There are people who are comfortable working on salary or hourly wage where they know what their next paycheck will bring. Then there are those who are a bit more adventurous who are willing to work on commission. Working on commission can be more profitable if you have a good product to sell and have the personality and drive to make sales. One thing that I’ve never understood however is why work for someone else on commission? Why not find a good product or service to sell and start your own small business? With the rising popularity of the internet and with consumers now comfortable with online shopping it has never been easier to start your own business.
One of the recent start ups that I helped were a couple guys who worked for a company selling skid steer attachments which are highly profitable. They came to me wondering if I could help them get started in business. “Of course”, I told them, “all you need is a good web site and a good online marketing strategy. Within a few months they got all set up and then took the plunge. A year and a half later they have a very successful business of their own and both work from home, it’s a definite change from their previous work environment.
Other people choose to start a “so called” home business by joining a network marketing company. I agree there are some great products out there ( like Manna 360 ) but unless you are really into working with lots of people it can be a nightmare. School teachers tend to do well in these types of opportunities because they are used to putting up with tons of stupid questions and unruly children. My experience in network marketing made teaching look like a cake walk!
If you seriously want a home based business look at what you are interested in, is there an opportunity there? If not, go to Barnes and Noble and just browse the aisles (or do it online) and see if there is something there that interests you. If nothing else pick up a copy of Entrepreneur magazine and thumb through it looking for good ideas. I had one client that did this and realized how important orthotics were going to be for the aging population and became a distribution center for Orthaheel and is now one of the largest sellers of their products in the U.S.
There are an endless number of things you can do, but the main thing is to start out part time and keep your risk very small. The failure rate can be quite high for new businesses so never risk your future on any one idea. It’s much better to start small (part time) and then expand upon it (or go full time) once you experience some success. When you find something that works then focus on it and get the most out of it that your possibly can. That is how successful business people get rich in this world, they focus on proven winners!