One of our readers, Tom, asked:
“Can anyone recommend a legitimate home based business that you can actually live on?”
MY ANSWER:
Hi Tom,
Technology is making it easier every day for a lot of people to work from home. Personally, I run a graphic design business. 10 years ago we had an office in San Diego, clients in San Diego and employees from San Diego. Now, with broadband Internet so widely available we closed the office, have clients all over the country and designers from Baltimore to Buenos Aires.
The easiest way is to create a business where you work with your brain, not your hands. It’s much easier to be home based or even mobile. However, there are a lot of people who have created product based businesses that outsource production and fulfillment.
Finally, don’t get stuck thinking you need to pick ONE business to support yourself. While I make the majority of our income from my design business, I also make money doing photography, Mac consulting, some investments and of course Family Hack. I really enjoy the variety too. It makes life interesting and I’m always learning new things.
Of course, technology doesn’t always have to play a part. Last year, a friend of mine lost his SysAdmin job. Instead of looking for another job, he and his wife decided to make a change. They moved to a less expensive house about 30 minutes outside of town. It sits on several acres that they’ve turned into a “farmette”. They grow their own produce, and raise chickens (and eggs) for sale at the farmers markets. They also opened a dance studio nearby that teaches kids and adults. You can see more info at Sweet Dog Farm and Dance Barn.
Good Luck,
Michael
Tom replied with:
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the response. Although I’m still employed with a solid company I’m looking for ways to transition to a home based business. As a first timer I have found it difficult to work through the legitimate vs sites that just want you to fund something that may or may not work.
Once again, thanks for the response.
Regards,
Tom
MY FOLLOW UP REPLY:
Hi Tom,
I agree. The filtering is tough. There is so much get rich BS in the work at home industry. You might want to read Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek
. There is a fair amount of hyperbole, but also some good info on how to set up businesses that are scalable and less location based. Don’t let the title put you off, It’s just for marketing. The book isn’t about getting lazy. It’s about working smart.
Another idea is to start a business that can use your “solid company” as a first client/customer. I did that when I first started. I worked in a corporate art department. I left only after I knew they would be my first client. It was essentially the same job. The only difference was I did it from home, they weren’t locked in to paying me and I invoiced instead of getting a paycheck. In return I got the freedom and over the next couple of years added new clients.
Being inside the company gives you great access to seeing what they might need. If you can find a way to fill that need you can create a new business for yourself with very little risk. You essentially have a deal before you leap.
Good Luck,
Michael
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
You may want to try looking into AVON I have several articles and news videos on how Men are making alot of money these days selling Avon and with your own website for 6 campaigns FREE it’s only a $20.00 investment to sign up on line just go to. With just a little work you can build a large on line business and never leave home to do it. http://www.start.youravon.com and enter code pmscott
any of the long standing companies are worth exploring.
There are of course amny negative writings on the bathroom wall (internet)
typically from people who aren’t willing to try something, or not follow directions. No legitimate business is get rich quick. The key is to find people who are making it work & to be in a position where they can HELP you. Avon was mentioned, they have been arounf for decades (in my opinion, they are kind of limited to 1 basic product line)
That is why I prefer AMWAY, they sell whatever sells, They doi have ‘core’ products that still sell, but also many more that change constantly. Its more about the people you are involved with and buying through your affiliated partners. Almost all other multilevels are based on a “magic product” a special water, a mgic oil, seaweed, magic vitamins…
The key again is to find a businees with rpoven & on-going track record & someone who can show what to do (& what not to do) I’ve had many friends comment about how so & so was in that years ago & got stuck with a bunch of products they couln’t sell?… Obviously they were not learning from someone who knows how it works. There are no requirments to buy a bunch of products, or sell door to door, or buy a certain amount a month…
All the bd things people hear about MOST any of the legitimate multilevel businesses are because of the people someojne worked with, not the business itself.
Excellent second answer, Michael! I work in biotech, and although working from home is not exactly feasible, there are other low cost and low time commitment ways to do the same kind of lab work (ie think start up hubs and incubators). Quitting after knowing that your current employer will ultimately be your first client is a good idea and it happens often, even in biotech. It will take more money and time for your employer to find, train and negotiate contract with a completely new firm or employee. So being the first to sign up with your new company will actually cost them less and be more desirable. And in your company, you decide your hours, and your own “children-at-the-work-place” policy!
I’m glad you brought up this topic–I’ve been contemplating the issue of outsourcing in particular recently. Personally, I’m quick to say that I don’t really feel comfortable with some kinds of outsourcing: virtual assistants, and globalized outsourcing in general, fall into a sort of moral gray area that makes me feel not so great. I think this is because, like many others nowadays, I’ve been trying to make more conscious consumer choices and not buy as many products from mysterious or far away sources–in other words, to reduce my alienation from the production end of things. And this philosophy extends to services as well, although perhaps not as much.
At my current job, I am often reminded of the human trade-off between mobility and stability. My employers are musicians who travel an average of 200 days a year performing. Their business is a mobile one by nature–after all, weren’t the performing arts one of the original “mobile” trades? But in modern society, it can’t really happen without support from other people whose job it is to stay in one place. In our business, that’s me. My employers can be away from home for a month at a time because I am here keeping up the administrative end, checking the mail, and doing a LOT of fulfillment. There’s no way they could take all our merch inventory with them every time they go out on the road–they always have some, but most of it needs to be in one place with someone managing it. Ours is a really small-scale example, but even we rely on outside brick-and-mortar businesses to keep ours going. I do know our clothing printer–he has a home-based business himself. But the clothing and CD manufacturers? I’ve never seen them, although at least they’re in the US. I don’t know how big the factories are or what it takes to keep them running. I imagine this is the case with anyone who designs or sells a physical product but has no hand in actually producing it.
In short, it’s nice to think that anyone can have a mobile lifestyle or home-based business. But it seems to me that not EVERYONE can, because in order to support these lifestyles or businesses, someone else (somewhere else) has to be location-based, or work in a factory. (Home-based but immobile enterprises such as Tom and Kelly’s farm may be exceptions, in that they have the potential to at least approach true self-sufficiency).
From what I’ve gathered, your experience has mostly been with intellectual labor or service-based business, and as you mentioned, there’s a lot more flexibility when there’s very little physical equipment involved. But it does seem like you’ve given all of this a lot of thought. And I get the impression that you and Hannah share some of our values when it comes to conscious consumption and maintaining local economic communities. I sometimes feel that my values are at odds: I value diversity of experience, travel, being able to communicate across great distances and using technology to reach new audiences and like-minded people–but I also value familiarity, sense of place, small-scale sustainability and local economies. Does any of this sound familiar to you (or any of your readers)? I would love to hear your thoughts on reconciling this apparent contradiction, or whether such a contradiction truly exists. I hope this all made sense and I’m sorry for leaving such a long comment!
While I agree that not everyone can be mobile, many people can if they just avoid certain choices. Accepting the wrong job is the most common mistake. Also, having a mobile lifestyle isn’t just about leisure travel. It’s about options and pain avoidance.
SCENARIO: Your spouse gets a dream career offer that is in another part of the world.
GOOD: More professional enjoyment for your spouse. More money for the family.
BAD: You have to change jobs or sell/close your business. You lose proximity to friends/community and your kids have to change schools.
MOBILE LIFESTYLE ALTERNATIVE: You keep your job/business and your home schooled kid’s school goes with you…keeping their same education routines. The main loss is previous community and friends.
Life is unpredictable. Good and bad things happen to us all the time. Being flexilbe means you can react to them with the least amount of disruption in your lives.
Regarding consumer choices. I look at each choice I make individually. For instance. I eat local eggs because I get a better quality product and also support the local economy. Conversely, Virginia wine doesn’t make the cut for me. The price is too high and the quality too low.
Hiring people is much more complicated. I don’t limit myself to local books or local music and I won’t forgo working with the best designer or programmers just because their parents didn’t fuck in the United States. In fact, working globally gives me a competitive advantage. Not because I compete on price, because I compete on talent. In the 90’s I could hire the best person within 50 miles of my office. Now, I can choose the best in the world. I love that!
Thanks for your reply, Michael. I understand the alternative scenario you suggest (here and elsewhere on your blog). I think I should clarify by saying that my quandary is more of a moral/philosophical one, and less a practical issue of “what will make me and my family happiest or most prosperous by my own definition?” In other words, I certainly value my own happiness, to the extent that I feel I cannot be a contributing member of society if I do not maintain a certain level of satisfaction and comfort for myself. But I also recognize that my personal comfort and satisfaction often come at the cost of others’. The lifestyle you propose involves questioning the systems that many people take for granted, so I just thought you might have pondered this question of balance (personal gratification vs. greater good) yourselves in trying think outside the box, as it were.
Life is unpredictable. Good and bad things happen to us all the time. Being flexilbe means you can react to them with the least amount of disruption in your lives.
I just want to add to Steve’s comments. MLM’s are definitely legitimate businesses in today’s marketplace. Read Robert Kiyosaki’s book “The Business of the 21st Century” for a more complete understanding of the industry. Find a product you love and that you want to share with people. I found Send Out Cards. What I love about this product is that there is NO competition, no inventory to buy and a very small start up investment ($459). This is a product (greeting cards) that everybody uses and Send Out Cards does it for a fraction of the cost ($.62 per card plus postage) of a store bought card. As an added benefit, it just feels good to send cards of appreciation.
If you would like to know more got to: http://www.sendoutcards.com/90547 and send 2 free cards.
I think that people need to be more open minded about these sorts of things. Instead of looking for a “site” or prepackaged opportunity- how about creating your own?
What do you know how to do? Figure that out, and then figure out how to capitalize on it.