Thanks to the Internet (and a still faltering economy) more people than ever before are working from home and hundreds of new home businesses spring up around the globe every day. Unfortunately about 80% of them fail within the first few years. Most of the time when a home business fails it is because the person running it just was not cut out for the unique demands and challenges that have to be faced by home business owners.

If you are considering starting a home business do not let the statistics put you off, but make sure that you answer these questions  - the four W’s – to get off to the best possible start.

WHO – Who are you doing this for exactly? Are you truly committed to the idea of running a home business that enriches and empowers you or are you simply doing it because your bank balance is looking a little sad? If you are not sure who you are doing this for, you will have a very difficult time maintaining the motivation to achieve the level of success you desire.

WHAT – Do you have a clear idea of what you hope to achieve by starting a home business? Do you want to be able to quit the 9 to 5 rat race and support yourself with the profits from your home based endeavors? Or are you simply looking for enough extra income to have the ability to buy some of those big ticket items you can’t quite afford right now? Once you figure out what you are hoping to achieve you can set goals accordingly.

WHERE – As in where to start. There are hundreds of different work at home opportunities, some good, some great and unfortunately some are outright scams. Take the time to actually study what is being offered. How much is it going to cost you? Is it a one off, monthly or yearly cost? What is the actual product or service that you are receiving, and is there something else out there that may better serve your needs. Can you come up with some better ideas of your own?

WHEN – Knowing when the right time is to officially launch your new home business is essential too. Before you have that website go live have you double checked it for grammar errors, pages that don’t load or badly worded content? Do you have the proper systems in place to ensure that you can ship products to your customers in a secure and efficient manner ? Do you even have a good payment system in place? Do not open for business until you are quite sure you are fully prepared.