The dream of working at home fills the minds of stay-at-home moms, overwhelmed and exhausted full-time employees and part-timers who find working odd hours for little pay is a time waster. With all of the offers out there in the online community, it is difficult to distinguish a legitimate free home based business opportunity from a scam.

There are two roadblocks that people who decide to start a home business usually run into: start-up costs or finding a reputable company who is not scamming the public or using the public to scam other people.

Your best bet for not getting taken advantage of is to literally find real businesses that need your services by becoming an off-site freelancer. Everyone has a skill that they could turn into a profitable career. From writing to marketing to web design to accounting, more and more companies are in demand for at-home employees.

Working from home for a business by way of computer is called telecommuting. The benefits are that you may be able to set your own work hours, there are no traveling costs or traffic hassles involved and you can arrive at work in your pajamas. This is a possibility for those who desire freelance or contract work as a web developer, writer or author, career consultant or financial advisor. The possibilities are endless.

If you hold a college degree or have continuously excelled in a certain field, perhaps you would be open to teach courses for an online university or instructional school or offer tutoring over the Internet. Many a times, educational institutions are also looking for scholars who can create course itineraries or write instructional books for students.

Acting as a customer service representative for a company is also a choice as a free home based business opportunity. Clients who need these services are typically looking for someone to answer customer questions and complaints through a toll-free number through your personal or provided phone and answer customer e-mail inquiries.

Other free home based business opportunities involve a little bit of travel for work, but still offer the flexibility that everyone desires. For instance, if sewing has always been your hobby, you could turn it into a home business by designing and creating clothes for either a company or as your own business. The travel involved would be running to get supplies or setting up displays at flea markets or festivals.

Sales positions are another option which requires footwork and generating your products through the public. Many cosmetic companies, candle makers, and newspapers are looking for representatives to advertise their products and add to subscriber or customer lists.

In deciding which field you will choose as a free home based business opportunity, it is important to decide whether you feel comfortable around people, possibly pushing sales or answering angry calls or if you would rather be isolated if you are not really a people-person.