Since my wife and I started our home catering business, I've been encouraging (my friends call it nagging) everyone I know to start a home based business to escape the volatile cycle of full-time employment.

Even as many of them faced the threat losing their jobs, they seemed reluctant to take that critical first step. The main problem isn't really about how to start a home based business. It's about making that conscious decision to actually take that first step! It can be difficult especially if you're holding on to your job for dear life! Breaking free of your comfort zone is critical, but once you get over that mental hurdle and you've decided to go ahead and start a home based business, there are basically four ways to do it.

Freelancing
Freelancing is the easiest way to start a home based business, when having a steady income is crucial and leaving your job is not an option. It can be difficult though, if you have to juggle work, family and freelancing so you've got to stay focused on what your goal is. It helps if the whole family can get in on the act and work as a team.

Freelancing is great because you get to play around with your time and your goals, adjusting them to suit your needs. When your job is secure, you might want to freelance as a way to supplement your income. However, if there are signs that you might lose your job, you can always pick up the pace and move from freelancing to running your business part-time or full-time. Freelancing greatly reduces the stress and anxiety a family goes through in the event of job or income loss. However, it's also very easy to lose your momentum and passion when you freelance since you would probably have a loose working schedule. This is where self-discipline and perseverance comes in.

Part-time
Running part-time is ideal if you're able to opt for a flexi working schedule to concentrate more on your home based business. There are obvious benefits to this because most home based businesses require you to operate during office hours. Remember that this sort or working arrangement may mean you will earn less for a while as you build your home business.

When we first started our home catering business, my wife worked mornings as a kindergarten teacher while I was employed full-time. In the evenings, we would both work on our home catering business. In fact, we're still doing it this way. My wife still teaches while I now work at home as a Netpreneur in the mornings. We're adapting our working arrangements to suit our needs.

Full-time
Many people try to start a full-time business after they've been laid off or they've had it up to their eyeballs with their job. In their desperation, they're easy prey for online and home based business scams. If you ever find yourself in such a situation, DON'T throw your money into a home based or online business hoping for immediate returnschances are you WILL regret it. The exception to this rule would be if you've been freelancing or working part-time on that business for some time and you're ready to take it to the next level.

When you do go into your business full-time, make sure you've got at least a year (two is better) of backup funds ready. You should have a cut-off date when you MUST decide that you will need to go back to full-time employment in the event your home business doesn't go the way you plan - that's reality.

Online
Starting and online business deserves to be in a category of its own simple because you can freelance, do it part-time, three-quarter time, full-time, anywhere, anyway you choose. However, running an online business is not as easy as many ads on the internet would like you to believe. It can take considerable time and effort before you see any substantial income coming from your online business. Here's a short list of the types of online businesses you could set up :

?Sell your own physical product. This is probably the most difficult to get off the ground. Unless you already have an established customer base and your online presence is there to add value to your business, it could take years to build such an online business, but having an online store brings you business from all over the world, something a small physical store can't possibly do.

?Sell your own electronic products. Being an Infopreneur (Information Entrepreneur) is really easy these days. There are millions of people promoting their e-books, software and training programs online. You don't have to be an Internet genius to sell your stuff online. All you need is to be knowledgeable in a specific niche and build your products around that niche. There is BIG money to be made in this!

?Sell an online service. People will pay a subscription fee to be allowed into the subscribers section of your website to use these services. The types of services you could offer are limited only by your imagination and technical know-how.

?Sell other people's products. This is called affiliate marketing. It's the most popular because you don't incur development costs. There are literally millions of products to choose from, and the beauty of this online business is that you can sell to anyone, anywhere in the worldthere are NO borders!

?Selling advertisement space on your website. This has always been a good money maker. The catch is that you need to build your website to such a level where it brings in substantial traffic. This in turn brings in advertisers who are willing to pay you to display their ads on your website.

Better earlier than later
My personal opinion is that there's no better time to start a home based business than when your job is secure and you're financially stable. Think of it as an insurance policy. You're investing in a backup plan that you may need sooner than you think. The statistics are alarming. One report suggests eighty five percent of the global workforce will experience the loss of their job at least once in their career. What better way to escape this than to build your own home based business where YOU are the boss and you will never get fired! Here's to your financial and family well-being. Cheers!