Many today are looking to start a home-based business. Countless programs claim that they can make folks rich overnight. However, scams abound. So, what are business opportunity seekers to do to when looking to work from home? How can they tell if an opportunity is not only legitimate, but also a moneymaker?

The answer is to use this six step question formula when looking to start a business from home. If you answer yes to these questions, chances are, you have found a red-hot business opportunity with the potential to make you wealthy. Let's discover what the six step question formula is.

#1. Find out if you can make huge sums of money without selling anything. Is this possible? Yes! There are business opportunities that do not involve selling. This works primarily if the business uses a powerful Direct Response Marketing approach. The beauty of this approach is that it attracts all the right people and turns away the wrong ones. Folks are brought into the home-based business system automatically! Direct Response Marketing also eliminates the biggest objections, educates people about the major advantages of a product or service, and best of all, it makes people want to buy now! Therefore, finding an opportunity like this is crucial.

#2. Discover if the work at home opportunity offers help, support, and guidance from experts with a proven track record of making millions of dollars. This will require some research. It's safe to say that many opportunities will fail miserably in this area. However, if such a home business opportunity is found, your chance of success will be very high.

#3. Check to see if the company offers long-term opportunity. In other words, is the system the company has in place designed to make people money for the next 10, 20, and even 30 years? Avoid opportunities that sound golden, but will lose their glitter very quickly.

#4. Determine whether the home-based business opportunity can produce automatic income. It is useless to become involved in a business opportunity that will take months before any results or income can be seen. Why? People will usually become discouraged and quit if efforts are not rewarded in a timely manner. Avoid opportunities that will take months before any type of cash reward will be seen.

#5. Always ask if the start up is easy. If it will take three months to start up the business, why even become involved?

#6. This could be the most important question. Never forget to ask if there is an exit strategy. This is not being negative at all. On the contrary, it is being smart! Remember, there are no guarantees in life and business; things can and do change. Thus, it is always smart and never negative to have a back-up plan or exit strategy.

One of the hardest parts of running a home business is separating your work from your family and social life. Here are six proven ways to keep your home life running smoothly while keeping your business on track.

1. First, create a work schedule and stick with it. It may be tempting to answer personal calls during the day or take business calls after-hours, but doing this actually shows that you’re expendable – not dependable – and people will take for granted that you’ll “always be there” for any little things that come up. Even though family comes first, stay true to your business hours and resist the urge to chat with friends or pick up groceries during working hours.

2. Your friends may consider “working from home” an invitation to chat during the day or just go out for coffee or shopping for an afternoon. Make it clear that your business hours are just that – for business. Leave personal calls for after-hours, and you’ll find that your friends will gradually accept your schedule without feeling slighted.

3. Just because you have to set up a work schedule, doesn’t mean that you have to keep the same hours as everyone else. One of the benefits of working for yourself is setting your own hours to fit your most productive times. Whether you’re an early bird or a night owl, you’ll find that you’ll get much more done when you’re attuned to your body’s own natural rhythms. Some people work in the morning, take a break in the afternoon when the kids are home from school, and work again in the evening. Schedule your work time when you feel the most productive and you’ll find that things get done easier, faster and better than when you were dragging along during those same rigid work hours that everyone else has.

4. If getting after-hours business calls or work day personal calls is a problem, it helps to have a separate business phone line, or at least an answering machine or voice mail, to take the incoming calls. This also gives your business a more professional appearance to clients than if you and your family make and receive calls from the same phone line.

5. If at all possible, try to separate your “home office” from the rest of your home. If you don’t have the luxury of a separate room, a room partition or screen can be just as helpful. This also serves as a visual cue to family that you’re working and shouldn’t be bothered.

6. Dress and act professionally while working. Some people find it helpful to dress in casual business attire during their working hours. This reinforces that just because you’re working from home doesn’t make you any less of a professional. Answer the phone with your name, or business name, and keep your children off the phone during business hours. Also, spend money investing in the tools you need to do your job right. A cell phone, fax machine or even a budget computer can help turn your home office into a true workspace.

Starting a business from home is a dream that many people have. However, one does not want to make a decision blindly and without careful thought and consideration. You can't go wrong when using this six step question formula. Your odds for success will be significantly higher if you do!