Without a good opportunity, you could end up working very hard for very little results. Not only is that extremely frustrating, but it could end up burning you out and have you thinking you aren't capable of running your own business.

Obviously no one ever wants to fail, but it is very important you select the business, product, or program that will be the best fit for you.

There are many ways you can analyze companies/products, but the most efficient we've found is to use a checklist.

What we do when looking for new products or businesses, is write down a list of items that we feel are important.

Since we choose what is important to us, we know that if we run several businesses through the checklist, the ones with the highest scores at the end are the ones we will take the most serious look into.

Usually we only end up with a few that match all the criteria, so it really helps the process. Our time is valuable so the easier it is for us to qualify various opportunities, the better.

Here is the checklist we used to find the best company to start a home based business with:

* Industry - Is the business' industry expanding or contracting?

* Trends - Will you be ahead or behind the trends?

* Timing - Are you early or late in the product & industry life cycle.

* Products - Do they provide value for money to the end user?

* Uniqueness - Does the company have any exclusivity, patents etc?

*Demand - How big is the market for the products & services?

* Longevity - How long could the products last in the market?

* Future - Are there more products "in the pipeline"?

* Competition - Whom else are you marketing against?

* Profitability - Are there good profit margins?

* Compensation - How much can you earn? Is the Rewards plan fair?

* ROI - How soon can you return your initial investment?

* Leverage - Do YOU have to do all the work or can you earn overrides? Or RESIDUAL Income (Our Favorite)

* Company - How long have they been in business?

* Management - Who's running the company?

* Marketing - How, what, why when, where?

* Global or Local - Does the company market worldwide or only local?

* Tools - Are you supplied with business tools to make your life easier?

* Training - Will you be trained? How fast can you come "up to speed"?

* Commitment - What time and/or money is required from you?

* Lifestyle - Will you be able to live the lifestyle you planned?

Yes, a LOT to consider. The wrong move will cost you thousands (if not more ) and even more importantly, TIME.