Legitimate Home Based Business Ideas for Work at Home Moms

With the internet providing such a vast array of choices, you would think that finding a legitimate home-based business idea would be pretty simple. The reality is, there are hundreds and thousands of web sites with money making ideas. It’s enough to make your head spin. The majority of legitimate opportunities on the internet are direct sales companies and network marketing companies. In addition to these ideas, you might consider a simple service-based business.

Capitalizing on your own talents, skills or ideas, you can create just about any type of service business. Charge clients by the hour or by the job for things like dog walking, personal shopping, house cleaning, bookkeeping, closet organization, in-home child care, music lessons, math tutoring, landscaping and more. You may be able to start up a personal services business strictly by word of mouth. Start-up expenses may be no more than the cost of of your first batch of business cards.

If you choose to enter into a direct sales opportunity, be aware that many of these companies are those that encourage home parties for presenting the products to groups of interested people. Examples of direct sales parties that you may have have heard about or participated in would be costume jewelry, sterling silver jewelry, kitchen gadgets, travel discounts and pet supplies. Start-up costs for most direct sales companies will be less than $300. A small segment of direct sales, sometimes referred to as ‘top tier’, will have higher price points of entry. (Examples would be Liberty League, Wealthmasters and Global Resorts.)

Network Marketing and multi-level marketing opportunities enroll independent distributors, sometimes called consultants, to sell products on which they earn a commission. Additionally, they receive commissions based on the sales efforts of people enrolled in their organization (down line). If you are successful in creating a large downline, the monthly residual income can grow into a full-time income. Additional compensation plan details vary with each company. As with direct sales, you need to have some comfort level with personal selling and networking. The internet provides a great way to locate other like-minded business builders. Contrary to what your upline might be teaching, ‘warm market’ is not the only way to grow your business rapidly. I personally recommend two different online systems to my new reps who express any interest in ‘internet network marketing’.

Though some MLM businesses have suffered in the past from image problems, the business model itself is legitimate and the residual income has great potential. Network marketing business opportunities are available in various industries: health & wellness, beauty products & skin care, travel, electricity providers, telephone services - there is even a chocolate MLM company! (No joke) Little to no inventory is required; however most compensation plans will require that you maintain a monthly purchase amount, in order to be eligible for commissions. Start-up costs vary from as little as twenty dollars up to several thousand dollars.