by Dr. Bradley T. Doolen

Creating a profitable home based business, while challenging, is not impossible. Part of the problem people experience when they first decide to create a profitable home based business, is that they have in mind all of the advertisements for things like "make $4,000 a week part time" and similar ads. However, there are real ways people can make money from home.

Real Ways to Create a Profitable Home Based Business

Creating a profitable home based business is really the same as creating a profitable business of any type, the only thing that differs is the location. There are however, few types of businesses that are more conducive to being based from the home. Some of these businesses include freelance writing, residential contracting, consulting, and small business services.

Freelance Writing

Freelance writing is something that anyone can do from home, provided they had a good grasp of grammar, spelling, and writing style. You do not have to be the type of person that can write it Pulitzer prize-winning piece of journalism to freelance write from home. While you do have to have a certain degree of talent and grasp of the English language, outstanding writing ability is not necessary.

The types of writing that can be done from home include things like, magazine articles, website content writing, copywriting, technical writing, and even books. Freelance writing is generally easiest from the start of a combination of venues are used. Magazine articles tend to pay fairly well depending on the publication. However, they can be somewhat difficult to rely on full time since the waiting time between querying and payment is very long.

Website content writing can be a great way for fast money with more lenient writing guidelines. It is not quite as lucrative as magazine publications. Copywriting and technical writing generally will require experience and/or education to break into. However, by starting off with lower rates or volunteering time a person can break into these fields as well. Books are something that should not be relied on as a source of income, at least not for new writers.

Residential Contracting

Residential contracting is a commonly used profitable home based business. While the experience required for this type of work is varied, it is something that someone with even general handyman knowledge can break into. This is because even though many profitable home based businesses that are based on contracting art are high level in that field, many people perform basic maintenance and handyman services from their home. If a person has a lot of contracting and construction knowledge they can even start off at a higher level in this field.

Consulting

Consulting can be a very profitable home based business. Basically, consulting is just doing what you did before you worked at home, but this time working for yourself. For example, if you worked in information technology prior to starting your home-based business, you can use the skills and knowledge gained from that career to create your own consulting business. This may involve a bit of marketing and self-promotion, but it can yield very lucrative results. This type of profitable home based business is easiest to get into if you have several years of experience in a given field.

Small Business Services

Small business services can be a very profitable home based business. These services will generally be in something that you have previous experience with. For example, if you have accounting, bookkeeping, or tax prep experience, you can start a home-based business using those skills for small business owners that cannot necessarily afford or want to deal with the hassle resulting from working with larger companies to provide those services.

Other small business services that a person could start a profitable home based business from include things like transcription services, clerical services, and any other miscellaneous service that small and medium-sized businesses may require.

While offers like, "make $4,000 a week part-time" may sound tempting initially, a person that is serious about creating a profitable home based business should look into creating a business from things that they know and have experience with instead. While this may not lead to you getting rich your first couple of weeks, it can lead to strong, stable income in the long-term.