Legitimate Home Businesses – The 4 Key Success Factors
With the number of internet based opportunities growing daily it is no surprise that there are going to be some that are not legitimate. However, we need to be careful as to how we define a legitimate home business opportunity. There are many programs that, due to those who joined yet didn’t do the work required to see their business succeed, now give the company a bad name. The way to determine if a business is legitimate or not is to do research. Below are 4 key areas you will want to research to distinguish legitimate home businesses from the rest.1. The BusinessYou’ll want to be sure you understand what the business is about and where they came from. Do they provide a tangible product or service that has a market? Who is the competition for the company and how do their products compare? Sometimes you’ll have to do more digging than expected to get to the bottom of these questions. It’s a good idea to take notes on paper and draw out the relationships. If the business has a sponsor or mentor, are they easy to talk with and answering your questions without a lot of hype? The legitimate home businesses will have a good team atmosphere.2. The EducationMore than likely you are going to need some education in the business or marketing end of the legitimate home business opportunity you’re joining. Find out what training and mentoring is offered or included with the program. Is there any? If so, how long is the learning curve before you can begin to apply the techniques. Are any additional expenses clearly identified that are required for such things as domain names or auto-responders. Does the mentor, sponsor, or coach have incentive to help you get up and running quickly, or just send you the how-to book and disappear. It is important that your mentor or sponsor makes money only when you make money, thus creating incentive for them to help you. Many legitimate home businesses will depend on you to train and mentor your team. Are you comfortable with that idea?3. The SellingWho will do the telling and selling of the product or service? You or the vendor of the product? Most affiliate programs just have you driving traffic to a website and you make money when visitors purchase products using your links to the vendor sites. Network Marketing on the other hand may require you to personally sell to friends, family and others. Be clear on how much of the selling and telling you are responsible for in order to get the business working well. Some not quite legitimate home businesses would have you simply giving cash away as a gift. This may be illegal.4. The CompensationYou will want to understand exactly what has to happen in order to make money in the business. Is the product or service being offered worth the asking price? What is the profit margin and what portion are you getting when a sale is made? If the price is low, are you going to be able to sell enough to create the income you are hoping for? Another area of interest within compensation is residual income. Does the program include a means for residual income? Does the compensation plan reward you when your team members make sales? There are legitimate home businesses that have “1 up” or “2 up” plans where you give up your first or second sale profits to your sponsor. You’ll need to weigh this approach against other direct sales and commission plans.A legitimate home business opportunity will require you to do some work and will take time before it will be profitable. How long before it is profitable often depends on the amount of time you can put into it. Persistence and patience is a key to success with many online legitimate home businesses. With proper research you will find the business that is right for you.
