, talk to folks who are actually doing it, and consider the day to day work involved before making any decisions. In part 3 of this article series I will discuss some of the specific home-base businesses that you might want to consider.

If you come across anyone who tells you that a J-O-B is a negative thing, saying words such as “Just over Broke” or “A Job”, it is always best to thank them for their opinion and move on from them. While we can all agree that you will never get rich as an employee (well, maybe with the exception of an employee in a company that gives you stock/shares), we can also agree that we need to have income coming in as much as possible. We know that if time freedom is high on your list, you will never get that as an employee. Unless you are the owner of the company. But still, you need income coming in, even if it means getting it from a day job.There is nothing wrong with having a day job.Most of us know that there are negatives and positives when it comes to having a day job. The negatives are that you will have to commute, trade your time for dollars, endure psychological and physiological stress, office politics, after-tax income and so on. However, there are positives as to why you should keep your day job (within reason) especially if you’re still running a home-based business.The truth is, we all have to bring in money. It doesn’t matter whether you are an employee, a business owner, network marketer, songwriter, real estate broker, doctor – whatever. There is a saying that money isn’t everything in this world, but it sure does come close to oxygen. Let’s face it. Money isn’t everything, but it is important.Anyone who says “I don’t need the money” or “I don’t do it for the money” is actually lying to themselves and to others. If they do not need the money, then why are they still working at their jobs? If they don’t need the money and they love their jobs, why not work for free? Now, I can hear a lot of people tell me “that’s not fair, you have to be compensated for what you do.” Ahhh. So, that means money still is important. Most of the answers people would give are “I’ve got to pay the bills” or “I’ve got to take care of the IRS or CRA or creditors” and so forth.I’m guilty of this too, so I’m not pointing fingers. But it’s important to be aware of this. We all have to bring in money, and I mean legally. Whether that be a job or a business (that serves the world and helps people, of course).Most people are not cut out for entrepreneurship and that’s totally fine. But for those of us who have the entrepreneurial bug bite, the first important matter is to always remain grounded while remaining a visionary.When I mean remaining grounded, I mean being responsible. Having a home-based business and thinking that you will grow rich if you do it full time, does not give you the excuse to leave your day job when you have a massive amount of bills to pay. Even Bill Gates and Sylvester Stallone had to bring in some sort of income while they were obsessed with making their dreams come true.For those of us who are not familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy, Maslow states that we must always satisfy our basic needs. Food, Shelter, Water, Clothing, etc. If you are not currently getting that from your home-based business, you need to bring in income. Even if it means bringing it from a job.There is nothing wrong with a job (unless the job is killing you and dangerously leading your stressful life to a cancerous result). Although you have to trade time for dollars, you are getting dollars and that’s a fact. You need to focus on your survival needs first and then build towards your thriving life.Anyone who puts down jobs either had money handed down to them, or they had forgotten where they came from. These are the people who do not respect life in general and it won’t be long before their table of success turns on them. Instead of putting down jobs, or people with jobs, they should inspire people and encourage people to go for their dreams. Not FORCE them.David Foster was flat broke once. Tony Robbins, Dr. Joe Vitale, Sanjay Burman, Loreena McKennett, Gordon Ramsay, the late Steve Jobs – they all started out with humble beginnings. But they never forgot where they came from. They worked hard and smart, and they never forgot that.We all are brothers and sisters on this planet. The only thing is that not everyone has the same energy amongst each other.If you want to build a huge home-based business and are starting out from scratch, here are some tips you can try:

If you are a daredevil and totally believe you can make it, go for it and take risks – but make sure the risks are the kind that you learn from and not die from.
If you have a full time job, keep it. But schedule your home based business around it, so that you have a balance. You still have to bring in money, especially if you need to finance your business. Unless you are 100% certain that you can pay it back, refrain from going for a bank loan.
If you don’t like your full time job and it is massively stressful (like office politics, violence, etc.), make sure you have enough in the bank to sustain yourself for a couple of months while you work on your home based business.
You can also apply to another full time job that you like, at least to keep yourself afloat. Note: Make sure it is a job that you can do and not one that you’re low on expertise for. You’ll find that you’ll have to spend a huge amount of time learning the skills from home if it does not help your home-based business. Otherwise, perhaps find something positive about it. Maybe the skills could be used in your home based business.
Join networking groups and promote your business. It doesn’t matter whether it is network marketing, direct selling, real estate, franchises, whatever. Just continually promote and network. Get in the habit of meeting people and having conversations.
If you have the time, join a Mastermind group. Find one that works best for you and that you can contribute and learn from.
Be aware of overtime hours from your job. If you’re going to get plenty of these, you might want to consider a home-based network marketing business. When you sponsor people, you can train them once a week or month and they can prospect while you work overtime at your full time job.
Master the Art of Automation – put your business on the internet, Master it and if you got it working, it will work on Autopilot for a certain period of time. Imagine making more money while you are at your full time job, or when you are asleep. Network Marketing also works beautifully with Internet Marketing.
Make sure to pay off your credit cards or other creditors. If you are already in the danger zone, consider credit counselling (don’t be embarrassed; we’re seeing a huge worldwide credit crisis more than ever in human history. The important thing is that you learn from your mistakes).
If you are severely burnt out, make sure you have enough reserves for a couple of months, so that you can resign from your job. Take time to relax, rejuvenate, read books on how to build your business or self-improvement. Go to a baseball/basketball game or even musical theatre. A trip to the great outdoors – whatever is a great meditation for you.
Consider focusing on your passions, even if life is going chaotic and crazy. Know that when you can find time to do what is considered a meditational moment for you, you will balance out your life.
Look at your job positively. You could take whatever skills and experience you’ve learned on the job into your home based business. For example, I work as a web designer and front end developer as a contractor for several clients, even though my business is in building residual income and health consultation for others. But it is through the web designer/front end developer jobs that I learned how to put together this website and make it dynamic. I would have never learned about the technology without it. So jobs are important and are still great income sources. There is also nothing wrong with loving your job either. I know some successful entrepreneurs who sometimes miss their old full time employment and wished there was a way to have both at the same time. If you enjoy your job, be proud of it. But if you can, build a home based business on the side so that you have a cushion when the economy changes again.We could spend a whole article on this, but the important thing to remember is that you must keep the money coming in, whether it is by your job, by residual income or passive income. Residual and Passive income is always best, but if you’re not getting these yet, you must bring in money, even if it’s from your job.When you prospect or network for your business, you do not necessarily have to tell others what you do at your day job, or what your job title is. You can tell them what your home-based business title is. If they get to know you more personally, you can mention that you have a full time job, but you’re working hard and smart towards working in your home-based business full-time.Remember, there is nothing wrong with a job. If it is the only source of income you have at the moment, it is the one that is going to help you provide food on the table for you and your family (if you have a family) as well as shelter, utilities and an internet connection, plus items for your home-based business (like laptops, nutritional supplements, phones, whatever.)You’ve got to start with financial security, so that you can focus on financial freedom. People who have financial freedom handed down to them will find their way to financial security fast, if they do not know how to get to and stay at financial freedom.Sure, a job is “just over broke”, but it’s better to be that than to be broke without any options!