Long before the Internet was around many people sought to find a home based business opportunity that could give them a new life and the freedom to work from home. They looked into all different areas from selling Tupperware at their monthly home gatherings to teaching piano in their front room. The type of home based business opportunity wasn’t important, the key was to do something from home that had the potential to make them financially free in a few years.The Reason Why They FailedThe problem with this logic was that the business model that they had was never going to accomplish their goals within the time frame. You would have to sell a lot of Tupperware or teach 24/7 to even get close so they started to look at other areas and one that became increasingly popular was something called MLM or multi level marketing. With this home based business opportunity they would not only make money on what they did themselves but also on the efforts of the people they sold to. This is called leveraging other peoples time or OPT and is one half of the magic key to success in any industry on the planet.Home Based Business Opportunity-Part 1: OPTThe first part to running a successful home based business opportunity is to leverage other peoples time. It’s just not practically possible to be successful by yourself, you need to build up a team of people that work with you to the mutual benefit of all. Now this differs from simply having employees because with employees you’re not really leveraging OPT at all, you’re just paying them for their time which is completely different. A better example of OPT in regular business would be a salesman on commission; you don’t pay them anything unless they sell something and then you simply take a percentage of what they make.Now the way this translates to a home based business opportunity is that the salesmen in this case are just ordinary people like you and I. The problem was that they just couldn’t make any consistent sales and the thing that ended up happening was that everyone started trying to convince their friends and family to buy their products and this lead to an overall bad reputation for anyone in the MLM business; they were seen as get rich quick mentality and avoided like the plague, so what’s changed?The Internet Gives New HopeThe Internet is the thing that’s changed everything and it’s now the best way to succeed with any home based business opportunity. Now I’m not saying that some people didn’t make a success of MLM but I would suggest that it was those with the sales backgrounds that did. The Internet however has brought with it the opportunity for everyday folk just like you and me to become financially free through OPT and OPM.Home Based Business Opportunity-Part 2: OPMWe’ve looked at how you can use OPT to help your business progress but the problem is that you need to also use OPM to be successful and this just wasn’t happening in the MLM industry because most people really didn’t know how to sell at all. But the Internet has allowed us to become an expert salesman through the power of online systems and online sales funnels. Now what I mean by this is that most things in life are some form of sales funnel; your local supermarket is a perfect example. Have you ever wondered why all the items you buy on a daily basis are right at the back, think about it. They want you to walk through their entire store every day to up-sell and cross-sell you other products.Now you can leverage the Internet yourself to be your very own sales funnel. In this scenario you will have many different web pages that are ultimately leading someone to what they came for but also cross-selling and up-selling as they go. The real power of the Internet though is that once you set up your sales funnel then it’s there for all time and doesn’t really cost you much money to upkeep; it just keeps funneling people through the system and popping them out at the other end ready to buy. So now the second key to the magic formula is complete; the Internet is providing you with OPM. The great thing about this model is that you can make sales and money and ultimately become financially free whilst you sleep.

One of the keys to succeeding in information product creation is to break the process up into discrete steps. This frequently isn’t an instinctive reaction for the typical information marketer. Especially on the internet where small sized learning products are the norm.

However, it is extremely important to your ultimate success. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you don’t do this you probably won’t succeed… even when you are starting out let alone as you move forward.

Your product creation system should do this for you if only to help you to understand the overall task.

But why?

In this article, I’m going to ignore chunking and focus on the practical aspects. That’s not to say that chunking isn’t important. It is. It’s important to understanding and to learning the process. But while you can use the same chunks as you move forward, long term your focus needs to be on the operation of the system not the understanding of it. Unless of course you are constantly training new people!

So why is chunking important to long term use of the product creation process? (Yes, I know systems design uses a different term for this process but I’m not teaching you systems design. So I’m going to use the word learning content designers use.)

The first reason that having individual discrete tasks is important is one of schedule estimation. Frequently it is very difficult to estimate how long the total task of creating a product will take. After all, the size and type of the products matters as does the number of products in your product funnel. And those are just the most obvious elements. However, estimating a discrete task is often much easier. The total can then be estimated as the total of the discrete tasks.

Secondly, scheduling a large task can be problematic. However, by segmenting the task into a number of discrete tasks, you gain a much greater flexibility in scheduling. Not only that but as your business begins to add people you are able to schedule multiple people to the product creation.

Finally, segmenting a large task into smaller discrete tasks allows you to have much better control over the product creation. This affects two different areas — status and quality.

By segmenting your process into discrete tasks you are able to schedule and record the progress at much more detailed level. As a result you are more in control of the status of the product creation. You know what everyone is doing. When they should complete it. And how much it should cost. You also know exactly what has been done.

You also improve your overall quality. Instead of waiting until everything is done you can check quality as you go. This allows you to immediate react to low quality products without absorbing their costs. This means that you have less rework and your rework costs less. And if the product is not going to meet its quality requirement you will know about it in time to stop the development, change the requirement or fix the product.

I have always wanted to start my own home based business. I have thought of the ways to do it and I have read all there is to know about starting it but that has always been as far as I went into business planning. Well, what can I do? I just couldn’t simply afford it. So I went and looked for home based business ideas that I can start even if I have no capital. You might want to check them out for yourselves too.1. Private TutorialYou still probably have your old books from school, or perhaps books of your kids when they were young and you have been wondering how you can actually make use of all of them. Well, it’s high time to start piling them up and have a little review for yourself.You can run a private tutorial at home for your friends’ kids or even for neighbors. With this, you won’t have to actually take up courses in the university again. Just review a little and become update regarding the latest updates on the things that kids learn at school.2. Computer Specialist or Repair ServicesYes, with this home based business, you don’t have to have capital. You only need your skills and knowledge with computers. You can start by contacting friends and their friends if they would want computer repair services. You can offer home service if they prefer.3. Making WebsitesIf you have your own computer at home and you have a reliable internet connection already, well you might want to make use of it to earn money. There is plenty of software nowadays that will help you. This is best for those that already have the knowledge and creativity.4. Music LessonsLove music? Well I’m sure you’d love it more if you get to share it and earn in return. You can start your own music lesson business by using the musical instruments that you have at home. With all the demand for training young talents nowadays, I am certain that you could get quite a number of students in no time.5. Baby SittingTaking care of little kids for busy parents is also one easy home based business that you could start. Besides being able to play with a cute little kid all day, you also get to earn by the hour. This is ideal for those who are patient enough to look after small children.6. Bookkeeping ServicesTyping jobs and other secretarial services are ideal for those that know their way in using computers. You don’t need to invest a lot of money because you don’t need a lot of supplies. A good quality computer, which most of us already have, and a set of typing paper could already be your ticket to starting your own bookkeeping business.7. Elderly CareThis is like babysitting, only that you have to take care of an elderly person. Well this is actually quite easier because you don’t get to run around much unlike with babysitting kids. You also need your patience as your capital for this and you also get to earn by the hour.8. Yard Care ServicesIf you are the Industrious type and you know how to tend a garden, then you might want to release those creative skills into running a home based yard care service. You can charge some household owners for your services like trimming their lawns or even do some minor landscaping. You get to enjoy while you earn. Isn’t that the best?9. Online TutorialYou can use a lot of things with your computer and a reliable internet connection. There also a lot of websites and online companies that are looking for online tutors. Well, this is easier for those that are more confident in speaking or having a conversation online. You get to earn per lesson that you conduct.10. Art LessonsFinally, if you see yourself as the artsy one, you might also want to share your skills and knowledge to those that are willing to learn. You can charge per lesson. And you don’t need much capital since you only a need a little art set that you already have if you have always been into creative stuff.So far, I have only these ideas that I can probably try. Coupled with will and determination, these could be your tips too in running your own home based business.