Home Business Ideas

Yahoo has posted its recommendations for the ten most popular work-at-home jobs. Let’s see what they came up with:

• Administrative Services Manager at more than $30 per hour. In their own words: (some) administrative services managers have earned the option to work some or all of their hours from a home. So if you already have this type of job, beg your company to let you work from home, otherwise forget it.
  
• Computer Systems Analyst at over $30 per hour. A major part of all computer systems are the hardware devices — and when something goes wrong, you need to go where that hardware is. If you already have a college degree in computer system analysis, you might find an employer that lets you work part of your time at home.
• Database Manager at more than $30 per hour. Here they are referring that small minority of database managers who work freelance from home to service small companies that do not need, or can not afford, full time staff. Requires a good education in database management, plus marketing skills to sell your services — if you have that combination this is feasible, if you want to work for yourself.
• Public Relations Specialist at over $22 per hour. Again, they are talking primarily about freelancing — offering your PR services for a fee to various companies. Most companies will not deal with you unless you already have experience in the field, of course, so to start out you need a degree in communications and several years experience working for someone else … if you have that plus personal marketing skills, then you can consider going freelance with some hope for success.
• Paralegal at over $20 per hour. Here again, you are offering your services on a freelance basis to one or more law firms. Generally, an associate degree in law or legal administration is needed. This can be a good gig if you have the skills and education. Just remember you are dealing with lawyers — some refuse to pay, knowing the cost of suing for your money would exceed what you can get. Be sure your employer is reputable.
• Probation Officer at $20 per hour plus benefits. Let’s see — invite criminals to visit your home periodically, or go out looking for them (not exactly a home-business then is it?) If this sounds like fun to you, and you have a social work degree and/or experience in the security industry, go for it. Oh yes, not all states permit probation officers to work from home, so you may need to move to a different state as well.
• Web Design Professional at over $20 per hour. Now they are talking traditional, web-based, home employment. If you have the skills or connections to beat out tons of competition, this may work for you. Remember, you need both graphic-design and computer programming skills to produce today’s highly graphical and interactive websites.
• Desktop Publisher at more than $20 per hour. Here is another job where graphic design skills are important, as well as good language and writing skills, since it is often necessary to clean up rough projects submitted by one-person small businesses. Finding your potential customers is always the problem with such freelance jobs — try allying yourself with one or more print-shops that are too small to have their own design staff.
• Medical Transcriptionist at $14 per hour or more. This has become a traditional home based business since the advent of the Internet — but scams exist on the training end. Be sure to check out your education provider before taking any training. This is basically a specialized-typing job — be sure you can stand the tedious repetitious nature of the job before investing in the education.
• Virtual Assistant at $13 per hour or more. If you have developed a personal relationship with someone who needs this kind of service, and knows you and your work, you have a great opportunity to enter this field. Otherwise you are competing with offshore companies that offer the same services for $5 per hour, plus a lot of competition from experienced former office workers. It can be done, but don’t expect it to be easy to find work to do.

Those may be the top home-businesses with Yahoo, but in the real world they constitute a tiny minority of home workers. Most of them fail to offer the independence of a real business — they are just jobs you can work from home. Some pay no more than the equivalent office job — yet you lose all of the benefits of employment if you freelance.

Subscribe to our RSS feed for great ideas for home businesses.