The at-home workforce is rapidly growing. People are staying home to work for a variety of reasons. Primary among these are flexible schedules, being your own boss and the ability to stay home with children while still earning money. Unfortunately, many people make the leap to working at home based on misinformation. They believe that a home business will require less time and effort than a traditional business. This is simply not true. The truth is that any business opportunity is going to require effort and dedication if it is to be successful.

In many cases, the false beliefs about home businesses are perpetuated by advertising claims like “anyone can make money at home” or “make money in your sleep.” These and other myths about the home business world are dispelled below.

* It’s so easy that anyone will be successful. Even if everyone had prior experience in owning a business, this statement still wouldn’t be true. Learning all that you need to know to make a work at home business opportunity successful takes time and dedication. To be successful at a home-based business, you need to be savvy in all areas, including marketing, technology and sales, among others. As with any business, trial-and-error plays a big part in the success of a home business opportunity. Learning is an ongoing process. Running a business becomes easier and more second-nature only after you have done the necessary research.

* You will make millions overnight. Instant, long-lasting wealth is a myth, period. Unless you are willing to do some shady things, there is no way to turn a work at home business opportunity into an instant success. To be successful, you’ll have to put in the time and effort to make the business take off. And that’s only after you know what you’re doing. Contrary to this myth, you’ll probably even lose money as you figure things out. That’s to be expected. What can’t be expected is that just because you work for yourself, you’ll be successful. In fact, the opposite is true. Working for yourself means that you will enjoy all of the successes, but you’ll also suffer all of the hardships along the way. Launching a business involves a substantial output of cash and that’s a pretty difficult starting point from which to make instant money.

* Once you have a website, the rest of the work is done for you. Websites are not independent beings. They cannot maintain themselves. Although having a website has the potential to help your business, it will only do so if it is well designed, easily navigable and consistently maintained. And when you are running a home business, that person is you. Unless you hire an expert to do this for you, you’ll have to do your site maintenance yourself. If you don’t, then there is no point in having one. The minute your site is outdated, your business loses credibility.

When you are trying to compete with more established businesses, you can’t afford to lose face. A website can only go so far toward furthering your business. It by no means does all the work necessary to make a business successful. You’ll have to take care of all aspects of your business, including website maintenance, if you want to be successful.

Now that you know some of the realities about work at home business opportunities, you shouldn’t let it dissuade you from jumping in with both feet. Just be aware that many opportunities will promise you things they can’t possibly deliver. If you go into your opportunity with open eyes and a willingness to work hard, then the possibility for success and satisfaction is definitely there.

Copyright © Dominic Boykin

Dominic Boykin is an internet marketer working with top leaders in the home business and internet marketing industry. Sign up for his free Work from Home Based Business Newsletter [http://www.StayHomeBusiness.org/newsletter-signup.html] and receive 6 free affiliate marketing and home business related e-books. To make money online visit: Work at Home Business Opportunity [http://www.StayHomeBusiness.org]