No one likes having to work on someone else's schedule. We all wish that at some level we could be in charge of our own life, our own work schedule, our own hours, and our own timelines. That is why so many people are looking into the market of a home-based business franchise. Working from home and being your own boss sounds like the perfect solution for the person who is tired of conforming to the constraints of a corporate job. There are, however, a few things to keep in mind before you purchase that home based business or small business franchise.
#1 Not all home based businesses are part time

The common misconception of a home based business is that it is a part time job that will allow you the freedom to sleep 12 hours a night, work 3 hours in your pajamas in between checking emails, and give you tons of free time to spend working on your golf game. While some aspects of the home based business world do give you a remarkable amount of freedom to make your own schedule and have more time, running a home based business is not simple and quick. Take Expetec Technology Services for example. Expetec is an IT franchise that handles the computer and technology needs outsourced by small to medium sized corporations. While this work is done mostly offsite and through the internet, handling the technological needs of an entire company is not something that you can casually do. The franchise owner is responsible for networking the client to the network operations center, connecting and marketing firms with the Expetec Technology Services provided, and managing the billing and automation of the e-care system that allows companies to have all of their IT questions answered and fixed for them. The volume of business and the residual income make Expetec a very appealing and profitable work from home business, but it is the type of franchise that will take many hours of focused work in order to truly be successful.

#2 Work from Home franchises are often more accurately labeled as Home Based Franchises

While service route businesses are categorized as work from home businesses in many cases those businesses such as Vendstar which is a popular low cost vending machine franchise does not actually run out of your own home. Practically your franchise with Vendstar is a home based business in the sense that you have no office, no staff, no overhead. The reality though is that your vending machine business is not going to be a huge success if your customers have to drive to your home in order to use your vending machines. Obviously you are going to create a service route, finding several populated businesses and shopping areas to place your Vendstar machines. This means practically, that you business is actually operated wherever you choose to place your vending machines and will require quite a bit of travel as your main responsibility as a Vendstar franchise owner is in the servicing, stocking, and placement of your machines. So before you quit your job because you are sick of the commute and traffic, understand that in any business that deals with a product you have to get your product to where you customers are and rarely will that be accomplished from your own home. In the case of Vendstar, however, the pleasant reminder that you are your own boss and you deal in a 100% cash flow business will most likely offset the annoyance of travel.

#3 Home Based Franchises and low cost franchises are not always the same thing

While it's true that many home based franchises and small business franchises are considered low cost, especially because of the low overhead and start up costs, home based franchises can be large capital franchises and also have several additional costs associated with them. It's important to understand the difference between low cost franchises and home based franchises.

OneCoach, for example, is a home-based franchise that offers a valuable and rather unique service for a home based business: coaching and support for other home based franchises and small business. This work at home business opportunity targets those who have serious sales skills and the passion to help small-business owners grow their businesses so they can achieve financial freedom as well. While this is an intriguing and very profitable small business franchise that can be accomplished based out of a home office, the OneCoach opportunity requires a liquid capital investment of $75,000-$300,000 though they do offer financing assistance it's still a sizeable investment that needs to be considered by the enterprising entrepreneur.

By contrast, another home based business that might interest you might be VacuVent Duct & Vent Cleaning Franchise, which is a home based service business that provides air scrubbing of duct systems to provide professional, fast, and effective cleaning. This home based business, unlike OneCoach, has a more limited pace at which profits are actualized yet offers the affordability and ease of a $10,000 liquid capital requirement and as a further incentive VacuVent also offers financing. It's important that your decision to purchase a home based franchise is not price related, but that price and location are both important but separate decisions that need to be made.

#4 Home Based Businesses are typically focused on the individual customer and the family

When deciding to operate a franchise business out of your home and exit the corporate sector of your career it's important to be aware that the most successful and common home business will likely not market to large corporations and national business, but rather be rooted in the local community of the franchise owner. This is why many businesses that are run from home provide services and products that appeal to the individual rather than large businesses. Take The Photo Archival Company for example, this franchise opportunity provides their customers with a variety of important photo and technology services to preserve the most important family memories. The Photo Archival Company helps people who desire to make their family photos last by providing services like VHS to DVD transfers, Tape repairs, and MP3 and CD audio transfers, photo, slide, and film negative scanning and archiving, and much more. Each franchise is independently owned and operated in a large non-competing territory which is great for the franchise owner who is content to market to their community, area, and the families therein.

Being your own boss is highly desirable, and in fact more than 2000 Americans go into business for themselves every day. When considering making that move for yourself make sure that you consider these important points. Franchising, especially home based franchising can be a wonderful step towards financial freedom. Just make sure that when you are preparing to take that step, that you investigate all of the reasons why you want a home based business, and the different areas of home based franchises that will be the right fit for you and your business style.

February 27, 2008