It seems that our decade is more and more defined by self-employment, and we have to thank the Internet for the opportunities to earn money at home. Many home-made businesses develop on the world wide web by promoting products or services, renting advertising space, joining affiliate programs or by working in a freelancing regime. Besides the Internet, there are other businesses that enable one to earn money at home, as it is the case with small shops, bakeries, bed-and-breakfast properties, childcare and many more. There are a few steps to take before you actually start a lucrative business on your own.

Determine what you are good at. Skills, work experience, education in a certain field are the starting point for a small business that allows you to earn money at home.

Create a business plan and design a budget. Once you have found a viable business idea, it is important to know how much you have to invest in it to put things in motion.

Analyze the need for a loan? If you do have to take money from a lender, shop around and find out about the best financial terms that you can get.

Decide for marketing strategies and start advertising. Develop business contacts with suppliers and other businesses on which you depend for your activity.

These few stages of development presented above represent just a very brief plan for action usually on short term. Most of the time, you will start to earn money at home so as to cover the initial investment at the end of a year or two, depending on how big the start up financial effort has been.

The advantage of the Internet is that it requires almost no investment, or very little money. Plus, the business management does not require so many resources as a bed-and-breakfast hotel would, if we are to give just an example. Other illustrative cases of people who make money online with no cash at all include surveys, games, ad display, photo selling and lots more.

Unlike other lucrative strategies to earn money at home, the Internet can seldom generate a fortune, despite the promise of incredible wealth that so many advertisers promise. In the best possible circumstances you can hope to make a living, but not more. Otherwise, online resources are to be used just to add up to the average wage you get with a regular full time job.