The figures are staggering; a startling 150 million individuals are making over 400 billion dollars in home-based business income. This figure eclipses the food industry. It even puts the pharmaceutical industry to shame.

By some estimates, home-based entrepreneurs are earning an average of $63,000 or more annually. The freedom of being self-employed allows many home-based business owners to consider a return to the corporate world something they'd avoid at all costs.

Consider some of these findings?

* Owning and operating a home-based business offers entrepreneurs an achievable point of entry. More than 40 percent of all home-based businesses require less than $5,000 for startup.

* Home-based entrepreneurialism is growing in importance and diversity. It offers opportunities for entrepreneurs and at-home professionals in every demographic and ethnic group.

* According to IDC, a top national research firm, there are between 34.3 million and 36.6 million home office households in the United States alone.

* According to The Success Factory International, America is in the midst of an extraordinary workplace transformation; the home-based business phenomenon shows no sign of slowing down

* Information technology (IT) has made it possible for e-commerce and has enabled small, medium-sized, and home-based businesses to compete more effectively in the global market. Ecommerce makes it possible for more people to start their own businesses.

Many home-based business startups are an outgrowth of either personal interest or a profession that severely limited the individual freedom of the worker. In either case, there seems to be growing satisfaction among those who have chosen a home-based business alternative.

Interestingly home-based businesses are extensively populated with women or aging workers. The reasonings behind this trend would require an article of its own, but the point is the Internet is filled with highly successful non-traditional business owners.

What comes as a surprise to many home-based business owners is the fact that their business started at home in an effort to save money with full intentions of moving the business to a brick and mortar store front. However, it is estimated that only 5% of existing home-based businesses will ultimately move out of the home.

Part of the lure of home-based businesses is the empowerment provided to the owner who understands the return of control in their life as a priceless benefit of home-based businesses ownership.

"My list of ingredients for success is divided into four basic groups: Inward, Outward, Upward and Onward." - David Thomas