Decades of home based business experience led to the following filter you can use to evaluate top home business ideas. It is based on failures and success… the school of hard knocks. You need to be able to answer “yes” to each one of the filtering questions.

If you can… then you have found a potential business you can build from home. If you answer no to just one question you should keep looking. It could save you a lot of wasted effort and money.

Filter #1

First realize that you are looking for a way to make money. You need more income… for you, your family and to do what is important to you.

So… have you personally met other people making good incomes with what you are looking at and can you do what they do?

Filter #2

You also want a lifestyle that gives you freedom and flexibility. In other words you want to escape having to trade hours for dollars. Top home business ideas provide an income stream that pays you tomorrow for the work you do today.

An example is writing. You write a book or song once and earn royalties the rest of your life. This is called residual income. To get beyond the slave mentality this type of income is essential.

So… can you earn a true residual income? Will you be paid even if you stop working once you build your business to a certain level?

Filter #3

You need to have more than one way to earn money. We call this multiple income streams. In addition to residual income, can you earn retail and wholesale profits? Can you earn travel, professional fees, benefits and other perks?

Why? Because in today’s economy a job or pension does not represent financial security; you need to position yourself strong. Only from a position of strength can you truly help others.

So… can you earn income at least three to five ways?

Filter #4

There are many top home business ideas that are actually very high risk without the expertise and experience required for success.

Second jobs, conventional small business, franchises, investment property, stock trading… they all require too much time and too much money.

There is also the need to learn how to approach running a business properly. Without proper training you’ll end up treating your business like a hobby and get the results you deserve (it will cost you).

So… once you realize that you need your own business, do you know who will personally train you to succeed in your business?

Filter #5

You need a safe, simple, smarter business with real leverage.

In other words it needs to be something a stay-at-home mom could do around her children… a young person with no business experience could earn while they learn… a person with a full time job would have the required time to invest…

So… can your business be built by the “average” person who has never owned a business?

You will see that the majority of top home business ideas that pass through each of these filters fall into one category… a real business that requires real work to build.

Yes… it’s absolutely true. There is no get-rich-quick way to start and build a home business. By now you have probably learned that most work-from-home offers on the Web are scams. Stay away from them.

Shocked? We were. We would look at anything… but learned that money promised quickly disappears. Money earned little by little from hard work grows.

What changed our minds?

It is the reality that out of all the top home business ideas we considered the only one that earned us good income fit all the above requirements… plus three additional — super important — couldn’t succeed without — absolute necessities.

Without these additional criteria being met we would never have achieved success. They can be beneficial to your success as well.

Scott and Laurie Prindle of Salt & Light Inc. are successful home business builders with thirty years of experience. On their website http://www.christian-business-opportunities.org they offer valuable resources for those looking for home based businesses.

You can also contact their office at (208) 456 2222.