“With OBE it’s not just about starting a new online business, we believe you are starting a new way of life”

What if you could find a home based business or internet business that allowed you to be able to be able to make the most money from the least effort and also assisted you to be able to buy more of life’s most precious commodity – time? Today we are going to look at six questions that you can use as a criteria when assessing the merit of different home business ideas or when considering which home business opportunity or internet business to invest your time, money and efforts into.

Over the last few years we have heard wealth-creation and business experts such as Brendan Nicholls and Robert Kiyosaki among many others; who have suggested that the right home based business, internet business or network marketing business can be an excellent business and wealth creation vehicle for generating a leveraged or residual income stream. Many of the experts then go onto suggest redirecting that money into other forms of investment; such as real estate, commodities or shares which in turn creates a compounding effect via the multiple streams of passive income.

Without doubt one of the greatest by-products of significant passive income streams is that it gives you the ability to be in control of how you spend your time. In my opinion time is a far more valuable commodity than that of money. Now you may disagree here, but please listen to my logic! Time is something that we can only use once and once spent it is gone forever. Whereas once an entrepreneur understands how to implement income and wealth generation strategies, than these can be applied almost at will to develop income producing assets.

Personally one of my greatest fears would be to look back when I am 80 and evaluating my life and to only have a healthy financial balance sheet, and then realise that I have major deficit on my lifestyle balance sheet. Given the limited time we have on this earth I think that most of us would prefer to spend as much as we can with our family and friends, travelling the world and or just experiencing the joys of what life has to offer without the stress of worrying about money.

Almost without exception when you are working for a corporation or in a job your application of time and efforts generally rewards others financially. Your time and efforts are bought at wholesale (what you are paid) and then effectively on-sold at retail (what you are worth to the organisation through the results of your productivity). The result of your production is that of a retail profit which is more or less returned back to the business owner and share holders in some way, whether it be in the form of a company profit or dividend.

Unfortunately the vast majority have not yet awoken to the fact that their lifetime of dedication to their job will never make them wealthy. More importantly though they will never be in true control of how they their effort or their time, and then they are hit with the realisation that the vast majority of how they have spent their 4000 or so weeks on this planet has been at the mercy of someone else. My objective here is simply to highlight that we do have a choice and that we do not have to spend the majority of our working life working! The years 20 to 60 are the time when many of us enjoy premium health and is when family and friends should take priority in our life, however for so many people across the world we invest roughly 70% of our time throughout these 40 years on doing something that we would rather then not be doing and that is making someone else wealthy through our endeavour and production.

Would you be open to looking at an alternative plan where you could spend 70 – 80% of your time in pursuit of your lifestyle and then spending just 20 – 30% of your time in doing something that earns you significant income and that you are passionate about. If so the answer you have been looking for is in the form of buying or building your own home based business or internet business.

So the good news is that a home based business is endorsed by many wealth creation experts, as being a great vehicle to leverage your time, your money and your efforts. If you choose the right business vehicle; and then combine it with discipline and consistent applications, there is the potential that your home business opportunity can become a long-term way to generating substantial wealth. Certainly one of the most significant advantages of a home based business or internet business is that the majority of them can be started on a part-time basis; without having to give up the safety net of the income you earn from your job or self-employed business.

In looking for a Home Business Opportunity there are some important considerations before getting started:

Question 1 to ask before you invest in a Home Based Business:

Does the income from this Home Business Opportunity result in linear income or passive income?

The best type of income is the one that continues to roll-on when you are working or holidaying. Once you have established a business that offers a niche product or service that has high demand, you should look to have systems in place that allows for sales or financial transactions to occur with our without you being present. Ideally the franchise, internet business, network marketing or home business opportunity should offer the potential for you to develop an income stream that passive or residual.

Question 2 to ask before you invest in a Home Based Business:

Is there are a market for the goods or services associated with this particular Home Based Business?

It is important to remember just because a business has a great distribution system, marketing strategy or payment system, that without a product that meets customer requirements, or simply does not have enough consumer demand; the chance of developing a long-term sustainable customer driven is remote. Ideally the product or service associated with the business should be somewhat niche, as this means that it is harder for the competition to replicate and out-compete you on price alone. A niche product or service that offers a unique customer value proposition is one that gives your home business opportunity the best chance of being sustainable long-term.

Question 3 to ask before you invest in a Home Based Business:

Can you start part-time, with the potential to increase your commitment upon replacing your wage or income from your job?

Franchising which in general I am a big fan of as a business model, because of its strong regulatory guidelines and emphasis on systems, does not generally lend itself to a part-time commitment. Internet Business and/or a Network Marketing business may be better options for someone who wants to start part-time or is concerned about financing their new business without going into a great deal of debt.

Question 4 to ask before you invest in a Home Based Business:

Does this business give you the opportunity to use the concept of leveraging your time, money or efforts?

Network Marketing has changed for the better in recent years and is one of the most powerful forms of leveraging I have seen in any form of business. However, due diligence is required in the selection process as some Networking Marketing businesses place too much emphasis on recruiting, rather than being driven by a quality or niche product/service that really adds value to peoples’ lives.

Question 5 to ask before you invest in a Home Based Business:

Does the business harness the latest trends such as Social Networking or ecommerce? Internet Business is certainly one of the fastest growing and most popular forms of home based business. The new ‘tigers’ of the home based business world are looking at ways to combine the growing acceptance of ecommerce and the potential of having your product or service endorsed globally through viral marketing via Social Networks.

Question 6 to ask before you invest in a Home Based Business:

What level of training is available or what education systems are in place?

Generally the reason why franchising has been so popular in the last two decades is because of the generally strong emphasis placed on training systems that allow for easy duplication across many stores or shopfronts. McDonalds for instance is famous for their excellent training and operating systems.

The ability to use mentors in your new business venture and have a comprehensive training system on all aspects of your internet business, network marketing or home business opportunity is absolutely critical to starting your business with momentum and also achieving longer-term success.

So in summary these are just a few of the questions that you need to ask or the criteria you need to consider before investing into a home business opportunity; or indeed before starting a home based business. The key is once you make a decision to start a home based business is to remember the underlying purpose for your investment is to not buy another job, but rather to have a business vehicle that buys you more of that most valuable commodity and the one that is a resource once spent that can never be regained – Time.