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Home Business Possibilities 2
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Reprinted with permission from Janet Attard* Copyright 2004. All rights reserved.
But a lack of accurate figures doesn't mean home businesses aren't thriving! IDC, a market research firm, estimates that one out of three households in the US now includes an income-producing home office. While that figure includes both corporate after-hours workers and homebased businesses, the US Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy estimates that 53% of all small businesses in the US are home-based. And, the US Census Bureau puts the number of businesses with no paid employees at 17.6 million.
Those figures, mind you, count only the business owners and self-employed who report their earnings on their income tax returns. Although neither government sources or researchers talk about it much, there's a sizeable underground economy that pumps extra cash into the pockets of people who never report a cent of their income to the IRS.
How much money do people who work at home make?
Some people run million-dollar businesses from home offices. Others work intermittently from home and make just a few hundred to a few thousand dollars annually. U.S. Department of Labor statistics from 1997 (the latest year available at this writing) show that the majority of people who work in homebased business work less than 23 hours a week and earn less than $25,000.
Individuals who work full-time in successful homebased businesses, however, often make substantially more than people who are not self-employed. Results of a study conducted on the Business Know-Howsm web site (http://www.businessknowhow.com), suggest that about 51 percent of those who are self-employed full-time or are employees of their own corporation have a gross business income of $50,000 or more. Nineteen percent indicated they had gross incomes of $100,000 or more.
What kinds of businesses can be started at home?
Almost any kind! Profitable newsletters, chemical distributorships, electroplating businesses, and mail order companies all have been started at home. So have candy distributorships, used-car sales operations, precision tool-and-die companies, word processing and desktop publishing businesses, catering firms, landscaping services, web hosting, and transcription services.
Is there anything I can't do at home?
Certain products are illegal to produce in the home. Fireworks, other explosives, medical supplies and drugs are prohibited in most states. The manufacture of food and clothing at home is highly regulated or prohibited in some localities. (If you are allowed to produce food for resale at home, you will have to comply with strict health regulations.) Generally, if what you do can affect the health and safety of others, it will be regulated and could be prohibited as a home business. In addition, some communities have zoning laws forbidding any type of business to be conducted in the home. Often such laws are ignored; sometimes they are enforced. Check your local laws if you have any doubts. (See chapter 10 for information on zoning and other laws that may affect you.)
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