In today’s economy, millions are deciding to work at home. Some choose to do this to beat the gas prices, some because they got laid off, and some just because they realize the opportunities that await them. Then comes the tough decision of what to do. Do they start their own business? Run a Franchise? Work for someone else? What’s the right thing to do? It’s easier than you think when armed with the right information and we hope to provide that. We’ll explore the differences between business opportunities and franchises, and give you examples of how this can help you achieve your dream of working from home.

The best description we found for the differences between a business opportunity and franchise can be found in Business Expert Priscilla Huff’s book, Make Your Business Survive and Thrive. In her book, Huff states, "Generally, an owner starts a business opportunity by putting together an operational manual, business forms, and other materials and then sells the package to other entrepreneurs to get them started in the business. There are no franchise fees. These are smaller operations and more affordable than franchises."

You can do an internet search on Google or Yahoo for business opportunities and get an idea of just how many opportunities are available. The key is to find legitimate ones and ones that offer all the benefits that Huff recommends.

A franchise on the other hand is different. In Huff’s book she describes a franchise as, "A franchise is a business opportunity in which the franchisee pays a company for the right to sell and distribute its products or services and uses its trademark and trade name. Franchisees pay an initial franchise fee, and there may or may not be ongoing royalty fees, advertising costs, or mandatory costs of purchasing the company’s supplies to operate the franchise. A franchisee has to follow the company’s procedures, and the total cost may reach thousands of dollars."

Go ahead and do the same Google search and see how many franchise opportunities are available? You are sure to recognize familiar names when you do this.

Both types of businesses work. It all depends on what you are looking for and what best suits your skills and experience.

One business opportunity that is growing in popularly today is that of starting a home-based tutoring referral business. In June of 2002, Laurie Hurley of Newbury Park, CA opened such a company, providing private one-on-one tutoring. Little did she know at the time that her small home-based business would produce a lucrative six-figure income just three years after launching it. By June of 2005, Hurley decided to market her idea nationwide and assemble all of the ingredients she used to become successful. She packaged it, created another website and sold via the internet. Hurley hoped to attract people like herself, ex-Corporate executives who wanted out of the traditional work environment; people who wanted to control their own destiny and still make a good living. Much to her surprise, not only did Corporate people call and inquire, but so did teachers, bankers, nurses, and financial advisors, individuals that had or were going to be down-sized or laid off. Many of the phone calls coming in were referencing a popular in-home tutoring franchise that was asking about $25K for the same program Hurley was selling, but literally at a fraction of their asking price. Having once been a franchise owner, Hurley was more than delighted to highlight the differences and Home Tutoring Business, www.hometutoringbusiness.com was born.

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