Many of our articles here are targeted with a fair degree of specificity at the franchiser just starting out, scratching his head at all the business opportunities available to him-because we're all very much aware of the daunting task that beginning a business-even a tried and proven franchise-can be. But what do we do for the tried and proven businessman, with years of experience under his belt, who wants to either change fields or add to his career plate but doesn't need to be patronized with beginner's how-to information? Here is a quick list of some work at home franchise opportunities that may be better suited for those with a solid history of business know-how.

One of the most obvious selections would be a franchise with The Growth Coach or ActionCOACH business coaching. Designed for those with prior business experience, the purpose of these franchises is to help other businesses succeed by cultivating good leadership and organization much the same way the coach of a sports team develops the performance of his players. Not only do franchisees with these organizations further their own business, they use the skills they've already acquired to help others do the same; benefits are both monetary and fairly philanthropic.

Similarly, experienced businessmen and businesswomen looking to pass their wealth of knowledge on to others could find their niche in a FranChoice franchise. Though it does sound a little circular, FranChoice small-business owners serve as consultants for brand new franchisees trying to discover the franchise that's right for them. With an already established business history, you could be the perfect outside perspective to help others succeed in their perfect field as you have in yours.

Despite an impeccable track-record in business, however, some of us just aren't cut out for coaching/teaching/consulting kinds of work, even though we certainly want to help people in a personal way. More people-serving, home based business alternatives for the experienced businessman exist in the world of residential and commercial real estate-and the choices in those fields are plenty. A few options are franchises with HomeVestors, National Property Inspectors, and Commercial Property Consultants. The first two provide franchisees with the chance to operate businesses serving clients who are looking at buying and selling homes. With HomeVestors, franchise owners use tested methods to find, purchase, and re-sell as-is, "ugly homes," which relieves sellers of unwanted property, puts people in homes, and fills franchisee pockets. Mixed up in all the business of buying and selling homes is also National Property Inspectors, a work at home business in which franchisees learn how to apply their business knowledge in becoming home inspectors, ensuring that home-buyers are protected against the unwitting purchase of a money-pit house. On a slightly different wavelength, a franchise with Commercial Property Consultants puts you in the market to help companies maximize their capital by minimizing their property taxes. This is an ever-growing opportunity, because no one wants to pay more to Uncle Sam than they have to, particularly not in business. In all these branches of real estate work, previous business history makes all the difference, in many ways because people that franchisees are serving find great comfort in the knowledge that the small-business owners they are trusting with their property and finances know from experience all the ins and outs that they themselves do not. Firsthand knowledge goes a long way.

And if your particular vein of experience has made you a pro in the financial world, Global Broker Systems is in need of minds just like yours. Money is needed for any business to grow and succeed, but many of us don't know how to leverage it to its optimum usefulness. Owners of Global Broker Systems franchises fill that hole, making loans and financing a breeze for other business owners who see the finances as more of a hurricane.

There are a host of fields that currently are in great need of trained business minds: one of which is medicine. Currently the number of qualified nurses being hired around the country is quickly diminishing; demand for trained medical staff is getting higher and higher at hospitals everywhere. Starting a franchise with Health Career Agents will pit your business know-how, aided by plenty of valuable resources, against this problem by allowing you to use your communicational skills to link needy facilities with knowledgeable staff. But not all healthcare problems are best solved by increasing hospital staffing; sometimes it's more efficient to decrease the number of hospital patients and nursing-home residents. One very efficient way that a franchisee can aid in that is by starting a home business with In Your Home. If your business history has given you skills in running a construction or contracting firm, this is the business for you. In Your Home franchisees help elderly home-owners keep their homes by making them accessible for the disabled. With the population of 80+-year-olds steadily climbing, skilled businessmen and -śwomen have a huge opportunity in this field.

Finally, for the long-time businessman looking for something new and different to bring his expertise to, take a look at Infinite Marketing. Unlike other marketing firms, this one has blazed a trail into uncharted advertising territory. Their new product is the VBC, or Video Business Card. A truly novel idea, everything a company wishes a business card could say is recorded to a mini CD to be played by the recipient on their computer. Though the product is an impressive one in its own right, the possibilities for a franchise with Infinite Marketing go even further for someone experienced in the ways of business and sales.

What all these business opportunities are looking for is essentially what everyone is looking for: the certitude of experienced hands in often uncharted and uncomfortable places. The places that a knowledgeable business mind can be fruitful are innumerable, but perhaps one of these particular opportunities are just right for you combination of skills.

May 05, 2008