Starting a business (which is what working at home is in most cases – a self-employed business) can be overwhelming all on its own, but when you throw in the fact that most of the information you read isn’t written with you or your country in mind you might get a little discouraged before you even begin. There’s no need to do so.

There is a lot of information on the Internet about working at home however; most of it may seem to be based on the U. S. Business and tax laws.

If you are Canadian or live in some other country, it might be a little bit more difficult to find the correct information with regards to legal and insurance issues as well as the actual setting up and running of your business. If you look in the right places, it can be found. Stick around there will be resources specific to those who work from home and live in Canada at the end of this article.

As you are researching information about working from home keep in mind there is a lot of information that will help no matter where in the world you live. You will find that differences may comes in the form of legal, insurance and tax issues, but in actuality working at home in Canada is very similar to working at home in the U.S.

In addition to Canadian laws, each provincial area may have its own set of rules so make sure to check with the Canadian Small Business Association for details regarding your specific location.

You may find one of the biggest differences between working at home in the U.S. and working at home in Canada will come in the form of your customers or clients. You may find that Canadians are more leery about purchasing online products than their U. S. counterparts and Americans are probably more likely to purchase from a U.S. site than a Canadian site until they get comfortable with and establish a relationship with you.

Don’t let this statistic scare you away. It doesn’t mean that you can’t have a successful work at home business if you live in Canada. It just means you might have a harder time building the trust of some of your United States residing customers in the beginning.

Adding things to your business such as a blog or using a social network like Twitter or Facebook to build relationships will go a long way to getting your work at home business built more quickly.

You will also find the currency difference in Canada may affect the way you do business. Most of the time it’s not that big of a deal and if you are working for a company who is also based in Canada you have nothing to worry about.

However, the ability to broaden your search for work via the Internet to all areas of the world, whether you’re working directly for or selling to people in other countries will pose differences in currency no matter where you live.

Online payment processors will convert the currency to your home currency and you may see differences, but for the most part they will be either in your favor or so menial that it won’t make a huge difference to your bottom line.

Research your market and find other businesses that compete with or complement your own. See what you can do for each other to increase business on both sides of the fence.

Resources Specifically for Those Working at Home in Canada

Small Business Info Canada at About.com
You’ll find a 10 week online class to help you through each step of starting your work at home business at http://www.sbinfocanada.about.com/c/ec/1.htm

Visit the Canada Revenue Agency at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/business/ for information such as types of corporations, records to keep, duties and taxes, and business registration.

For more information about Internet business or e-commerce visit http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/cmm/bt-eng.html

posted by Chris Simpson