Those that have a profitable home business, what is it? How long did you research before doing it? How long was the set up process?
I have been doing a little research every day or so for the past month and feel a little bit better than when I first thought about it. But still scared of failing.

The best home business I have had was a carpet cleaning business. I bought a professional cleaner for $1,200. Then all I did was print up flyers and I made my $1,200 pretty fast.

I am writing and earning a bit of income with it. The first thing I did was join a website that helps people find online work. It took a lot of reading and posting there but I did get some leads and am making a little extra spending money. It has been a long process, probably about 4 months before I actually started working.

I also do some online writing and posting. It takes a while for any online job to get going as there is a lot of junk out there that you have to week through. You have to do a lot of research and have an interest in what your doing so you end up sticking with it. With an online business, patience is a virtue.

I hope you overcome your fears, especially if you want to grow and prosper. Join a few suport groups such as this one and ask advice, many can help you.

Mine was real slow to get off the ground--mainly because I hadn't considered it as a viable business at first. As I posted in the intro forum, I make jewelry, and I had started out just playing around, making it for myself, then for gifts, and then it just kind of grew into a business.

So anyway, I guess my best advice is to take it slow and don't rush things. Start locally if you can (obviously not if yours is an online service or something of that nature) because it is a lot easier--I sold at craft shows and those were so helpful because I immediatly saw what sold and what didn't, what prices work for what I make, how to market my products, etc., etc. If I was selling online, I don't think I would have sold as much as quickly, so my feedback would have been a lot slower coming, so my business would have grown even slower.

So far I had only found autosurf and a few other work reliable for earning money online. Even though I only earn few bucks from there but it is quite a good way to start. I have seen alot of scams and programs that require you to pay for a beginning fee. I wonder if there is anyone who tried it before and success?

You can always go to the ripoff report and look up the company. My advice is to get a plan or eBook or whatever business you choose to do and stick with it. Don't keep jumping to the next big opportunity.