There are probably very few people who haven't at one time or another thought about starting a home based business. It's easy to see why it's so appealing, work from home (heck even work in your PJ's!), spend more time with your family, fire your boss, make more money...

However when it comes to actually doing something about your dream of working from home most people never even get started. It's sad to think that so many people are dying to work from home but sadly they probably never will.

In my experience as a network marketer I've heard a lot of reasons for not doing anything but the biggest one by far is simply that people are afraid they are going to get scammed. It's not an irrational fear.

There are plenty of scams and for a lot of people it can be hard to tell what's real and what's a scam. Some people might even say it's impossible to tell the difference but it's not.

Spotting a home business scam is really very simple if you know what you're looking for.

#1 No Product

It is 100% illegal to have a business with no product.

When you are checking out a home based business for the first time make sure you find out what product you will be marketing. While it's best to find a product you can be passionate about you actually can make money even with a horrible product, lots of people have done it in the past.

We're not recommending that you start a business with a terrible product but at the very least you must have a product. If the person you are speaking with can't tell you what the product is, run and run fast. You're about to get scammed.

#2 A company with a good reputation.

You do not have to sign up with a company that's been around for 5 years or more. There are always going to be great start up or ground floor companies. The greatest opportunities are actually when you find a company in it's first 2 or 3 years.

However, if you can't find out anything about their corporate office (or they don't have one), and you can't find any real people just like you who are actually making money you could be dealing with a scam.

Scammers don't like to put down roots so they won't have a corporate office, they won't have many employees and they typically won't stay in one place for too long. Never, ever send money to someone who can't give you at least a little information about their company.

What will you actually be doing?

Before you pay any money to someone to start a business you need to know what you are going to be doing to make money.

Will you be selling the product? Will you be bringing other people into the business? Both?

If it's a Network Marketing business you should always sell the product and recruit people to join you in your business. You need to get the answers before becoming involved in a home based business.

Just because you have to invest money to start a business doesnt make it a scam. All real businesses always cost money to start.

If you were going to start a traditional brick and mortar business you would have to invest a lot of money to get started. A home based business is no different but you should be investing a lot less money.

Most home based businesses require that you also get other people involved and help to train them. This is also not the mark of a scam. It's just a business structure, nothing more nothing less.

Finally, just because you hear a few bad reviews about a business doesn't necessarily mean it's a scam. People leave companies all the time and sometimes they are angry. It is very easy to write an angry blog post or say something on the internet when you are upset.

So make sure you really get your facts and make sure you're not just listening to a jilted ex-business owner. Follow these steps and you won't be fooled by scammers, and hopefully you'll find an awesome business that can give you the kind of freedom that only working for yourself can provide!