Advantages of home-based franchise opportunities

Flexibility ? operating a home-based franchise from home can give you more opportunities to set your own hours; you may be able to start part-time; then increase your hours later as your situation changes.

Family time ? family time is likely to be more readily available when desired or needed

Fewer costs - overhead would not be an expense since there would be no need to rent office space.

Possible tax write-offs ? it may be possible to write off a portion of your home that is used as an office

Personal touch ? you are more likely to get to know your clients well and build a rapport with them, increasing your business largely by word of mouth.

Possible disadvantages of home-based franchise opportunities

Little reprieve ? since you are likely the only person operating your home franchise, you will be responsible for all facets of the business; therefore you may have little opportunity to be far away from the business.

Multi-tasking ? you must have the ability to juggle all of the jobs needed to run the business smoothly including marketing, customer service, and finances.

Business vs. family ? you will need to develop the skills to keep your personal and business life separate; different phone lines would be one way to accomplish this goal.

How to find home-based franchise opportunities

For the most part if you do your homework, you will find many interesting legitimate home-based franchises that you could participate in. There are a variety of web sites that offer listings highlighting this type of franchising. Newspaper ads and word of mouth can also be sources. It makes the most sense to research possibilities in which your specific interests and talents lie.

How to determine the safety of a home-based franchise opportunity

Begin by staying away from hyped up advertisements that say how fast you can earn large sums of money with little effort since these are usually scam's. Also, if full contact information for the company is not obvious, it is best to consider a different opportunity.

Once you have narrowed down your choices, further investigation is in order. There are some questions that you should obtain answers to in order to determine the legitimacy of a particular opportunity. Find out how long the company has been in business. Also assess the company's reputation by talking with other franchise owners. In addition check out complaint histories with agencies such as the Better Business Bureau.

Finally, as you research opportunities, ask yourself how running a franchise from home would fit into your lifestyle. Then analyze your final choices carefully to determine which franchise would suit you best.