When you are looking to build a business from home, you need to know what you are looking for. Do you want to build from scratch or become a representative for an already established business? You need to carefully evaluate what it is you want to accomplish, and how much time, money and effort you are willing to put in to accomplish it.

**Starting From Scratch

If you decide to start your business from scratch there are many things to consider:

· Sole proprietorship or Partnership?
· Incorporate?
· Where will you operate, will you need a factory/warehouse?
· Where will you purchase supplies, materials, and products?
· Will you set up your marketing materials such as flyers, catalogues, order forms, etc or pay someone else to do so?
· Will you need to develop a look, a logo, and a style for your business?

There are many advantages to owning your business and being the person who started the business from scratch, there are also many responsibilities that you will need to be prepared to handle as the sole proprietor of your business. When you start your business from scratch you will need to seek out support so that you can learn how to run your business, find resources for supplies, meet new contacts to grow your business.

**Joining An Existing Business

The business opportunities available are as varied as you can imagine, with this type of variety there is something for just about everyone. When you join an existing business as a distributor you will have a product (or service) that is already developed and often proven. Joining a company as a distributor means that you can focus on developing a plan of action to grow your business and you do not have to focus on development of product or marketing materials.

Network Marketing, also know as Multi-Level-Marketing, is a very powerful type of business and if you haven't considered it before you may be missing something very big. Now maybe you associate MLM with pushy people who try to drag you into their business by telling you that you can have the life of your dreams, the car of your dreams, a huge home and all the things you've ever wanted. This is not the true picture of Network Marketing. There is no shame in representing a company that you believe in, selling a real and high quality product, and building a team of people that will do the same. This is the power in this type of business!

Here are some things to consider if you are thinking about becoming a representative for a company that allows you to recruit new partners:

· What do they represent? - Make sure you know what their product is and if it is high quality. You need to represent something you are proud of, something you believe in, and it will shine through.

· What kind of support and training do they offer? – The training and support a company offers can be invaluable to your success. If they have solid training that has been used and proven by others then you will start you business of on the right path my following it closely.

· How do they allow you to promote their products? – Can you sell online? Are you limited strictly to home parties? Can you do fundraisers? These are questions to ask of a company you are considering joining.

· Are there any minimums that they require for you to remain active? – Many companies will have a minimum purchase amount for you to remain active as a representative, find out what they require and determine if you can handle this.

So when you are looking to work from home consider all the options, you never know what might pop out when you start considering everything that is out there. Just remember what you want to get out of your business and follow your passion!

About the Author: Angela Wills has been working from home since 2002 when she had her first child. She now runs an online Gourmet Soy Candle Business and is looking for partners to work with who want to work from home as well. You can find our more and contact Angela at http://www.moneymakingscents.com .

Source: www.isnare.com