Is Working from Home a Realistic Career Path?

Summary: With the rise of the internet, working from home can absolutely be a realistic career path. You just need to know how to move forward.

Question: I would like to start a home-based business after graduation. What are some work-from-home businesses, and are there some with lower start-up costs?

Answer: If you want to give working at home a try, analyze clues from your background to isolate the best home business for you. Consider what you are good at and how you like to spend your time. In addition to the type of business, recognize that you aren’t limited to the nine-to-five format.

Work-at-home arrangements include starting your own business from scratch, freelancing, contracting, franchising, taking over a family enterprise, working on commission, and telecommuting. Some successful business owners start by combining one or more of these formats with an ongoing part-time job. Although working from home has its drawbacks (such as the absence of office structure and resources, built-in social interaction, and the security of a set salary), the advantages are plentiful. Think of the savings in travel, parking, clothing, and lunches.

The Work at Home Sourcebook (Live Oak Publication) by Lynie Arden provides an extensive listing of the many options for working from home, including home-business opportunities. As you can imagine, start-up costs for the various options cover the spectrum from less than $100 to many thousands of dollars. There are also numerous websites that might help you as well.

Look at franchises and/or independent business systems that provide you with the business plan to get started and follow up with varying degrees of support to maintain your business. Opportunities include business services, technical services, writing/publishing, personal services, crafts, sales, repair service and office support. The possibilities are wide open, as you can see, and cover everything from card senders to massage therapists, web designers and travel agents.

There are more ways than ever before to go into business for yourself, so identify your skill set, keep track of trends and look for demographics that may create a need that your work-at-home business could fill.

• See Top 5 Work at Home Jobs for more information.