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In these days, it's becoming increasingly difficult to make ends

meet with just one source of income.

Thus, more and more people are investigating the possibilities

of starting their own extra-income business.

Most of these part-time endeavours are started and operated from

the comfort and privacy of the home.

Most of these people are making the extra money they need.  Some

have wisely and carefully built these extra income efforts into

full time, very profitable businesses.  Others are just keeping

busy, having fun, and enjoying life as never before.

The important thing is that they are doing something other than

waiting for the government to give them a handout; they are

improving their lot in life, and you can do it, too!

The fields of mail order selling, multi level marketing, and in

home party sales have never been more popular.

If any of these kinds of extra income producing ideas appeal to

you, then you owe it to yourself to check them out.

But these areas aren't the only fields of endeavour you can

start and operate from home, with little or no investment, and

learn as you go.

If you type, you can start a home based typing service; if you

have a van or access to a trailer, you can start a delivery

service.

Simply collecting old newspapers from your neighbours can get

you started in the paper recycling business.

More than a few enterprising housewives have found success and

fortune by starting home and/or apartment cleaning services.

If you have a garden full of flowers, you can make good extra

money by supplying fresh cut flowers to restaurants and offices

in your area on a regular basis.

You might turn a ceramics hobby into a lucrative personalised

coffee mug business.

What I'm saying is that in reality, there's literally no end to

the ways you can start and operate a profitable extra income

business from your home.

The first thing you must do, however, is some basic market

research.

Find out for yourself, first hand, just how many people there

are in your area who are interested in your proposed product or

service, and would be willing to stand in line and pay for it.

This is known as defining your market, and pin-pointing your

customers.

If after checking around, talking about your idea with a whole

lot of people over a period of one to three months, you get the

idea that these people would be paying customers, your next

effort should be directed towards the "detailing" of your

business plan.

The more precise and detailed your plan - covering all the bases

relating to how you'll do everything that needs to be done - the

easier it's going to be for you to attain success.

Such a plan should show your start-up investment needs, your

advertising plan, your production costs and procedures, your

sales programme and how your time will be allocated.

Too often, enthusiastic and ambitious entrepreneurs jump in on

an extra income project and suddenly find that the costs are

beyond their abilities, and the time requirements more than they

can meet; it pays to lay it all out on paper before you get

involved, and the clearer you can "see" everything before you

start, the better your chances of success.

Now, assuming you've got your market targeted, you know who your

customers are going to be and how you're going to reach them

with your product or service.

And you have all your costs as well as time requirements

itemised.

The next step is to set your plan in motion and start making

money.

Here is the most important "secret" of all, relating to starting

and building a profitable home based business, so read carefully.

Regardless of what kind of business you start, you must have the

capital and the available time to sustain your business through

the first six months of operation.

Specifically, you must not count on receiving or spending any

money coming in from your business on yourself or for your bills

during those first six months.

All the income from your business during those first six months

should be reinvested in your business in order for it to grow

and reach your planned first year potential.

Once you've passed that first six months milestone, you can set

up a small monthly salary for yourself, and begin enjoying the

fruits of your labour.

But the first six months of operation of any business are

critical, so do not plan to use any of the money your business

generates for yourself during that period.

If you've got your business plan properly organised, and have

implemented the plan, you should at the end of your first year

be able to begin thinking about hiring other people to alleviate

some of your workload.

Remember this: Starting a successful business is not a means

towards either a job for yourself or a way to keep busy.

It should be regarded as the beginning of an enterprise that

will grow and prosper, with you as the top dog.

Eventually, you'll have other people doing all the work for you,

even running the entire operation, while you holiday in the

Bahamas or Hawaii and collect or receive regular income from

your initial efforts.