When is the best time to start a home-based business?

People will ponder when is the best time to start a home-based business. The answer is a simple one: yesterday. People will hem and haw about this. Be hesitant, and wait. They think they really don't need to, because their job is doing well. They think they are safe. Usually people will decide to start a business is when they bills start piling up. They want a quick fix. Well, I hate to tell you this, but if you expect a home-based business to be a miracle, you will be disappointed. You delay, you have a chance of getting downsized. The best time to start is when you have a job, and cover your bills. I had delayed years doing this, because I thought I had a job, and the job supposedly didn't let me do stuff on the side. Well, then came the downsizing, and with myself on unemployment to pay the bills, I was handicapped.

Why it is important to get started ASAP is that a home-based business is like a baby. It needs a lot of tending to and nurturing. Early on, it is just like a baby, in that it will cry and demand attention, and needs its diapers changed. As a parent for it, you will need to learn how to take care of it, and get it to grow. Your objective is to have it grow up so it can then take care of you (you quit your job).

If you wait, wait, wait on this, you will then have to become a parent at the least convenient time. So, all I can say is that the best time to start a home-based business was yesterday. But, since you can't, you need to get on it today. Ok, now, this doesn't necessarily mean that you start SELLING or BUY a business opportunity today, but you do your research and develop your business plan. Set a timetable to start and commit. If you delay, things have a good chance of getting more difficult later. You are losing time. In case of myself, I started BLTeks before I even had any products or services (I was sorting that out).

So, in other words, get started today! Do something and set yourself a timetable to act, and plan. Don't wait until you lose your job to do this. And think in terms of having a business, not just bringing more money in. Your business can be your additional streams of income, but a business is a bunch of systems that work together than make sure your streams of income remain safe and continue to flow.

Or, your other choice is to become roadkill in life, groveling for whatever work comes along and remain a wage slave. This path is easier in one way (you don't need to change), but the toll it takes on your life is much harder. Plus you end up paying the price when your circumstances tell you to, rather than when you can afford to pay. I will say, given the current economic situation and globalization, you can't afford to NOT have a business. Even your career is a business now (look at the industry that has sprung up saying you have to sell and market yourself to get a job). The days of lifetime employment are over, and your career is a business. The difference with the job as opposed to a real business, is what they sell you is a false sense of security.

[Update: Check out part 2 for a video on what I am talking about]