To start a home-based venture, some people actually think they can join for free, or at a very low cost. Well, in some cases that is true, but let's put things into perspective first. You can join a program for free, but will you generate any substantial money?

As in ANY venture, whether it's a franchise or otherwise, it takes money. Would you expect to open a McDonald's for FREE? Would you expect to open a Subway for FREE? Would you expect to open a Cleaning Service for FREE? Well, of course not. So why is it that some people think they can join a home-based program for FREE and still make money?

Hypothetically, let's say you find a program where you can join for free. Well, this is how that scenario would play out:

You join for FREE.

The next person joins for FREE.

The next person joins for FREE.

The next person joins for FREE. 

The next person joins for FREE, etc.

So if everyone joins for FREE, HOW does anyone make any money? Isn't that a crazy concept? There is no such program where you can join for free AND generate any decent amount of money.

What about the cheap $29, $49, and $99 programs? Did you know as of December 2010, there were over 6,000 programs that cost less than $100 to get started? And do you know what the failure rate of those programs is? It's a statistical 99.3% FAILURE rate! Why is that? There are 3 valid reasons for this:

1) There is an enormous amount of intense competition;

2) People that have so little vested are simply not serious about doing what it takes to succeed; and,

3) With so little to get started, it takes too long to see results. Therefore most people quit. 

What about starting a franchise instead? That's a great option until you look at the numbers. Franchises of all types require huge upfront capital to get going. And once you have paid for the start-up costs of the franchise, you will be putting a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into that business. Most franchises never turn a profit (or turn a very minimal one) during the first 3 years, and that's after you hire employees, cover your overhead, pay expenses, and put in between 70-90 hours of your precious time every week. On top of that, first-year salaries for franchise owners are usually less than $30,000!