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Your ability to start a home based business or to work from home for someone else is increasing daily as new opportunities come available every day. Entrepreneurs, sales representatives, customers service reps and many others are now more than ever working at home or from their homes. Finding the opportunity that fits you can be as easy as asking yourself a few questions. They are... What do I truly enjoy doing? What can I readily afford to allocate toward this opportunity if necessary? What resources and tools can I bring to the table that will help me build my business or do my job productively? Am I coachable, teachable, and willing to acquire new knowledge that can help me succeed? Asking yourself these questions can help you to narrow down which industry or areas of home business would best match your needs and what interests you.

Enjoying What You Do

If you hate your job or have no passion for your chosen home business field, in a short time period you will find it difficult to do the things necessary to succeed. Even if you are working from home, you will find it difficult to "drag yourself to work". Motivating yourself to do those things you know you need to do will become harder and harder. And if you are working from home, distractions that are inherent to being at home will easily detract your attention from the job at hand. Being honest with yourself about what you truly enjoy doing will allow you to enter a home business or home job with the confidence that you can perform every day. Sure there will be days when you don't feel like working even if you are doing what you love, but enjoying what you do will help ensure your perserverence and longevity.

Financial Concerns

When starting a home based business or when considering accepting a home job position, you should take the necessary time to understand your budget and income requirements. Having ample savings is certainly prudent. This is true no matter what you are doing, but especially in this case if you are building a new home based business from the ground up as your income source or if you have accepted a commission based position that takes time to get momentum. You need to know that you can meet your family's budget needs comfortably in order to eliminate any possible money stress that can hurt your productivity. Being able to survive comfortably for a 3 month period is a good rule of thumb. This allows time to establish yourself and produce a flow of income. You should also have a firm grasp on the money needed to fund your business. What are the cost of materials, necessary advertising, web hosting and so on? Most home based businesses fail within the first year from the lack of a realistic budget or the failure to budget at all.

Resources and Tools

An important consideration is to take inventory of the tools and resources that you may need for your business/job. You may have some things already on hand. Like your computer, internet access, and home phone line. A fax machine that doubles as copier can be a valuable tool. A hands free headset for your phone isn't a must, but if you'll invest in one you will be glad you did. Especially if you will be spending any amount of time on the phone in your home business or job. Having a dedicated phone line for your business and fax are nice, but not necessarily required. I have used very successfully a service called "distinctive ring" through my phone company. My phone has a different ring for business calls so I know when a business call is coming in. Also, my fax machine recognizes a different ring and answers those calls. Distinctive ring is great if you have access to it AND it's cheaper than having dedicated lines added to your home.

Being Coachable And Teachable

I once read where the word "teachable" is the Biblical word for "coachable". I don't know if this is theologically accurate, but I like it. In many ways, as this would indicate, the words are interchangeable. Both are key factors in evolving and succeeding. Those who shun these principles usually plateau while those who continue to be coachable and teachable continue to grow and reach higher levels of success. Successful home business people, home workers, and all other successful people from all walks of life not only learn but they apply what they learn. To simplify all of this... be willing to learn, be open to the idea that there is always knowledge out there you can add to your base of knowledge, be willing to take direction from those who have been or are where you want to go. That says it all. You don't have to be the best from the start, just be good at being coachable and teachable and the rest will come with time.

Once you've honestly answered of these questions, you will be able to make the most informed choice for your home business. This will allow you to begin your business by putting your best foot forward. Take the necessary time to prepare for your work at home job or home based business, and you will ensure that you thrive and succeed.