by Bianca Raven

Created on: October 15, 2008   Last Updated: June 13, 2009

Beginning a work at home business is easy and in some cases free and yet so many people keep doing useless Google searches trying to find one that's already set up for them.

These people seeking a ready-made home-business have got their thinking all wrong. A work at home business doesn't come in a package or a book. No one else can set it up for you and get it running successfully around what YOU want to do.

It's YOUR business. Surely you should get a say in what activities and business practices you get to adopt while you're working from your own home?

I'm going to list down exactly how I got my own home-business up and running - and how I've kept it growing for 6 years - and I'll make some suggestions about how you can do it too.

Here's some tips for setting up your own work at home business for free:

1.- Figure out what you like to do.

I love writing. I have loved to write ever since I was a child. Before my business took off I was still working in a terrible job at a bank. I hated it. I would come home every evening and look at ways I could get paid to write. I planned what I was going to do. Then I followed that plan.

2. - Find real people who are already doing what you like to do
(hint: forums are good for this....)

I went and found people who really were doing what they say they're doing. I didn't buy ebooks or systems or courses. I just spoke to other successful freelancers and learned how they found clients. I learned how they found markets. I learned how they ran their businesses.

Some of the ideas were great. Some I didn't like. It's my business, so I chose the bits I liked and worked around those.

3. - Begin working part-time on that thing you like to do.

After work and on weekends I wrote little 'fillers' for magazines and posted them off. I submitted articles to magazines. I joined online freelance job sites. I wrote short fiction stories. I learned as much as I could about improving my writing. I wrote on a notepad on the train to work.

When I got tired or bored, I'd write something else. When my motivation faltered, I kept reminding myself that I was building a business. I did NOT quit my job at that point. I kept building my client-base and my writing income.

Tip: Turn off the TV and stop surfing the net. If you want to build a business, then invest your time wisely.

4. - Don't spend any of that part-time income!

This is important. If you're already working in a 'day-job', then don't spend your business income. Yet. You'll need to save it for a while because

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