People are facing a long list of problems in this recession - lost jobs, pay cuts, lost savings or even entire retirement accounts. As a solution, people are searching for legitimate home-based businesses on the internet. The risk is that when seeking legitimate ways to make money online, you need to find a legitimate internet based home business. The internet abounds with scams and phony business propositions seeking to separate you from your money. If you really want to make money online, the first step is to conduct research to find an opportunity that is tried and proven - in other words, legitimate - while meeting your lifestyle and professional goals as well.

It's first important to realize that while there is a lot of competition out there, finding the best home-based business opportunity will put you ahead of your peers. With the down turn in the economy, people are losing jobs and taking pay cuts. Their savings and retirement plans have lost value due to the losses in the stock market and people are afraid. They have lost trust in the market and in our economy. They are looking for legitimate ways to make money online, in order to not only survive, but to prepare for the future as well. As a solution, many are turning to home businesses - particularly home-based businesses that leverage the internet.

Searching for a legitimate internet based home business can be a daunting task. A number of internet entrepreneurs have tried one or more home businesses already and are frustrated because they keeping working hard and playing by all the rules but are nevertheless struggling and are just not getting results.

To make this challenge easier, here are three important criteria to consider when making the choice on what business to get involved in:

- Need in the Market Place

- Leverage

- Cash Flow

With the downturn in the economy thousands of people are turning to the internet every day, searching for solutions on how to make more money. With the downturn in the stock markets and the weakness of the dollar, there is a huge and growing need for real individual financial and wealth building education. We can no longer rely on our stock broker or financial planner (the same guys who work for and who were trained by the very companies that are now failing financially and will continue to fail). People are realizing they have to take control of their own financial destinies.

Leverage:

The best internet opportunities can be launched with a small out of pocket investment in relation to the potential return on investment. This represents a leverage of capital. Additionally, a small amount of initial investment of time and money produces results over and over again. Through automation and training, the business system can be easily duplicated by others which represents leverage through duplication. Finally, the business system and processes should build a relationship with repeat customers while building trust with prospects. Back end sales to the list of loyal customers represent another form of leverage.

Cash Flow:

The business should follow the Get Paid Today (GPT) model and should be structured to produce immediate cash flow along with long term growth and residual income.