Finding a Legitimate Home Business or Job

By Leslie Truex

Hi Leslie,

I am now a stay at home mom and would like to find something
to do in my spare time while the kids are in school.  I also
want it to be legitimate.  A few years back there was a
business that you could do at home selling greeting cards,
gifts, etc.  Is there anything along those lines still out
there?  I want to be able to do this mainly from home and
not have to travel around due to that I have to be here when
the kids get out of school.  On the other hand I am also
looking for either typing/data entry or billing.  I am not
having much success in finding any information unless I have
to pay out a lot of money to end up at a dead end.  I don't
have alot to pay out for start up and then have it be a dead
end.  I can not afford to waste money.  I am willing to pay
out start up cost if in fact it is legitimate and working.
Can you help. - Ginger Warnick

Hi Ginger,
Before I go into to more detail on your answer, there are a
few issues I should clarify to help insure your success
whatever you decide. There are many great businesses and
jobs that can be done at home. What many fail to understand
though is that working at home in a business or job takes a
great deal of work. The idea of earning a good income during
nap time or while Oprah is on is false. Everyone I know who
is successfully working at home spends a great deal of time
and energy on a daily basis to make it happen. If you are
looking for some easy online sign-up-get-paid program, you
are bound to be disappointed and risk being scammed.
However, if you understand that any work-at-home endeavor
requires consistent effort, your chances of success increase
significantly.

If you are looking for a home business in the area of gifts
or greeting cards, I recommend starting your search at the
Direct Selling Association
http://www.dsa.org/directory/index.cfm?
fuseaction=show_CompanyResults.
Members of the DSA are reviewed for a full year before
membership is granted. Further, members must adhere to a
strict code of ethics. While most of these companies use a
party plan or person-to-person selling strategy, some may
allow sales online or through eBay. Any company that you
find, you will want to research.

· Verify any claims it makes such as being in the Better
Business Bureau or featured in on television.
· Find out the refund policy, the longer the better. You
will want at least 30 days but longer is better as it takes
time to fully learn and implement a business.
· Check with fraud alerts to make sure there are no suits
against the company. The Federal Trade Commission is a good
place to check. Here is an alert I found about a Greeting
Card Business: Greeting Card Business Opportunities
Fraudulently Marketed by Florida Companies
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/04/greetingcards.htm
· Make sure you review the compensation plan and understand
the "system" by which you will be expected to build a
business. Sometimes, in effort to get you signed up, the
person you contact about joining will leave out  important
details. In my experience, most bad reports on home
businesses found on the internet have less to do with the
company and more to do with enrollers failing to fully
disclose important information.
· Most importantly, whatever business you decide to join,
develop a business and marketing plan. Most businesses fail
because people don't do the things that need to be done to
be successful. Marketing is more than posting an ad or a
flyer. Its a daily part of the job.

As far as typing and data entry, I am finding more and more
small and medium size businesses are outsourcing many of
their clerical services. However, work-at-home jobs are like
any other job in that employers are looking for qualified
employees. Do you know how fast you can type without errors?
Have you done data entry before? Further, many of the these
companies allow people to work from home but are looking for
employees that live in their area. A good place to look for
these jobs is at Craigslist.org http://www.craigslist.org in
your area. Craigslist makes it easy. Just choose "jobs" and
then click the "Telecommute" box for work-at-home jobs in
your area.

There are several online companies that are taking on
customer service and clerical workers in a freelance
capacity. This work is quite competitive and may or may not
be regular depending on your specific skills. My favorite
resource for work-at-home jobs and companies that are
frequently hiring is Virtual Assistants
www.virtualassistants.com/cgi-bin/affiliates/c.cgi/wahsuccess_ad.
Its not free and there is no guarantee you'll find work. But
its one of the best online databases of work-at-home jobs.

Its important to remember, you never want to pay money to
get hired to a job. A home business can cost you money but
no legitimate employers charge to hire people. That doesn't
mean you won't spend money in a job search but you can't buy
a job.

The best way to successfully earn income from home in
business or job is to learn all you can about home business
or telecommuting through books or online information
resources, research any opportunity you find interesting,
make a detail business and marketing plan, and then work
that plan every day.

=======================================
Ask WAHS Leslie is Leslie Truex a stay and work-at-home mom
who has been helping people work at home since 1998 with her
web site http://www.workathomesuccess.com. She is also the
author of Jobs At Home: A Complete Guide to Finding a
Work-At-Home Job. Ask WAHMS Leslie is a weekly column. You
can submit a question to Ask WAHS Leslie by emailing
<a
href="mailto:success@workathomesuccess.com?subject=AskWAHSLeslie">




 

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