This August would have marked the 12th year that Patrick had worked for Veritas Telecommunications.  But, like many big companies today VT was exporting more and more American jobs overseas.  Countries like India, the Philippines and Mexico were experiencing a hiring boom of sorts.  Patrick allowed himself to become another unprepared victim of the times.  He had often thought about working one of those pyramid things; he had been approached many times by friends to join them.  He had even investigated some opportunities on the Internet.  However he always thought that he had no need to do that.  After all, he worked hard and always got very high marks on all of his reviews from his supervisors.  He was too busy coaching little league and had felt he had too many other activities to be bothered.  He was going to put in his twenty and be done .  Then he would be free to do what he wanted, travel with his wife and see the world – just like his parents had done.

But this time, he wasn’t able to dodge the pink slip like so many times before and Patrick was truly afraid this time.  After all, the top story every night is how many jobs were just lost.   Patrick had 3 mouths at home to feed along with a mortgage, utilities, car note(s), the kid’s tuition, etc.  The few months of severance was only going to go so far and that was it, unless he was really lucky.  Oh, well – if it really came down to it Walmart is hiring.  Patrick really wished now that he had prepared with a “Plan B” , because now he had many reasons to be afraid…

You know the sad thing about the Patricks of the world is that they all see it coming.  At many companies, lay offs and RIFS are so common place that it is just like the freight train with its lights and horn on coming right down the tracks straight for you.  But stand frozen like a deer in facing a pair of headlights, hoping that it will pass them by, only to get run right over, smashed and bleeding.  

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If you are reading this, you are probably considering how you can work a “Plan B” for your self.  Perhaps you are now considering a home based business as a hedge against what could happen to your family. 

The big question that you need to answer for yourself is which home based business are your going to put your stakes in.  There are so many to choose from.  I can’t answer which one is best for you but I can give you some points to consider:

• Choose a company that has a solid reputation.  Avoid ground floor opportunities.  The failure rate with those is too high.

• Look at the industry competition.  Do you really want to sell a product for $100 that you can get down at the vitamin store for $20?   Even if the product is unique, how long do you think that you will be able to do that before Walmart  steps in with a copy?

• Make sure that the product is something that you can get excited about.  Selling a product for which you have no passion for never works because the lack of passion shows.  The product has to be something you would be comfortable telling a friend about even if that is not how you plan to market it.

• Does the compensation plan make sense to you?  Does it seem doable?

• Finally, the most important thing.  Look at your leadership.  Do they have an understanding of how to use the internet to market your product, or is “belly to belly” the only thing that they teach?

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