For many people the dream of starting their own home based business never quite becomes reality. While reasons for putting it off may vary from laziness to being too busy with work or family, for some the only thing holding them back is not knowing what they want to do. Once you have a clear idea of the exact type of home based business you are going to start, taking the necessary steps to begin will actually become easier than not doing anything.There are as many potential different types of home based businesses as there are people who want to have a home business, probably even more, but they generally fall into one o two categories. The first type of business is something that the business owner has thought of themselves, this is a completely custom unique business, started totally from scratch. While this option does provide more freedom (a trait usually prized by aspiring entrepreneurs) it also comes with much, much more responsibility. If you have already been successful in starting your own business or working closely with a successful start up, then this is probably the best option for you. If you do not have such experience it is still possible to succeed in a built-from-scratch home based business, but it will be harder. A lack of experience is not something that can be glossed over, if you do not have experience yourself in one or more areas do not go into business without the help of experienced professional advisers who can guide you. Quality professional advice is rarely free, and this is the hidden cost of starting a business from scratch, but if you are serious it will be well worth the cost.The other major option for starting a home based business is to buy into an already established business model. Again at first glance this may seem like the more expensive option, but for the level of professional support, not to mention the time, effort, and expense gone into proving the business model, often combine to make it the cheaper home business option. This type of color-by-numbers business model usually comes in one of three basic types.Franchise
When you hear the word franchise you probably envision a major chain restaurant or other large business, but the franchise system is becoming more and more popular as a vehicle for at home start ups. Because the inherent business model has already been proven in a wide variety of markets and conditions, there is much less risk, and expense, than a new business owner would normally have to deal with. While there are many high end franchises requiring high entrance fees, expensive equipment, and extensive training, there are also many simple, quick and relatively cheap franchises available. The trick is to have an idea of what you want out of the business and be willing to seriously look into a few potential candidates to find the one that’s right for you.Direct Marketing
Many full time sales people who work for major companies actually file taxes as being self employed because this model works best for both the company and, if they are good, the salesperson as well. Taking this process one step further and removing the expensive office building, many companies have direct selling programs that allow their sales reps to work out of their home, or car, or wherever. While the cost of this type of business is minimal, be warned this is also the type of business where there are the most scams, rip offs, and get rich quick schemes. This does not mean there are no good businesses to be had in direct selling, but it is well worth getting the advice of at least two or three disinterested parties (preferably professionals) before committing your time and money to something that might have no chance of working. Remember, your goal is to have more freedom, not to have a second job that requires more work and doesn’t pay.Established Business Model
This is something of a blend between the franchise and the custom, built-from-scratch business. Part of the high cost of a franchise goes to account for the years of effort put into opening and running multiple outlets and determining all of the possible contingencies before selling the rights to new owners. With business models or business opportunities you are basically buying a franchise before it has grown big enough to become a franchise. Some of the support will be there and there may even be some training, but to a larger degree you are on your own. The upshot is that you also have greater freedom to wing it and improvise as you see fit. Be sure to take a thorough self examination though, the reason that established franchises do not offer their owners this freedom is to protect them from themselves.Whichever business model sounds the most appealing to you remember to be honest with yourself and begin by taking a serious look at where you are now and how you got here. If you are great with money but not with time, it may well be worth the added expense of getting a bigger franchise that will let you hire employees to handle day to day tasks. If you’re a natural salesperson, but bad with numbers, maybe look into direct selling but hire a good CPA and bookkeeper to reign in your budget. Above all you need to resist the temptation to dive head over heels into the first business opportunity that comes your way. Think of it like this, would you really recommend marrying the first person you ever dated? After the very first date? Sadly, this is the mistake many people make when opening their first home business. Lastly, to anyone who may have made that mistake themselves, it does not have to be a life sentence. There are plenty of other business opportunities that really do work, and with a little looking you can find one that will work for you too.

One of the keys to succeeding in information product creation is to break the process up into discrete steps. This frequently isn’t an instinctive reaction for the typical information marketer. Especially on the internet where small sized learning products are the norm.

However, it is extremely important to your ultimate success. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you don’t do this you probably won’t succeed… even when you are starting out let alone as you move forward.

Your product creation system should do this for you if only to help you to understand the overall task.

But why?

In this article, I’m going to ignore chunking and focus on the practical aspects. That’s not to say that chunking isn’t important. It is. It’s important to understanding and to learning the process. But while you can use the same chunks as you move forward, long term your focus needs to be on the operation of the system not the understanding of it. Unless of course you are constantly training new people!

So why is chunking important to long term use of the product creation process? (Yes, I know systems design uses a different term for this process but I’m not teaching you systems design. So I’m going to use the word learning content designers use.)

The first reason that having individual discrete tasks is important is one of schedule estimation. Frequently it is very difficult to estimate how long the total task of creating a product will take. After all, the size and type of the products matters as does the number of products in your product funnel. And those are just the most obvious elements. However, estimating a discrete task is often much easier. The total can then be estimated as the total of the discrete tasks.

Secondly, scheduling a large task can be problematic. However, by segmenting the task into a number of discrete tasks, you gain a much greater flexibility in scheduling. Not only that but as your business begins to add people you are able to schedule multiple people to the product creation.

Finally, segmenting a large task into smaller discrete tasks allows you to have much better control over the product creation. This affects two different areas — status and quality.

By segmenting your process into discrete tasks you are able to schedule and record the progress at much more detailed level. As a result you are more in control of the status of the product creation. You know what everyone is doing. When they should complete it. And how much it should cost. You also know exactly what has been done.

You also improve your overall quality. Instead of waiting until everything is done you can check quality as you go. This allows you to immediate react to low quality products without absorbing their costs. This means that you have less rework and your rework costs less. And if the product is not going to meet its quality requirement you will know about it in time to stop the development, change the requirement or fix the product.

Anyone entering the home based business arena wants to successful and prosperous. However, many enter into this arena treating the opportunity like a hobby, instead of a serious home based business opportunity that can change their lives and provide for their families. If you desire to build a serious home based business, you must possess these three ingredients: 1) Entrepreneurial Mindset, 2) Marketing Skills, and 3) Powerful Mission or Reason.1) Entrepreneurial Mindset. Most people entering into the home based business arena are coming from an employee mindset, that is they are use to trading time for money, their worth is determined by the boss, and they possess a “paycheck mentality”. You must change the way you think, you need to decide what you are worth. How can you develop an entrepreneurial mindset? One way is to study or model successful entrepreneurs, do what they do. Additionally, read books on the subject and implement what you learn. You need to begin to think as well as act like an entrepreneur. Developing this mindset is the first step in the building of a serious home based business opportunity.2) Marketing Skills. Anyone desiring to be successful in a home business, most understand the importance of marketing. One of the first goals you should set is that of becoming a master marketer. It means nothing if you cannot get your product or information in front of the masses. Learning and mastering marketing skills will put you in a position to succeed and prosper for the long term. There are many marketing strategies that you can adopt, preferably ones that resonate with you. The key to having an effective marketing campaign is focused, consistent, and massive action on a daily. By doing this, you will build a serious home based business opportunity.3) Powerful Mission or Reason. Ask the average home business opportunity seeker “why are you building a business?”, and many could not tell you. Yes, everyone wants more money, but it has to be more than that. Develop a mission that is much bigger than yourself, a mission that is going to stretch you, that requires you to have a game plan and execute that plan. In addition, a mission that will motivate or inspire others to follow you to achieve the desired goal. Be a leader that others want to follow and you will build a serious home based business opportunity.