Working at home is desirable by many people because it provides more freedom in addition to take care of other things during the day besides work. Removing the daily commute into an office allows more time for other things such as spending more time with the family, being able to run errands, and being able to have more free time. Working from home still requires choosing a business idea that will support your lifestyle, and does not mean that the day is full of free time. Sometimes working from home requires more hours than an 8am to 5pm job, but can be more rewarding.

We’ve come up with a list of some good work at home business ideas that can be started and provide the lifestyle that many people are looking for today.  We will cover each idea in a separate post over the coming days.

Work at Home job idea #1: Start an eBay business

eBay is known by almost everyone, and because there are so many people going to eBay to search for items to purchase, a large marketplace is in place for you to take advantage of.  eBay has carefully built a solid place of business, even buying Paypal to handle payment processing.  There are many websites and applications that can be purchased very inexpensively to handle all aspects of running a eBay business.

Because of the solid infrastructure of the eBay ecosystem, all you need is an idea of what you want to sell on eBay to start making money.  We suggest that you start selling items that are of an interest, such as electronic items, comic books, or other hobby items.  Because starting a business requires a lot of work, selecting items that are of an interest will help keep you motivated while building your business.   Start small, and grow the business slowly in order to handle the workload.  Once your business starts to really grow, you’ll need to start identifying how to obtain more quantities of items in order to keep growing.

Pros:

• Strong Marketplace
• Very easy to get started
• Many tools available to run your business
• Can scale quickly and easily

Cons:

• Tough to find quantities of products to make profit
• Hard to be unique

Image: markuso / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you’re financially motivated to launch a business, you may be tempted to simply jump in. But experts strongly recommend first taking the time to do some research to determine if your venture has legs to stand on. Otherwise, you could end up in worse economic shape.

One way to explore a business idea’s feasibility is to solicit the opinions and advice of experienced professionals in your target industry, even prospective competitors. Mr. Zacharakis recommends starting at trade shows, seminars and other business events if you don’t have specific contacts in mind. Ask people what they like and don’t like about your planned venture, if they foresee any obstacles to building it, and what suggestions they might have.

Also go directly to your target market and ask about their interest in your product or service and how much they’d consider paying for it, Mr. Zacharakis says. If you plan to sell a product or service to pet owners, for example, you could canvass dog parks, groomers and veterinarians’ offices.

Low-cost services like SurveyMonkey.com and Zoomerang.com let you compile a survey online. In general, you pose a question and select answer options, such as multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank. Then you receive a Web link that you can post to your Facebook page, Twitter feed, personal blog or other website.

Here are the highlights of an article published in BusinessWeek:

Tim O’Reilly, founder of technology publisher O’Reilly Media, likens the effort to Interstate highways, the global positioning system, and the Internet. Those public investments all unleashed private-sector innovation. Similarly, by giving everyone access to government data, “you don’t have to do all the innovating yourself,” says O’Reilly, who hosted a Gov 2.0 Expo in Washington, D.C., on May 25…

…One way governments encourage innovation from entrepreneurs is through apps contests. These offer prize money to developers who build software applications using public data. New York, Washington, and Portland, Ore., have all started competitions. Federal agencies have sponsored efforts aimed at expanding broadband access and reducing childhood obesity. Even the Pentagon has gotten on board with an “Apps for the Army” challenge for soldiers. All told, more than 350 apps that tap into public data have been submitted to such contests, some of which are ongoing…

…Of course, plenty of public agencies resist openness, and startups that want to sell to or partner with the government often face frustrating bureaucracies. Yet even small steps by government, such as releasing public data, can create new business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Says O’Reilly: “This is one of those amazing outcomes where the government does something small that has a huge impact on the economy.”

Overview
Date Established: 1994
Franchising Since: 1999
Total investment: $1,595 – $19,290
Franchise fee: $495 – $9,995
Ongoing royalty fee: 3%
Term of agreement: 3 years, renewable
Location: US Only

How to Qualify
Net worth requirement: $15,000 – $25,000
Cash liquidity requirement: $8,990

Contact Info
3300 University Dr., #602
Coral Springs, Florida 33065
Phone: (888)582-2150/ (954)344-8060

Day Spa Business

Starting a day spa business is a great choice for a new business venture considering everybody leads such busy and stress-filled life these days. Running a day spa requires substantial initial investment but the profit potential is also very rewarding. Just like any retail store, the most important factors are location, location and location. Offering day spa clients with a wide array of services such as seaweed wraps, aromatherapy massage options and manicures is guaranteed to make your business a top destination for existing and new clients.

Be a Makeup Artist

This could be the business for someone how has a way with makeup or the ability to create wonders with powders, lipsticks and shadows that will transform ordinary Cinderellas into beautiful princesses. The advantages to this business are that you can start part-time and on a shoestring, and you get the rewards of helping people feel good about themselves.

In some states, you need a cosmetology license to work on clients’ skin, so be sure to check with your state board of cosmetology. Other than that, all you need is makeup, brushes and sponges, and your own innate talents.

Personal Shopping Services

This small business is a greatly way to enjoy shopping and earn money at the same time. Basically, you’ll provide assistance to people who hate to shop, too busy to shop or no idea whatsoever about the latest fashion trends today. Many busy and well-heeled people use personal shoppers to pick gifts for any number of special occasions such as weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and holidays.

Image Consultancy

Remember that famous TV show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy? That’s what an image consultant is all about. You main responsibility is to give clients beauty makeovers to achieve their personal objectives like getting better jobs, finding a romantic partner, standing out at their weddings or as simple as feeling better about themselves. What makes image consulting business great is that you can operate at home, low cost to start up, ultra creative and satisfying since you’re helping other people as well.

Hair Removal Service

There are so many women and men are desperate to get to rid of their unwanted body and facial hair. You can be that guy or gal that will save the day with your hair removal service. It’s a profitable venture provided that you or a staff member are well-trained and certified to carry out hair removal procedure. The easiest and least expensive way to get the service rolling is to form a joint venture with an established business, such as a hair salon or day spa.

The Merry Maids unique professional home cleaning system combines efficient two-person cleaning teams with effective management and proven marketing procedures. Regardless of your previous experience, our systematic approach to training, cleaning, office management and developing your customer base can give you the confidence to succeed with your own home cleaning franchise

Overview
Date Established: 1979
Started Franchising: 1980
Total investment: $24,750 – $59,450
Franchise fee: $21,000 – $31,000
Ongoing royalty fee: 5-7%
Term of agreement: 5 years, renewable
Location: Worldwide

How to Qualify
Net worth requirement: $33,500 – $50,500
Cash liquidity requirement: $29,700 – $44,300
General business experience
Management experience

Contact Info
3839 Forest Hill Irene Rd.
Memphis, Tennessee 38125
Phone: (800)798-8000/ (901)597-8138

For more info, click here

The list was compiled through exhaustive research starting last year during which G.I. Jobs polled thousands of franchises nationwide. Methodology, criteria and weighting for the list were developed with the assistance of a Franchise Advisory Board consisting of Mail Boxes Etc. founder Jim Amos and Spring-Green President James Young. Both men are military veterans.

“The list was created out of demand from military veterans who kept asking us for a way to sort through the barrage of marketing from franchisee recruiters,” said Dan Fazio, Managing Editor for G.I. Jobs magazine. “Veterans sought a trusted friend to help them decide which franchise to open. The Military Friendly Franchises list is that trusted friend.”

The list satisfies veterans’ need to know which franchise they should pursue; which ones give them the best financial incentives, training, and which ones have the highest number of veteran franchisees.

The full list of Military Friendly Franchises: MFF.Guide.List

Running a small business can be really lonely and frustrating particularly if you’re just starting up. So, here are some of my favorite inspirational business quotes that I wish to share with you:

The kind of commitment I find among the best performers across virtually every field is a single-minded passion for what they do, an unwavering desire for excellence in the way they think and the way they work. Genuine confidence is what launches you out of bed in the morning, and through your day with a spring in your step. – Jim Collins

The turning point, I think, was when I really realized that you can do it yourself. That you have to believe in you because sometimes that’s the only person that does believe in your success but you. – Tim Blixseth

Ever notice how your senses are heightened when you are in challenging situations? You’re experiencing an adrenaline rush that gives you extra energy. If you see every day as a challenge, you’d be surprised how efficient you can become, and how much can be accomplished. – Donald Trump

Do not wait; the time will never be “just right.” Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. – Napoleon Hill

I don’t think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good. – Oprah Winfrey

It is your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude. – Zig Ziglar

When I’m under the gun and I’ve got pressure on me, I don’t panic. I look for the right solution, and then I go for it. – Magic Johnson

Be true to the game, because the game will be true to you. If you try to shortcut the game, then the game will shortcut you. If you put forth the effort, good things will be bestowed upon you. That’s truly about the game, and in some ways that’s about life too. – Michael Jordan

I tell you that as long as I can conceive something better than myself I cannot be easy unless I am striving to bring it into existence or clearing the way for it. – George Bernard Shaw

In spite of your fear, do what you have to do. – Chin-Ning Chu

Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve. – Mary Kay Ash

You know, people make a lot of money talking about me, don’t they? They just get on those shows, and they talk away. There’s nothing I can do. And that’s one of the great lessons I try to convey in my book, which my mother implanted in me as a young girl.. Is you can either be an actor in your own life, or a reactor in somebody else’s. – Hillary Rodham Clinton

I would tell young people to start where they are with what they have and that the secret of a big success is starting with a small success and dreaming bigger and bigger dreams, I would tell them also that a young Black woman or a young Black man can’t dream too much today or dare too much if he or she works hard, perseveres and dedicates themselves to excellence. – John H. Johnson

You are what you are and where you are because of what has gone into your mind. You can change what you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind. – Zig Ziglar

The interesting thing is how one guy, through living out his own fantasies, is living out the fantasies of so many other people. – Hugh Hefner

A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done. – Ralph Lauren

The major difference between the big shot and the little shot is the big shot is just a little shot who kept on shooting. – Zig Ziglar

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. – Mark Twain

My experience indicates that most people who’ve accumulated a great deal of wealth haven’t had that as their goal at all. Wealth is only a by-product, not the original motivation. – Michael Milken

Follow your own particular dreams. We are handed a life by peers, parents and society, you can do that or follow your own dreams. Life is short, be a dreamer but be a practical person. – Hugh Hefner

When life appears to be working against you, when your luck is down, when the supposedly wrong people show up, or when you slip up and return to old, self-defeating habits, recognize the signs that you’re out of harmony with intention. - Aldous Huxley

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Thoughts are things! And powerful things at that, when mixed with definiteness of purpose, and burning desire, can be translated into riches. – Napoleon Hill

Money is human kind’s greatest invention. Money doesn’t discriminate. Money doesn’t care whether a person is poor, whether a person comes from a good family, or what his skin color is. Anybody can make money. – Takafumi Horie

The time has come for players to carve their name in history. One touch, tackle or free kick could crush a nation’s hopes or cause them to build a statue in your honour. Drogba, Rooney and Ronaldo are ready to Write The Future.

Mobile credit card processing is getting extensive hype recently and I hope this blog post will let you see whether they are a profitable investment decision for your small business. Moreover, you will learn the differences and positive aspects between wired and handheld terminals and software program, and exactly how would you select.

The increasing interest in handheld point-of-sale terminals isn’t any big surprise. This set of end users is made up mostly of business people who really need to travel for business but would like to provide credit and debit card payment alternatives for their buyers.

Mobile credit card processing equipment make it possible for vendors to process credit card payments easily and safely, wherever they head out. These types of terminals present mobility and transaction versatility, enabling them to make use of several gadgets to process swiped bank card dealings or e-commerce product sales via online-based payment gateways. On top of that, using a handheld unit to process settlement transactions allow these vendors to benefit from a reduced, low priced fee when compared with keyed entries.

Mobile terminals can easily catch card details offline and save orders for later transmission, an essential advantage for retailers who end up in distant areas. But will your small business profit using this solutions? It will depend on your merchandise and services and also the forms of payment methods that best serve your customers and prospects.

Mobile credit card processing solutions at the moment consists of multifunctional units in which merge mobile handsets, Smartphones and point-of-sale transaction terminals along with different peripheral devices and software package, making it possible for vendors to assimilate a number of bits of point-of-sale machines into a single device. This minimizes the acquisition of repetitive equipment, delivers a hassle-free solution for carrying out various small business chores and presents vendors an opportunity to monitor a purchase from virtually any place.

The transaction period for processing a credit card using a mobile port can in reality be less than with a conventional land-line port, with respect to the coverage and the kind of portable gadget. A number of handheld programs enable sellers to transfer their cashier and check-out areas to virtually any spot inside the shop, in contrast to a permanent site which is linked to a land line and also a power source.

Vendors who are hesitant to get away from their own wired terminals might favor attaching external units, for instance those supplied by U.S. Wireless Data, AIRPAL and IVI Checkmate, that alter regular land-line terminals into mobile devices. When plugged into ordinary terminals and mobile phones, these types of gadgets function as handheld terminals and let retailers to get the best of both worlds – the ease and freedom of a mobile port yet the range of a wired one.

Numerous providers supply economical peripheral devices and computer software, such as Scanning Systems and LinkPoint International, which could transform any kind of PDA directly into a transaction-processing port. These types of mobile credit card processing equipment provide vendors the possibility to swipe clients’ credit cards or take e-commerce purchases via Net gateways.

When you check out the world of mobile solutions, be sure the port you buy provides the following advantages:

Service for debit, credit, charge and stored-value cards, along with loyalty marketing programs.
Capacity to process protected ATM/debit card orders.
Assistance for Address Confirmation Service.
Electronic benefits transfer (EBT) functions.
Integrated network modem (and the power to compliment extra networks).
Built-in thermal printer together with drop-in paper loading.
Capability to hook up to peripheral devices, including barcode wands and check scanners, via an RS-232 program.
Easy-to-read backlit LCD display that supports non-English fonts.
Long-lasting, standard rechargeable electric battery pack.

This is merely a starting peek in to the broad universe of mobile credit card processing equipment as well as their complementary peripheral devices and software program. Before buying one, connect with other business people who employ these, read industry reports and also ask for product document from the suppliers. Search past the technology and chose the wireless port that perfectly agrees with your small business requirements