What is a legitimate, lucrative at home business?

10 Comments

1. Love in Paris says:

   October 8, 2008 at 7:29 pm

   both of those are scam I have been looking for months to find some thing and everything turns out to be a scam.

   Ebay is about the only thing that works for me but they increased there fees it’s getting really high on there
2. nicole r says:

   October 9, 2008 at 8:58 am

   click on Make $ and email me if you have any questions after you watch the video

   Good luck whatever you choose. Just do your research and get into something that has a major wealth trend.
3. Heidi W says:

   October 12, 2008 at 12:33 pm

   Hi, you may want to check this home business out, take the FREE tour, and see if this is a fit for you, then you may get back to me for more info. And congratulation on your new baby. I am a grandmother of 3, so the best to you and your family.

   God Bless,

   Heidi
4. melindadiebel says:

   October 15, 2008 at 5:51 pm

   I have a successful home business and some of my friends and I have put together a free website to help others start their own business (and avoid scams). If you are looking for more information check out our Great Home Based Businesses site. We have specific pages on: hundreds of great ideas for home based businesses by category (including information on kit businesses and franchise businesses); resources for selling from home; resources for providing services from your home; avoiding scams and a lot of other pointers. PLEASE NOTE: we do not have a business or product that we want to sell you – our site is all about providing information.
   —————————————————————————
   When it comes to avoiding scams – here are some things that we have learned – if you are unsure then you need to ask yourself the following questions:
   1. What is the value that you have added to the product or project?
   2. Would someone pay you to perform this service in person?
   3. Do they need money upfront?
   Some legitimate businesses may require that you pay a franchise fee or buy a business kit in order to start your business with them. The presence of an upfront fee is not a definite sign of a scam – many businesses have legitimate reasons for requesting upfront fees. Reputable franchises spend a lot of money on advertising, research, branding and other items. They charge a franchise fee in order to cover these costs and in order to earn a profit from the companies operating under their banner. Chances are decent that if you have heard of and seen the franchise in your real life (other than from the person “selling” it to you!!) then it is legitimate business. Kit based businesses can collect fees for the same reasons and also to cover the cost of your business start-up kit. Again this is a mixed bag – some companies charge fees that merely recover their costs of material – knowing that they will make their money off the mark-up on their products. Other (less reputable) companies often sell “kits” that are made up of books and other materials that provide little or no value to the person purchasing it – they do not care if you sell any of their products – some do not even have real products – they make their money from selling these “kits”. Again it is important to go for businesses that you are familiar with or do your research.
   4. Do you KNOW anyone that has successfully made money with this business?
   5. Does the person “recruiting” you make money just by signing you up?
   Beware of “pyramid” schemes – schemes in which people are paid based on how many people they sign up not based on sales or other indicators. Finders fee or referral fees are very common in all businesses but they are not the main source of money in a legitimate business. Not only are pyramid schemes illegal in most places but only the first few people in a pyramid actually make any money – the people in the centre are lucky to recover their initial investment and the people at the bottom are the ultimate losers – they lose their full investment.
   and the main question:
   6. Does it sound too good to be true?
   Because if it does – then it probably is!!

   You need to RESEARCH all aspects of starting a small business. This means checking with your local and federal better business bureau or other business verification agency. BTW – seeing a “Verified” or “BBB” (Better Business Bureau) logo on their website does not mean that they are actually registered with any qualified agencies. Many sites will put a dummy logo on their sites and some go as far as providing a link to a dummy verification page on their own domain!! You should be able to go directly to the agencies site and lookup that business there. If you find such a logo on a website then find that they are not members in good standing with that agency – then they are SCAMS!! Run away from this business, pausing only to report the site to your local fraud bureau.

   Some of the more common scams are:
   i. Stuffing envelopes: this common scam has you “buy” envelopes and flyers from a company – once you have stuffed the envelopes and submitted then the company will often say that the quality is below standards and do not pay you for your work – worse you never get your initial fee back.
   ii. Home assembly: this is very similar to the scam discussed in (i) – you pay for the raw material – make the products and company rejects them – leaving you out both money and time.
   iii. Medical billing: some reputable companies provide medical billing services from home and look for new typists all the time. Unfortunately, scammers have caught onto this and are trying to get people to pay hundreds of dollars to special equipment and software to do this from home. Most legitimate companies looking for workers will NOT charge the person any fees upfront. They will sign a contract with the person and provide a license to their existing software – they will also provide all of your work – you do not have to (and usually can not) try to get jobs directly from medical clinics.
   iv. “E-mail processing”, “typing from home” or claims to “use your computer to make millions” or to help you “make money online”: your return for investing in these scams? a half-baked summary of how you can scam others the same way you have been scammed. There are ways to earn money typing from home – but again – legitimate companies will not ask you to pay up front fees – they will not offer to sell you “customer lists” – they will provide you work directly.
   v. “E-mail us for more information” or “call us at 1-900 for more information”: these scams collect contact information for legitimate and scamming marketing lists. Further 1-900 phone numbers cost you money – money that goes to the scammer. The other concern is that these scams often request additional information to sell to other scammers or to engage in identity theft.
   vi. Chain letters / e-mails promising that you will “make money fast” or requesting that you send them personal or financial information or send money: these scams collect contact information for scammers, facilitate identity theft and take money from those unwitting enough to send it.
   —————————————————————————
   My key pieces of advice in picking your business:
   1. Do what you know and love.
   2. Follow your instincts.
   3. Figure out how to provide value to your clients.
   4. Talk to successful home business owners that you know and trust.
   5. Whatever you do – try not to limit yourself to one income source – one of the best ways to grow your small business is to open yourself up to other income streams. If you start a catering business maybe you could also teach cooking classes in your house, or if you start house cleaning business then you could also stage houses for sale. This approach has been invaluable to me – allowing me to get through slowdowns in my “core” business.
   6. Accept that “get rich quick” schemes only work for 1 in every million people and generally require illegal activity – instead try to build a lasting business that will continually pay you a reasonable amount.

   As for specific ideas – there are hundreds – most of the ones we discuss on our site relate to you selling your own products (e-books, crafts, antiques, designs, CDs, DVDs, knowledge via website) or selling your own services. We generally recommend that you not pay someone else for the right to promote their products but develop your own. Contrary to popular belief – everyone has some skill or knowledge that is valuable.

   Also – if you are interested in a “kit business” such as Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, AVON, etc… or a home based business franchise such as Jani-king, Servpro, Jazzercise, WSI corporate, Candy Bonquet, etc… – we have a pages dedicated to these businesses on our site.

   Anyhow – that’s my two cents – Good luck with your business – I’m sure if you do your homework you’ll be very successful!!
5. The doctor is in. says:

   October 18, 2008 at 10:27 am

   I’m a stay home dad with the same situation. Check out Global Domains International. This is a no bull company. Fortune 500 company. Ranked #37 as the fastest growing company in the US by Forbes.

   Check out the free presentaion at the link below.

   I’ve research it sideways-back and forth and it’s pretty solid. I’m doing very well now.

   Congrats on the baby!

   Check it out!
6. April S says:

   October 18, 2008 at 7:24 pm

   It really bothers me when people respond to these questions with “everything is a scam” That is just not true. I wonder if they even ever tried any home business or they just enjoy discouraging others. I understand there are a lot of scams out there but there are legitimate opportunities as well. You also have to understand that a pyramid scheme is a scam that is promising to make you all this money with some kind of exchanging of money through out a pyramid type thing of people. There is no product involved. Therefore this is a illegal pyramid scheme. Not all home businesses are like that. Even though some may offer some crazy product they are still not necessarily “scams”, they are just going to be really hard to do and you probably won’t make any money. I am also a mom. (that’s why I started looking into this) I also wanted to quit my job and work fully from home so I could be with my son. It is possible. Just do your research. Make sure you feel 100% informed and comfortable before you make any comittment or investment. If a product is involved make sure it is something you have heard of or maybe even use. I really like to help others with this because i personally know how frustrating it can be. Email me if you would like info. I would be happy to help!
7. Family1 says:

   October 21, 2008 at 5:52 am

   There are a few options out there and it depends on your passion and time you put in on the project that you take, I personally run a Credit card website which brings ok money a month, I got back my investment within a month of starting, check out and click on the banner on the left hand side which says Make Money Marketing Credit Cards, it will give you more details on how it works. The only thing you have to do is promote your site and you will get paid for every credit card approval.
   …
8. rpqslw a says:

   October 21, 2008 at 11:58 am

   After searching for 12 years, I found one that I like very much,
   and go to to see why.
9. moms.advice says:

   October 22, 2008 at 2:36 pm

   There are plenty legitamate and lucrative home based businesses out there. Some businesses are designed for solely customer acquisition based, (no MLM plan) while other businesses have a design for both recruitment and customer acquisition based. This just means getting customers. It’s funny because many people refer companies to a MLM or a pyramid scheme without looking into the entire documentation of how the business model is. I laugh at so many misconceptions I’ve heard over the years with Pyramid accusations, MLM accusations on a variety of different companies. Even companies that are claiming not to be involved in an MLM scheme or “pyramid”. Let’s face it, where do YOU work now? Is it for a small business owner, how about a large corporation, or even inbetween? Unless your jobless, guess what, your part of a pyramid scheme. Here’s why: The American business model is build the same way! Welcome to Corporate America! Get a peice of paper out. Take any corporation or small business, let’s use a corporation as an example. On the top of your paper, draw a circle. This circle represents the Owner or partnership owners, Then write two circles under that (President/ CEO) and the Vice President. Write a few more circles under that and you have corporate management positions. A few circles under that and you have store managers, a few circles under that and you have store department managers, a few circles under that and you have sales reps. Each level on this pyramid scale is a different level of income. The bottom people doing all the dirty work so that the position above them gets paid so that the position above them gets paid and so on and so on. What people don’t realize that but unless it’s a one man show no hired help, no independent representatives, everyone works in a pyramid! Even if it is a one man show, your still feeding Uncle Sam who didn’t work for you at all. But sits on top of the biggest pyramid scheme of them all collecting money from everyone. So are you ready to quit your day job yet? I wouldn’t until your set financially. Like I tell my kids, don’t bite the hand that feeds you! The point is regardless if it’s an MLM, Networking or even down to a shoe store, everything is part of a pyramid. Key thing that if you don’t want to do an MLM scheme and not recruit, then find a home based business where it’s not mandatory to recruit for other people to do what your doing, and their is a compensation plan that is design for non recruitment. Understand to achieve the amount of money that you desire, will take a little bit longer to obtain then getting a few people to help you acquire customers. But the company should give you a choice. If you choose to recruit people, then the income you make from their customers should not be taken away from that persons income at all. It should be equal value. If you decide to open up your own business, and are against MLM schemes, then don’t be a hypocrite and hire someone to work for you, because guess what, you just started your own MLM scheme. It’s a fact of life. You can slice and dice it anyway you want, but like I said, unless your jobless then your part of a pyramid scheme yourself right now. That’s just how it is. Your whole working career has been part of a pyramid.
   You don’t want an MLM, network marketing or pyramid, start your own daycare, but don’t hire anyone or you just started a pyramid once again. Also you’ll be limited to how many kids you can take in. Your own kids count as a head count. so if your licensed for say 6, you have 2 kids per say, you can only take in 4.
   Unless you want to keep inside your safety zone and not step out of your box and venture into something that can be very rewarding and have your own business regardless of what type of home based business (they’re all pyramid structures, even jobs are) then don’t quit your day job, even though it’s a pyramid structure as well. Don’t mean to be harsh , but it’s the facts of life.
   Good Luck to you though!
10. BK says:

    October 25, 2008 at 6:55 pm

    If you are prepared to spend about 3-6 months really working at it, then you can most definitely start an online business and make some money.
    Yes, there are a bunch of scams, but they are pretty easy to spot. The key is, nothing is easy, it is truly all work.

    I lost over $3K my first three months online because I bought into a bunch of “systems.” Since then, the past three months have been profitable for me. I am not getting rich, but I am getting a nice income stream set up.
    I wrote a squidoo lens about my experience and my tips for those looking to get started.
    Check it you if you would like too:

    Best of luck!