So you want to start a home based business? Maybe you are in a dead end job which you hate. OK so it gives you some financial security but you would prefer to be your own boss and not be told what to do all of the time. You want some more control in your life? You feel life is passing you by and before you know where you are your life will have passed without you achieving what you always wanted to?So that is pretty much normal I’d say. The vast majority of people feel the same. Nearly all will never do anything about it. They will move towards a point in life where they will reconcile these thoughts with the fact that it really is simply too late. A small percentage, a very small percentage, will be motivated at some point to do something about these feelings.These people will feel so strongly that they will be forced into action. They will start to try and take control of their lives and try and break free from the control of a wage and a job they hate. Frequently their attempts will fail, but many will simply step right back and try again. Maybe eventually they will succeed.Now you have a choice. Will you be one of the vast majority? Or will you be part of the small minority that tries to do something? If you are the latter then this article is for you.The mistake most people make when starting a business is that they go in too big, make irrational decisions and end up in a position where their business can only fail. They may take risky decisions, they may borrow far too much money to finance their enterprise, they may try and grow too quickly or attempt something without research and planning.Business failures are running at a rate almost equal to business start ups. So even if you are one of the very few who choose to take on the challenge and attempt to go into business, the odds are stacked against you from day one.However, there is an alternative way. The safe way! Start small, very small, and grow slowly. Start a business from your own living room and keep your job for the time being. Allow the business to grow slowly, ploughing all profits back into it for the first year or two. Keep the risk low by not borrowing anything and keeping your overheads down.This may not be the quickest way to start a business, but it is the safest. If you can get a business to start in this way and build it to the point you can actually go full time working on it you will find it will be a very much more secure business going forward.So that is my first piece of advice. Start small, grow slow and keep the risk down.Next, be careful what you choose to do. The web is full of schemes, scams and programs that promise to give you untold wealth. They are a waste of your money and time. Seriously, anything that is not based on a real product or a real service is very unlikely to succeed long term. Most of the web schemes, scams and programs are based on thin air. They will not make you serious money and they certainly will not set you free from your day job. Trust me on that one!Base your business on real products or a real service. If I had a choice of the two I would go with service, but either are preferable over thin air.Next research, plan and prepare. Get to know your product or service well. Become an expert in it. Then become knowledgable about the marketplace. Who else sells this product or service? How well are they doing? Have similar businesses gone bust recently? What are the profit margins like? What does the risk look like?Become obsessive about this part. Good research can save you from wasting lots of money and worse still lots of your precious time. Do not become sucked into looking for a way to reassure yourself that your chosen product or service is good. Carry out the research as independently as you can. Do not become so wedded to your idea that whatever your research tells you it will not influence the fact that you are going to go right out there and do it.Be realistic. If your research says this idea is unlikely to succeed, drop it and move on.Whatever you decide to do, make sure you do something. The worse you can become is part of the vast majority. Be one of the few who try and break free. You simply never know where it might take you by this time next year.