When it comes to the art of making money from home, there are two sides of the “should I pay for this” fence. There are lots of scams out there and there are lots of reasons to be cautious.
If you are looking for a job, such as a telecommuting position, where you work from home for an employer, then no, you should NOT have to pay for it. Sometimes a scam company will say you need to pay for an application fee or some other bogus excuse.
Keep in mind that many companies are hiring people as independent contractors and therefore, when you work for a company in this situation you are not an employee. You will be required to pay for your own phone, internet, etc. But keep in mind that there are costs to working a typical job, such as transportation (and gas isn’t getting any cheaper), the cost of business clothes, dry cleaning, etc.
However, if you want to start your own business, then you may have to spend some money in order to make some money. For example, if you were going to join a direct sales business or something like that, you’ll need to pay an upfront fee for your kit. Remember – you are not an employee in this function. You are paying to start your own business. And paying $100 to start your own business as a consultant with an established company is a lot less than forking over a couple hundred thousand to start your own franchise of an existing business. And in some cases, these companies will give you a free website and lots of free business resources to get you started.
If you want to create your own online business there will be other fees, such as your domain registration (under $10), web hosting (under $10 / mo), among others. If you are great with graphics, you may be able to create your own logo, ads, etc. But if you are horrible with them, you’ll need to spend money on having them created for you, etc.
And don’t forget about spending money on LEARNING new things. As a new business owner, there are lots of things to learn. And yes, you can go about learning these things through the hard knock route, but that doesn’t make a lot of sense when you can learn from those who are more experienced. I routinely buy ebooks, audios, coaching and other business resources to help me learn new things, and it’s made a huge difference in my business. (and they’re tax write-offs)
If you’re ready to learn something new, I highly suggest you take a look at The IndieBizChicks.com Members Center! You’ll get two new reports each month that will teach you new things about your business for only $9.95 per month. Learn more or sign up by visiting https://www.indiebizchicks.com/mc.html