Dear
Loren:
The best home business that you can be sure is not a scam is one that you
start yourself. It will depend on what you want, how you define to be
interesting. A person may consider a pet sitting business to be the most
exciting work in the world, while another person would rather watch TV than
take care of dogs.
The key is to determine what your interests are, what you want to do,
what is suitable for your lifestyle and your overall goals, and what can fit
with your resources.
Dan Ramsey in his book
"101 Best Home Businesses" has a chapter on how to
find YOUR best home business. He suggests these 10 steps:
1. List 5 things you do best
2. List how others would benefit from what you do best
3. Find out how to give people what they want
4. Learn the value of your services to others
5. Find out who else offers similar services
6. Learn from the successes of others
7. Learn from the failures of others
8. Plan your own success
9. Make low cost mistakes
10. Enjoy what you do and how you do it
He then made suggestions on the best home businesses according to type.
Here are a few of them:
Best Businesses Using Craft or Physical Skills
- antique restoration
- auto detail service
- carpet cleaning business
- errand/delivery service
- housecleaning business
Best Service Businesses
- bed and breakfast operator
- caregiver
- catering service
- senior day care center
- tutoring service
Best Professional Businesses
- desktop publisher
- magazine writer
- import/export service
- income tax preparation service
- event planner
Some other home business ideas:
Some other books that will be useful to you are:
Hope the above resources help!
About the PowerHomeBiz.com Guide:
Isabel Isidro is the
co-founder and VP-Managing Editor of PowerHomeBiz.com, an online magazine
for home business entrepreneurs that provides guidance on starting, running
and managing a home-based business.
The opinions expressed in this column are
those of the author, not of PowerHomeBiz.com.
Users
should not treat the Guide's response as legal, accounting, or
professional advice as all answers are intended to be general in
nature. Such advice can only be properly given by qualified
professionals who are fully aware of a user's specific geographical areas or circumstances, such
as
an attorney or accountant.
