Given the minefield of home based business opportunities available out there, it makes sense to go shopping with a list. Personally, I had 3 very strict criteria that I set for myself when I went looking (ok, I did have the benefit of hindsight. As a previous ‘homepreneur’ I did know the questions to ask and the mistakes to avoid, and I was damned sure that I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes twice!) Any business that I was going to plough my energy, effort and determination into a second time, had to be able to deliver on a BIG scale. Basically, I was looking to answer the classic question: “Is the Prize worth the Price”. Because, believe me, there is always a price to pay. Ask any Olympic Gold medallist.So, what were my 3 criteria, and how will they help you in your search?1) I decided that any home based business I would seriously consider, had to have the potential to earn me £100,000 from my first year. That was my figure. Now, that doesn’t mean to say that I was looking for that money to fall out of the sky and land in my lap. On the contrary. But I had to be able to see that the commission structure or compensation plan was robust enough that, given my own energy and determination, that figure was realistically available to me.Decide what you personally want from any home based business that you start. I speak to so many people who tell me they “hadn’t really thought about” how much they would like to earn. WHAT?! This is YOUR business. YOUR future. Are you seriously trying to tell me that you know what you want from your life if you don’t even have any idea of how much money you are going to need to achieve it? If you are only looking to earn £50 a week extra to ‘top up the bills’, then you don’t really need to be looking at setting up a MacDonald’s franchise do you? Knowing what you require your home based business to earn you is going to narrow down your search tremendously. How will you know that you have hit the bullseye, if you don’t even know which wall the dartboard is hanging on?2) I knew that any business that was seriously going to be able to deliver on my requirement of £100k per year had to have a proper system of training and support in place. After all, you can have the best business in the world but if there is no proper system in place when you start, you are going to waste an awful lot of time looking for the missing pieces in the jigsaw.Ask yourself, do you really want to be the ‘fish on the end of the hook’, and when they have ‘landed’ you, you are left high and dry to find your own way round the maze? Or are you looking for a system of training that will enable you to fast track yourself out of the gate?3) Finally, I understood that, particularly in this uncertain economic climate, any business that I was entering into, had to be in a growth market and not a market that was suffering from the vagaries of the so-called ‘recession’. In short, I had to feel confident that as I grew, the business was going to grow with me. It is no good trying to trying to paddle upstream if the tide on your opportunity has already turned and is going the other way. All businesses have a period of growth, plateau and then, if a new idea is not launched, they will go into decline.Choose wisely. Ask the question: When did the top earners have their best year income wise? This year, last year, 5 years ago?My process of due diligence served me well. I sincerely hope that, armed with the above questions, you find the business that is going to propel you to where you want to go in your life.Finally, there is one more essential piece of body armour that you are going to need if you are going to navigate your way successfully through the minefield: Self Belief. Henry Ford put it best: “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re probably right”.Good luck!

This is the third in a series of seven articles that tell you how to sift through all the home business opportunities you hear about every day, and find the PERFECT home based business for you.What makes an opportunity P.E.R.F.E.C.T.? In the first two articles in this series, we learned that the “P” in PERFECT stands for “Profitable” and that the first “E” in PERFECT means “Easy”.Key Number Three-
The “R” in PERFECT stands for “Real”. A real business is one where you offer something of real value to people willing to pay you well for that value…no envelope stuffing or other bogus schemes.”Real” Means:• A large identifiable market segment, or a smaller specialized niche market that is easily identified and reached.Don’t make the mistake many people do in starting their new business. They get excited about something they like, create a product, and then find there is no market for the product. They discover too late that nobody wants to buy it. Ooops! There has to be a market for your product in order for your business to be real.You also have to be able to easily and inexpensively reach potential customers in that market with your product offer, or you will be very dissatisfied with your income. Find a reachable market first, and then create a product that gives the people in that market what they want or need.A side comment: if you are uncomfortable “selling” something, you should know that you will not really be “selling” anything to your market. You will be solving the real problems, and meeting the wants and needs of your customers by offering them something of real value in exchange for some of their money. The more people you help, the more money you will make.• A high perceived need or want.Ideally, your market will be passionate about their interests and have a strong need or desire for products or services related to their passion. For example, golfers are passionate about improving their game and will buy just about anything that will help them do that. Other groups are just as passionate about their hobbies or favorite activities.It is also just as good, if not better, to go after a market where your customer doesn’t have particular hobby or activity in mind, but has a desperate need to solve a problem. An example would be those who have black mold in their home and must find a way to eliminate it.Identify and market to passionate groups who are hungry for products and services you can provide, or those with a desperate need to solve some problem.• Something people are already buying.If people are already buying products or services like yours or related to yours, you have certain confirmation that there is an existing market for your products. All you have to do is offer your products to them and make your offer better than what they are already getting. As another marketing expert Mark Joyner says “Make them an irresistible offer, one they would feel a fool to turn down” and you will succeed.So, the PERFECT Home Based Business must be REAL. And, it must be PROFITABLE, and EASY.

Starting a New Business?With today’s tough economic climate people are practically crawling over each other to find the next top home based businesses to join. If you have been taken in by promises of a great work-at-home based business opportunity but have been disappointed by your results so far, keep reading to learn about some exciting changes in the network marketing business.Entrepreneur OpportunitiesIt’s very common today to find people who are searching for alternatives to the traditional 9 to 5 way of making a living. However if you have decided to try out an MLM marketing business that promised to be one of the top home based businesses of the year, I’d wager a bet that you have been struggling to keep your head above water.You are a budding entrepreneur, ready to give your business all you’ve got. You have set up a fantastic presentation, developed a great leads list, followed through on everything you were supposed to only to find that it’s nearly impossible to recruit and hold onto new reps.The bottom line is, there is just too much competition in the world of network marketing for any MLM business to really take off these days. But if you are ready and willing to try something new, an exciting and fresh approach to network marketing is available for you to start implementing today.Top TierThis innovative new system, sometimes called “top tier” system, is designed specifically to answer to today’s declining MLM business market. For those who are ready to try a totally different approach, you stand an excellent chance of not only succeeding but exceeding your wildest expectations.Today’s top home based businesses know that the model of building a downline team and living off of residuals income is just no longer feasible. There is too much market saturation for this structure to continue to work.The top tier approach frees you up from having to build a downline team and keep them productive. It also frees your finances up from having to wait for a residual check. With this new system, you work on building a customer base who pay you immediately, not six months from now.Research, Read and LearnDon’t rely on anyone else’s advice, take that all in stride. But do research on your own and learn more about the top tier approach to network marketing. I am confident that once you review the information, you’ll be just as excited as I am about the new generation of top home based businesses.

You hear reports of people earning monthly income from their myriad of rental properties and you hope to be part of this seemingly lucrative moneymaking venture. Who wouldn’t mind passive income like this, where you don’t really need to do much and you can already expect income on a regular basis?

However, what is not being mentioned by economy gurus is that such an income is not as passive as one would think. One of the things required for this industry to generate you the maximum profits you can expect from it is that somebody has to oversee the property to make sure that the condition of your house does not deteriorate in a faster speed as usual. There is that sad reality that other people don’t value property as much as you do and will not take care of it in the way you’d expect. Given this reason and others, the task of managing the property will surely be a big one, so if you feel you don’t have the time or the capacity to do this, hiring professionals is the safest and best alternative option. Here are some features of good property managers:

1. Experience in the Area
You don’t learn real management from a classroom, so to know if a particular team is good in property management, check out how long they’ve been in the business. Another indicator that tells you they’re good at what they do is the number of clients they’ve been servicing. You can also check out the number of years these people have been with them-a determining factor of customer satisfaction.

2. Has Connections to Trusted Tradespeople
House maintenance always requires some kind of repair or other at any given time, so good managers will have access to reliable carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and/or gas men, just in case something happens in your property that would need to be looked at and repaired. In this way, such minor problems need not reach your ears anymore because your hired managers can already sort them out by themselves. Of course, management of property comes in various levels, and this kind of management is a more comprehensive form, so expect a more expensive charge for such services.

3. Have 24/7 Access for Certain Property-Related Concerns
Not all property owners live in the same area as their rental property, so it would be good if your hired managers have a website, an email address, and contact numbers you can easily reach in case you would need to coordinate with them from where you are. Since you are not physically there, it would be virtually impossible to run whenever there’s something you’d want to have done with regards to the property, so having reliable managers will definitely take a great load off your chest.

Think of it this way: these people are supposed to stand in for you in case you are not able to help the tenants yourself. When assessing potential managers, make sure you see yourself in them, and that should make them worth hiring.

Even though the economy of the country is in a poor shape, high levels of education in the country are a welcome factor for international real estate investors. The major advantages for buying Costa Rica for sale and rentals are the substantial incentives offered by the government of Costa Rica for foreign direct investment.

Majority of foreigners, who had visited, had straightaway fallen in love with that country. Most of them had bought properties including farm lands. Several others had rented vacation properties. The most significant plus point in purchasing listings is that there are absolutely no restrictions on foreign ownership of Costa Rica real estate for sale or rentals. Foreigners enjoy the same rights as the local citizens. Still, the local laws follow the Spanish Civil Law Code, which differs substantially from the Anglo-American common law system. Hence, it would be advisable to engage a person or an organization conversant with local real estate laws and procedures before investing in.

All the titled properties are registered invariably with the National Registry. Unregistered properties should not be considered as good avenues of investment. The Registry would have details of all encumbrances, unregistered leases, and legal liens. A legal expert in investment would be able to advice the international investors about the encumbrances, liens, and unregistered leases that could be successfully eliminated. However, physical inspection of the property is also a must when considering the real estate in Costa Rica. Squatters had been given legal rights on properties in law and these would not be revealed by the Registry records. Making such squatters vacate the place might require legal proceedings, which could prove to be a long-drawn and cumbersome process. If the squatters had been occupying the property for more than 10 years, they would have legal rights to the property. Hence, such properties should be avoided without hesitation.

Property taxes and fees should be paid to the federal government and the local municipal authorities. However, these fees and taxes are very less, compared to United States and other developed countries. The regulations regarding beach front properties and condominiums also differ significantly. Most beach front properties could only be leased and outright purchase might not be possible. Foreign investors would be well advised to utilize the services of a legal expert or a professional agent before investing in such real estate listings.