Tired of working for ‘the man’? Think you have the ingenuity to create and sell a product on your own terms? Then there is no business like home business…

Starting your own business isn’t an easy task, so here are a few guidelines to help you get your show on the road.

1. Determine if you are an entrepreneur: Assess your talents and skills

Are you hardworking and good at multi-tasking? Are you quick thinking and capable of being the boss? Then you’re an entrepreneur!

Now think of the things you’re really good at, your talents. For instance, maybe you are a very creative person, a person who attends to details or a person with a gift for communicating. Your talents are the base for any successful business venture, including a home-based business.

Skills are the things that you can do. The difference between talents and skills is that talents are passive and skills are active. For instance, a person with the talent of creativity may have excellent skills for drawing, writing or design.

2. Put your talents and skills together to create business ideas

Now it’s time to decide what line of business best suits you. For example, if you’re a person who has accounting and organizational skills and the talents to back them, then some of the home business ideas you could start may include: Tax preparation, Bookkeeping, Business manager, or Professional organizer. Make a list of all your ideas; crossing off choices comes later.

3. Give your business ideas the home-based business test

Go back over your list and cross off any business ideas that won’t work as home-based businesses. If you are intent on working at home you will also need to cross off any business that won’t allow you to work at home. For example, in the short list of sample business ideas above, I would cross off “business manager”, as this would involve off-site work.

4. Learn about the different forms of business and choose the one that works best for you

There are 5 common business structures:

1. Sole proprietorship. If you plan to operate the business on your own, either under a business name or your own name.
2. Partnership. If you plan to operate the business with one or more partners.
3. Corporation. If you plan to operate the business as a separate legal entity, separate from yourself and your personal assets.
4. Society. If you plan to operate a not-for-profit organization, in which any funds or profits will be used only for the society's purposes.
5. Co-operative. If you plan to operate a business that is owned and democratically controlled by the people who use and benefit from your services.

A major difference between a corporation and a sole proprietorship or partnership is that in a corporation, no individual person is responsible or liable for debts (unless specifically outlined in a contract or legal document for your business). Also if any members of your business leave or are replaced, it won’t affect the business as a whole and operations can continue, uninterrupted.

5. Choose a brick and mortar business, online business, or combination of the two

Working from home may hinder these choices for some people. If you want to run a brick and mortar business that means creating a selling space in your home that people will visit to see your product or obtain your service. You will also need to square away storage space for your products.

Working online means there is no building that people have to come to in order to see syour product, but your market will be global now, and so again you will need to consider storage options for your product.

Make a list of what needs to be done to prepare your home for business. One major thing to check out is whether or not your home is zoned for business.

6. Figure out the profit angle

For each home based business idea, you need to know the answer to two questions: How much are people willing to pay me for this product or service? And can I make a sufficient income from that?

Go back to your list of home business ideas and assess the profit-making potential of each. If the answer to either of the two questions above isn’t satisfactory, cross that idea off your list.

7. Do a business plan to assess the viability of your new home-based business

Once you’ve chosen an idea you’re passionate about, start working through a business plan. If your work on the business plan shows you that your idea for starting a home-based business is not a good idea, choose another idea and go through the process again.

8. Research the market and know your competition

9. Put together a marketing strategy: Create a logo and Print business cards, Get a website designed

10. Determine your start-up costs and consider funding sources

11. Get your paper work done.

Choose and register your business name, open a business checking account, get with your insurance agent and purchase needed business insurance, and learn about the business laws in your city and province/state.

12. Get ready for the ‘tax man’: Establish a Federal Tax ID number and learn about taxes in your city and state

By following the steps outlined above, you’ll end up with a home-business that truly has the potential to succeed, bringing you the money and the satisfaction you’ve been dreaming of.