According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are around 10.4 million people in the country who are self-employed, and 5.4 million people who work from home. In the current downward economy, where 10.3 million people are unemployed, starting a home business may be their best option for finding suitable work to keep an income flowing into the house.

Home-based businesses are so ideal because starting one is very cost effective. It keeps the overhead low, which helps increase the business’s chances for success. However, you can’t just jump in without doing some planning first. All businesses need to follow some basic footsteps for success.

Here are a few helpful tips to follow when starting a home business:

Tapping into your talent. The first thing that you need to do is decide what type of business to start. Most people have talents and work experience that they can easily convert to a work-at-home revenue stream. Make a list of all the experiences and talents you have, to see which one provides the best work-at-home opportunity. For example, if you are an unemployed secretary, you may want to consider starting a virtual-assistant secretarial service, or a typing or phone-answering service.

Alternatively, you could become a representative for another company, but you have to exercise caution in choosing which company to go with, in order to avoid scams.