Every day we hear about how many people are opening up home based businesses. Working from home is a dream for many - but actually going ahead and starting a home business is very difficult. So what makes so many people want to do it, and why would you ever try such a crazy thing? Apart from working in your pajamas, fighting the traffic from you bedroom to your home office, being able to put your kids on the bus and watch them come home, here are some common reasons, and some things to consider.

You want to build something because you want more out of life. You are tired of working for others, selling your time for money. It suddenly hit you like a bolt of lightning: you've thought of a great business idea. This is perhaps the number one reason that people go into business from home: they've come up with something great that they really believe in, but can't afford to rent any business premises. It does depend on what the business is, but working from home is often ideal in these situations.

Remember, though, that even the best ideas take hard work to become a reality. The kind of ideas that are good for a home-based business are ones that can become at least partly real quickly, and start bringing in an income - you shouldn't sit at home for a year working on something that's making you nothing whatsoever.

All of us have something that they're really passionate about, and would spend the rest of their life doing if they could, just for the enjoyment of it. For some its sports like golf or hunting. Others its model airplanes or collecting stuff. Nobody can explain it but we all have stuff we enjoy and we because experts at it. Getting paid for doing what you love is obviously appealing - even if you only earn a living wage, it'd be your idea of paradise.

Make sure, though, that you'd be able to take it if you had to make a living from your passion. It's the things we're closest to that hurt us the most - think of how you might feel if no-one buys what you've made, or if they send it back and with a note saying "what rubbish, I demand a refund!" Can you cope with your hobby becoming commercial?

You must be ready to accept that not everybody thinks of your passion or hobby as a passion or hobby. The main reason is that you will be asking them for money and when it comes to money that's when people become passionate.