The fields of mail order selling, multi-level marketing, and

in-home party sales have never been more popular. If any of

these kinds of extra income producing ideas appeal to you, then

you owe it to yourself to check them out. But these aren't the

only fields of endeavor you can start and operate from home,

with little or no investment, and learn as you go.

If you type, you can start a home-based typing service; if you

have a truck or have access to a trailer, you can start a

clean-up/hauling service. Simply collecting old newspapers from

your neighbors can get you started in the paper recycling

business. More than a few enterprising housewifes have found

success and fortune by starting home and/or apartment cleaning

services. If you have a yard full of flowers, you can make good

extra money by supplying fresh cut flowers to restaurants and

offices in your area on a regular basis. You might turn a

ceramics hobby into a lucrative personalized coffee mug

business. What I'm saying is that in reality, there's literally

no end to the ways you can start and operate a profitable extra

income business from your home.

The first thing you must do, however, is some basic market

research. Find out for yourself, first-hand, just how many

people there are in your area who are interested in your

proposed product or service, and would be "willing to stand in

line and pay money for it". This is known as defining your

market and pinpointing your customers. If after checking

around, talking about your idea with a whole lot of people over

a period of one to three months, you get the idea that these

people would be paying customers, your next effort should be

directed toward the "detailing" of your business plan. The more

precise and detailed your plan - covering all the bases relating

to how you'll do everything that needs to be done - the easier

it's going to be for you to attain success. Such a plan should

show you start-up investment needs, your advertising plan, your

production costs and procedure, your sales program, and how your

time will be allocated. Too often, enthusiastic and ambitious

entrepreneur jump in on an extra income project and suddenly

find that the costs are beyond their abilities, and the time

requirements more than they can meet. It pays to lay it all out

on paper before you get involved, and the clearer you can "see"

everything before you start, the better your chances for success.

Now, assuming you've got your market targeted, you know who your

customers are going to be and how you're going to reach them

with your product or service. And you have all your costs as

well as time requirements itemized. The next step is to set

your plan in motion and start making money.

Here is the most important "secret" of all, relating to starting

and building a profitable home-based business, so read very

carefully. Regardless of what kind of business you start, you

must have the capital and the available time to sustain your

business through the first six months of operation.

Specifically, you must not count on receiving or spending any

money coming in from your business on yourself or for your bills

during those first six months. All the income from your

business during those first six months should be reinvested in

your business in order for it to grow and reach your planned

first year potential.

Once you've passed that first six months milestone, you can set

up a small monthly salary for yourself, and begin enjoying the

fruits of your labor. But the first six months of operation for

any business are critical, so do not plan to use any of the

money you business generates for yourself during that period.

If you've got your business plan properly organized, and have

implemented the plan, you should at the end of your first year

be able to begin thinking about hiring other people to alleviate

some of your workload. Remember this: Starting a successful

business is not a means towards either a job for yourself or a

way to keep busy. It should be regarded as the beginning of an

enterprise that will grow and prosper, with you as the top dog.

Eventually, you'll have other people doing all the work for you,

even running the entire operation, while you vacation in the

Bahamas or Hawaii and collect or receive regular income from

your initial efforts.

For more details on market research, business planning,

advertising, selling, order fulfillment, and other aspects of

home-based businesses, check with the distributor from whom you