Glance at any magazine aimed at mothers and chances are you will 
find at least a half a dozen ads extolling the huge profit and 
minimal effort involved in home-based businesses.

Here are a few samples from a recent issue of Working Mother: 
"Stay home! Make money addressing envelopes." "90 percent profit!
Home-based, honest, ethical, extraordinary." "Earn money reading 
books." "This is big. Best nutritional home-based business 
opportunity in America."

If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Just recently, the 
Federal Trade Commission blew the whistle on a medical billing 
business opportunity that claimed people could make $10,000 a 
month starting up computer-run billing centers - without leaving 
home. The company agreed to pay the FTC $100,000 and turn over a 
corporate jet to reimburse defrauded customers.


Not so long ago, the Better Business Bureau of Western 
Pennsylvania issued a consumer alert about a company called 
A.M.I., which promoted an envelope-stuffing operation it claimed 
could net people $2 per envelope. Few details were given about 
the work, but would-be business owners had to send the company 
a $39 "refundable" deposit to get started.

Unfortunately, the real agenda behind envelope scams is to get 
people to sell other people on the idea of addressing envelopes 
for money. Machines do most of the large-scale envelope stuffing,
according to the U.S. Postal Service.


On the bright side, there are some legitimate opportunities for 
making money at home. Like anything worthwhile, they require 
hard work, training and experience - all of which honest 
business promoters will tell you from the outset.

"Discovery Toys works if you work - you do need to put time into 
it," says Emily Krisko, a sales director for Discovery Toys, a 
California-based company that sells educational toys, books and 
software.

Mrs. Krisko, who sells $100,000 in Discovery products every 
year, got started in the business in 1979, a year after the 
company was founded. She was living in Hawaii, raising four 
children and began selling the toys to family and friends.

Building the business doesn't happen right away - that's a 
mistake a lot of people make. If you're coming from a full-time 
job, you have to expect a change in income. Discovery sales 
representatives must make an initial investment of $99 to get 
started selling products. Although money is made from product 
sales, bonuses also are awarded for lining up new sales 
consultants. This is known as a "multilevel marketing 
opportunity," which can be lucrative if you are one of the 
first to sign up customers - and the product is appealing.

Similar direct sales opportunities exist with cosmetics, 
nutritional products and cleaning supplies. Familiar names 
include Mary Kay, Amway and Avon, but there are hundreds of 
lesser-known companies based on the same merchandising 
techniques.

If you are drawn to this type of work, you must be willing to 
pester friends and relatives for initial sales. Once you've 
tapped this market, it could be tough to find new customers. 
One thing to consider: How many other consultants would you be 
competing against? The company should be willing to provide this 
information so you have some idea of how big a market you can 
expect.

Before signing a contract or sending money, be sure to get in 
writing from the company a list of what you are expected to pay 
and what the company will provide for that money. You should 
also get details on any restrictions you might face in selling 
products and written substantiation of potential earnings. Be 
sure to talk to similar investors and verify all income claims.


Books 

 * "The Work-At-Home Sourcebook," by Lynie Arden , Live Oak 
   publications. Discusses legal, tax and other practical 
   considerations of working at home. 

 * "The 21st Century Entrepreneur: How to Start a Home Business,"
   by Michael Antoniak, Avon Books. Offers good discussion about 
   what it takes psychologically to successfully run a business 
   from home. 

 * "How to Run Your Own Home Business," by Coralee Smith Kern 
   and Tammara Hoffman Wolfgram, NTC Publishing Group. Gives 
   history of home-based businesses and explores different 
   aspects of working at home. 

 * "Start Smart Your Home Based Business," by Bernadette Tiernan, 
   Simon and Schuster Macmillan Co. This book provides an 
   in-depth look at the technological needs of a home-based 
   worker. 


Online Resources

 * The Better Business Bureau keeps track of complaints about 
   work-at-home schemes at its Web site (http://www.bbb.org). 
   The site also includes a tip sheet on how to recognize common 
   work-at-home scams and advice on how to sort out legitimate 
   opportunities from scams.

 * The Federal Trade Commission (http://www.ftc.gov) is a must 
   stop for anyone seriously considering a work-at-home business 
   opportunity. The FTC posts news releases on companies it has 
   prosecuted, as well as giving out general information on how 
   to avoid scams.

 * Consumer fraud information also is collected by state 
   attorneys general. In Maryland, the Web site is: 
   http://www.oag.state.md.us (click on the consumer protection 
   division). This site also gives computer users the opportunity
   to file a complaint against a company working within the 
   state.

 * The National Consumer League maintains two Web sites of 
   interest: http://www.natlconsumerleague.org contains general 
   consumer information, news releases and upcoming legislation 
   affecting consumer issues; a second Web site, 
   http://www.fraud.org, is dedicated to tracking on-line fraud.