Today, more and more people are fighting a trying economy and looking for alternative ways to make a living from home, saving on transportation and child care costs in the process. And, according to recent surveys, nearly half of all adults just in North American alone have wanted to start their own home based business, but only a small fraction of them will act on their ideas, and even a smaller number of those who do will know where to begin.

Here are five simple tips anyone can use when starting any type of business from home:

1. Assess Your Skills and Talents:

The very first thing you absolutely must do before attempting to start a new home business is to look to your own skill set and talents for inspiration, unless, of course, you already have the perfect idea in mind. If you’ve always been a whiz with numbers and have knowledge of accounting and bookkeeping, consider this avenue, or if you have a deep love for animals, look to the pet care industry, one that’s growing in leaps and bounds. It’s important to thoroughly enjoy what you’re doing so that your passion will carry over into your success.

2. Utilize the Internet:

If you aren’t already aware of the incredible opportunities that await you via the use of the Internet, now’s definitely the time to look into making your presence known on the World Wide Web. Once you have a basic business plan in place, including what type of service or products you’ll be offering customers, your start-up costs, if any, and where you want your business to be one year from now.

If your budget allows, start your own website. Having a website allows you to reach a large number of people, feature a detailed synopsis of your services, as well as your fees, contact information, and testimonials from satisfied customers.

3. Enhance Your Marketing Efforts:

The Internet, although an invaluable resource for marketing a small, home based business, isn’t the only medium you can use to boost your clientele and earnings potential. Almost all cable companies have a host of local channels that run small commercials for local businesses at a reasonable fee, and remember your local newspaper or community publication that will also have low rates for placing small ads in print.

4. Remember to Take Your Tax Breaks:

As a small business owner, you will be entitled to certain tax breaks, provided they are a legitimate business. Turn to sites like www.irs.gov or www.entrepreneur.com for answers to all of your tax questions, the forms you’ll need to fill out and file, as well as information about expenses you can legally write off of your federal income taxes.

5. Expand Your Horizons:

Don’t ever rule out those miscellaneous opportunities to make money online that you may have dismissed before, like becoming a virtual assistant, learning medical transcription, becoming a work at home data entry specialist, or even doing paid surveys. Starting any of these ventures even part time will line your pockets with some extra money and may just grow into a full time business one day.

posted by Chris Simpson