Having a home based business is not difficult to start so long as you have clarity as to what you want to do.

The advantages are numerous and include:

#1. Flexibility This is the most important advantage with working from home. You can have the freedom to come and go as you please. Whether you just want to spend a day with your family or attend an impromptu meeting or special occasion like a funeral, wedding or visit someone in the hospital, you can do so without needing to go through the extensive protocol required if you are working for someone else. You can also take just take a few hours off in the day and work at night if you so wish providing your business structure permits it.

Managing your own time is, perhaps, one of the best reasons for having a home business. Bear in mind that this does not mean working less, it just means you control over what you do with your time.

#2. Rush Hour Traffic is history Working from home means you don't have to fight your way through rush hour traffic. You can also avoid bad weather and hear it only on the morning headlines while you make yourself a great cup of coffee and settle yourself down to some work: at home!

#3. Keep the profit. This is a good incentive as making profit can be related to how smart and hard you work. With your home based business, you get to keep all the profit. You can work hard for someone else and not see the benefit for all the effort you put in. Here, the you work hard and you keep all the rewards.

#4. Not Answerable To Someone Else Although working from home does not necessarily mean working less, you are basically your own boss and not being tied down by someone else's demands. Gone will be the days when you have to do overtime at a time you don't wish to or when you worry about losing your job because you do not comply. Also, you take days off when you need to enable you to be with your family without an overbearing boss vetoing your plans? Working at home means you are able to schedule your own time.

#5. You choose with who you work with With a home based business you do not have to stress yourself about co-workers you do not get on with. There are numerous studies about work-related stress and the diseases it can lead to such as chronic depression and panic attacks. When you spend 8 - 10 hours at work but do not get along with your co-workers, it can lead to all sorts problems. Even if your home business grows and you need to recruit someone, you are in a good position to find someone you like.

#6. Tax Advantages and Business Deductions. Some of the expenses that you incur in your business can be offset against your income. These include auto expenses, business entertaining of customers, travel costs, should you travel for your business (includes plane fare, taxis, lodging etc), office equipment costs including omputers and software, all advertising expenses for promoting your business including cost of business cards,flyers, yellow pages, classified ads and others. For these to qualify as business deductions, expenses must be reasonable and necessary.

#7. Deduct Household Expenses This can be one of your most valuable tax advantage and business deductions. A percentage of your home must be used "exclusively and on a regular basis" for your business in order to qualify. Electricity, heating, water as well as telephone bills can all be included lowering your taxes and significantly improving your profits.

#8. Improve Your All-round Skills As a one-man home based business, you are forced to be both the director and the janitor, helping you to improve your managerial, organisational as well as book-keeping skills. With most small businesses involving selling of some sort, your sales and marketing skills will be improved as you learn to acquire more sales. In addition, you will need to keep an eye on both your operational and administrative costs. This is bound to hone your book-keeping skills.

Although, this is by no means an exhaustive list but the advantages of a home based business can be clearly seen.