The state of our economy in the last few years has had a terrible impact on employment in our country. Companies of all sizes are laying off employees regardless of their talents, years of service or contributions they’ve provided. What is even harder to witness is the closing or splitting up of some large corporations that had employed so many individuals. Many of these people are now looking seriously at ideas for creating income working from home. The question then becomes what are the top home based businesses one can start quickly and with little initial investment.One way to approach starting a home based business is with providing a service or product out of your home. Ideally, the product would be something you are talented with making, but if you don’t have the talent then look for something you can learn quickly and doesn’t require years of practice.If you enjoy being creative and working with your hands, look at top home based businesses that you would enjoy creating products for. Some examples might include:Jewelry Making – Wire jewelry making is easy and with only a little practice you can create some stunning work. There are loads of how-to books on wire jewelry design in the craft stores and you can start with inexpensive material and work your way up.Baking – If you can create some tasty but healthy treats, you might be able to find various health food stores that will buy your goods.Custom T-Shirts – If you look around at the t-shirts marketed towards the younger crowd, you’ll see that lots of them have a grungy, rough, worn or splattered appearing design on them. Just splash a few colors of paint on the front, stamp on the words “Work in progress”, and watch the kids line up for these unique and “cool” shirts.If you are the type of person that is more comfortable with physical work, some top home based businesses might include:Carpet Cleaning – For a small investment you can buy commercial carpet cleaners like the ones that are rented out at many department stores. These do a great job with just hot water and some cleaning solution. They even fit in most cars.Lawn Care – If you already own a riding lawn mower and a truck you can buy some ramps to get the mower into the truck bed. Or, you can get a trailer to put the mower on. As you get more business you can invest in better equipment that lets you complete more jobs in the same amount of time.Cleaning Homes – Take the hour or so you spend each day exercising and clean homes instead. You’ll get the cardio workout from the cleaning and get paid as well. Most clients already have the cleaning supplies they want you to use, so don’t feel you need to stock up on all the supplies.Additionally, some top home based businesses that let you utilize your computer would include:Freelance Jobs – Sites like freelancer.com provide outsourcing for large and small businesses to find experts to complete various projects and tasks. Companies are looking for skills like writing, designing, data entry, sales and marketing as well as technical skills like programming, administration and engineering.website Design – Website design has become much easier as the technology and software has improved in recent years. While it’s a good idea to be familiar with some of the technical jargon, you can focus on the design and flow of a website and outsource the technical development of the sites to someone else.Medical Billing or Coding – this type of online work has become popular as hospitals and insurance agencies are trying to keep costs down. You need to learn the billing or coding process to take on these types of jobs.As with any endeavor you will want to do proper and thorough research in your area of interest. While the list above of top home based businesses is not complete, it provides a few realistic examples and thought starters that will help you get you on your way.

So you’re living the dream and have your very own home business. You can wake up whenever you want, do as much or as little work as possible, and have ultimate freedom! Unfortunately, this is rarely the case for the majority of home business owners, many of which struggle to make ends meet. If you want to reverse this condition, make your business wildly profitable and experience ultimate freedom, then pay attention to the following home based business tips…Tip One – Choose Your Vehicle And Stick With ItThere are many different vehicles that will get you to the same destination. It’s up to you to choose the one that is right for you and your unique goals. Whether you have an affiliate business, an eBay business, a freelance writing business or anything in between. You need to carefully choose the vehicle (the specific business model) and give it 100% of you focus. If you jump between a whole variety of business models, then you will be spreading yourself too thin.Focus on one method of making money via a home based business and stick with it until it’s profitable. Don’t be tempted to bounce around and try too many different things all at once, otherwise none of the businesses will end up profitable. Focus is the key to success with a home business.Tip Two – Have A Set ScheduleWhen you were an employee, dreaming about owning a home based business, you may have thought how amazing it would be to work from the comfort of your own home. Although there are many benefits to doing this, there are also many distractions that can hinder your progress. This is why it’s essential to have a set work schedule.You should have a daily schedule that you persistently follow. If you don’t do this, you could find yourself checking Facebook one minute, watching television the next, and then chatting on the phone to one of your friends. Eliminate all distractions during your work schedule and don’t do anything else but work on your business during the designated time!Tip Three – Seek Knowledge + Take ActionTo make a home based business wildly successful, you will need to do two main steps, accumulate up-to-date knowledge and take action on what you have learned. If you can do these two steps over and over again, your will be amazed at how profitable your business can become.The trick is to never stop accumulating knowledge. The moment your mind becomes shut is the moment when all progress forward will stop. It’s also important to realize that if all you do is continuously learn without taking any action, then you will never become successful. So you must strike a balance between learning new things and also taking action on what you have learned.Even though running a home based business can be challenging, it’s a very fulfilling challenge that can completely revolutionize your whole life. Just make sure you follow these three home based business tips so that you can make the entire experience run smoother, be more enjoyable, and ultimately become wildly profitable!