There are many ideas to start a business from home with very low capital. However, even though you’re not risking a lot of money to get started, you could face some major drawbacks if you don’t prepare yourself. You could waste a lot of time, lose your patience and be so disappointed that you may completely give up the idea of starting a home based online business.

Before you start a business, you need to select a line of work that you love and uses your natural skills.

Here are some businesses you can start with $100 or less:

Selling Discounted Health Plans - These could be medical, dental, vision, or prescription plans. Your main market would be people with no insurance and can’t afford regular medical services. You start making direct sales and later on enlisting other people and you get a percentage for every sale they make. AmeriPlan is the #1 company on the market and their starter kit is $95 which includes a free coverage plan for you, household members and a free website to advertise your business. You get 30% commission on each enrollment.

Travel Business at Home - This is a very popular business to start from home that requires little capital and allows you to earn money while traveling at wholesale prices. Global Travel Trends is the fastest growing Internet travel agency in the world. You could start working 10 hours a week and gradually increase your working hours. They organize “Travel Parties” and “Travel Orientations”, and have one of the best compensation plans in the travel industry. You also get great commissions for introducing people to the company.

To avoid a very long post, I decided to make this a 3 part article. I'll describe more business ideas on Part II and Part III.