Following these 5 easy steps on how to start a home based business for stay at home moms will have you working in your shorts and earning an extra income in a very short amount of time.Step 1- Research Legitimate Home Based Businesses: No matter what business you are thinking of, always first look for legitimate home based businesses. You could sit at your computer and Google search “Legitimate Home Based Business”, all day long and receive pages full of promising looking opportunities, but you can’t be sure they are real. A real legitimate home business will have full company support and a phone number, kind of like the old days when your mom dealt with Avon. Select the company you are interested in and call the support line to ask for company references. The next thing you’ll do from the comfort of your home is call those references and ask how they are doing with the product you are thinking of promoting. If the reports are good, then also consider step #2.Step 2- Money Making Opportunities: Opportunities to make money are all over the internet, but the question is: “which one is best for a stay at home mom with kids, pets and other responsibilities?”? When you think of a work at home businesses you also must consider your working hours around your other responsibilities. Work at home for moms aren’t just sitting in front of a computer all day with roses and chocolates at their computer desk. They have pets, kids and other house chores to deal with too. Make sure you choose a home business that allows you the time you need to be a multi tasker, and still see huge rewards from your efforts. With that said, you may want to consider an internet home business as in step #3.Step 3- Internet Home Business: An internet home Business based on Multi Level Marketing (MLM) is a perfect stay at home mom business. The MLM internet home business of today allows for flexible hours and long term residual pay based on just one sale. If you are even a little bit internet savvy, you could be earning an extra income in a few short weeks while still walking the dog and picking up the kids from school. Just be sure to find a Multi Level Marketing program that pays at least 5 levels deep. These secure long term residual commissions for many years after your first sale.4th- How to Start a Business: Let’s assume you have made the choice to be a stay at home mom and have found the business you would like to pursue, now you simply need to know how to start a business. To start your own business does not have to be complicated or time consuming. A few hours a day between packing lunches or changing diapers is all that is required. Just set a few hours aside to devote to your new home business as you would if you were still working a 9 to 5 at your old job. If you followed the advice above, and have found a legitimate home business, you’ll have plenty of studying to do. Get some paper, pen and a cup of hot coffee, then just sit at your desk or sofa, and read the sales procedures. If you have joined an MLM program, you’ll also have an upline you can call on for support. Grab another cup of coffee, get your cell phone, and make that call! Your upline will be happy to help you because if you don’t make money, they don’t make money!5th- Starting Your Own Business: Starting your own business has it’s rewards. Your dreams of painting the home, replacing windows or buying a new car are all available to you if you remember one thing: It’s called a “Work at home business” because you actually have to do a little work! So when starting your own business, treat it like a business and set aside some time to learn about your program. The long term rewards will be well worth your early efforts. Keep these last few thoughts of how to start a home based business for stay at home moms in your head while you are searching for a new work at home business strategy.a. Look for a Company with Low Up Front Start Up Costs.
b. Check to be sure it has Minimal Time Investment to allow you to still get the kids, walk the dog, or just take a nappy if you feel like it.
c. Always choose the business that has Large Commission Potential, and those would be MLM programs.

Reading good management books enables small business owners think and act wisely. It helps them improve their ability to carry out business in the right way, by successfully resolving issues that a business is likely to face.There are thousands of books available in the market. It can be very confusing for a small business owner on what to pick and read. We have listed 10 books that every small business owner should read to succeed in business.1. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey:This is a book useful to everyone in general and small business owners in particular. It explains seven habits that are essential to be able to influence others. The seven habits discussed in this book are ‘be proactive’, ‘begin with the end in mind’, ‘put first things first’, ‘think win-win’, ‘seek first to understand, then to be understood’, ‘synergize’ and ‘sharpen the saw’.These principles will help you in shaping and strengthening your personality to tackle the issues at stake. They would help you develop a positive and pragmatic attitude without making you go over board under a given situation.2. Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath:Using case studies, the authors claim that for any business, certain ideas are universal. The ideas may look simple, but are critical to make your business survive in the face of distress to business.3. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie:No business can run without the cooperation of customers. To survive competition, you have to win people. For this, you should have the skills to influence people. These people can be your customers, clientele, vendors, retailers or creditors.You can nurture skills to influence them all by reading this book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Lucid, and self explanatory, the book expounds the points with empirical examples and sound practical common sense.4. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill:This book is an inspiration and is the result of more than two decades of research by the author Napoleon Hill. Hill gives thirteen principles, which can help you to reach your goal. This book is an excellent source of information for beginners.5. Getting Things Done by David Alien:This book helps you to improve the productivity of your business. It points to various hindrances and dangers to your business. Further, it enables you to delegate responsibilities efficiently.6. Good to Great by Jim Collins:Jim Collins and team have examined the proposition whether a good company can become great. Collins says that the transition is possible if certain conditions are fulfilled, for instance, by removing redundant labor and fostering an ideal corporate culture. He also says that the personnel at the top management should be honest.The book would help you to realize and discover new knowledge, techniques of managing people and business, dealing with different groups such as clientele, vendors and the like.7. The E-Myth Revisited by Micheal Gerber:This book explains reasons for failure of a business within a few years of inception. The author provides supportive examples with empirical data. He finds that most small businesses become defunct because of lack of certain attributes on part of the owners. He says the business owner needs to be a technician, a manager as well as an entrepreneur; only then the business will survive.8. The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau:Chris Guillebeau focuses on the affairs of a tiny enterprise with one, two persons in the operation. Beginners and those who are planning a new start-up should read this book.9. Rework by Jason Fried:This book contains common sense ideas. If applied practically, they help you build qualities that are indispensable for a business owner.10. Built to Sell by John Warrillow and Bo Burlingham:This book will help those who want to sell their business. Others will also, find it useful. The authors have explained in detail the points to observe initially, and how to get profits from the business, sustain growth momentum of the business and finally sell the business.As a small business owner, reading these books will benefit you largely. You will improve knowledge on how to do things in business, and thus will be able to do your business better.

Why should anyone be interested in helping you for free?

The government benefits if it gives small business start up loans and that is why it helps.

o Statistics show that small businesses number more than the big businesses.

o Small businesses employ more than 50 percent of the work force.

o Small businesses contribute to more than 50 percent of the nation’s GDP-Gross Domestic Product.

o Small businesses are the principal source of new jobs.

Starting a small business or expanding your small business is not easy. Expert guidance and help is given to you for free by SBA. The US Small Business Administration was established in 1953 and has business offices in every state. SBA works with thousands of lending, educational and training institutions nationwide. It does not provide grants but offers counseling. Government small business loans are offered to many entrepreneurs. Look up the web sites of the state economic development agencies to know if it is available in your state.

SBA is only a guarantor of loans offered by banks and other private financial institutions. The lending institutions that agree to terms of the SBA provide loans to small businesses through SBA. In case of inability of repayment of loan within the stipulated time; the SBA pays the lender the agreed upon guarantee amount, and the borrower has to pay the SBA the entire amount.

Can the SBA help you?

Small business is one that is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field of operation. SBA has regulations to determine whether your business qualifies as a small business. You could look up the SBA website or federal government regulations to find out if your small business startup loan or small business loan for expansion qualifies. Your business has qualified then the next question that any lender would ask you, is: Do you have a business plan?