Basically, a home based business is any business
where the primary office is located in someone’s home – usually the owner’s. In
fact, most companies start out this way – from simple tinkering in the garage
to typing away in the spare room. From Microsoft to Ben & Jerry’s, many
successful business got their start the home-based way. If you are planning on
launching your own home business and being your own boss, make sure that it’s
legal. While most zoning laws won’t crack down on a basic home office, they
will lay down the law when it comes to a noisy auto repair business, illegal
daycare or opening a store-front on your lawn.
Once your home-based business begins to earn income,
you will need to begin thinking about registering your business, filing
business taxes, and essentially running your home-based business in a legal and
professional manner.
Meanwhile, a work-at-home job is a little different.
Unlike a business where you manage yourself, in an at-home job you are
responsible to a supervisor. Whether you do legal transcription, bookkeeping,
fund raising, customer service, programming, or web design – if you are working
solely for an outside business, a business with offices outside of your home,
then you are working an at-home job. A work-at-home job may allow you to direct
your hours and workspace, but the essential control and direction of the
business will be out of your hands and that is the primary difference between a
home business and a work-at-home.
