Im going to explain, how I actually created a working home business that generates a stable amount of income.

July 10, 2006, I received what i consider to be the best job I've ever had. The hard times of sweat and physical labor were over. I had taken classes to learn a drafting computer program called AutoCAD. It's used to create technical drawings of different designs and plans. After taking the classes, I began the job hunt. I went on websites like monster.com, carreerbuilder.com, etc... and began to spread my resume around. I received several calls, and went on a couple interviews. Finally I found what i was looking for. An office, Air-Condition, a desk, plaque with my name on it, and even my own business cards. The job was perfect, and a dream-come-true. I was going to be working for one of the largest engineering firms in South West Florida. I couldn't be more excited. The industry I was now working for was a very fast growing industry. At the time, the development and housing industry was at record breaking levels. I was being hired into the transportation department, where we expected to be extremely busy. When you have a strong rate of development going on, you need an adequate means of roadways and highways to accommodate it. My job was to design and develop highways and roadways for the super fast growing South West Florida.

South West Florida at this time was under an amazing growth period. Real Estate was an amazing market to be in. Home values were through the roof. If you were a real estate agent, you were a happy individual. But then, in the beginning of 2007, everything halted. Sales ceased, home values dropped, growth slowed to a halting stop. The company I had now been with for a year had begun to face an enormous change in revenue.

Now I, being the computer savvy person that I was, had already had a back up plan. Around the time that i first got the job, I was looking for something for my wife to do at home, to make a little extra cash, preferably, data entry. We needed something so that she could stay home with the kids. We found what sounded like a great opportunity. It was a way to work from home, and be your own boss. Who wouldn't want that? We paid the $45 to have the package shipped to us, we followed all of the directions, sent our resumes to all of the companies it had listed and waited...and waited....and waited some more. Nothing ever came of it. We were supposed to be bombarded with phone calls of people wanting to hire us to do data entry work. It never happened. It was a big scam. I supported my wife with this and hoped it was real. I set her up a website and created her a simple logo, but nothing came of it. So i maintained the idea, and kept going with it. I tried to make it work on my own, without the bombardment of calls. I was determined to make this work for my wife. I got online and submitted the site to every directory i could find. Unfortunately data entry was not doing so well. I decided it was time for another strategy.

I thought back, and remembered the fun I had developing the logo for my wife. Then it just came to me. Graphic Design, I can do Graphic Design. So, my wife's adventure into the work at home world, has tuned into my own adventure for a part time income. I searched and searched for ways to become a graphic designer, for tutorials and other articles to help me with this new strategy. A friend of mine recently purchased a copy of Adobe Photoshop for a class he was no longer taking. I asked him about it and he let me have it. This was great, now i have what the professionals use. I found some forums online, that focused on webmaster and design topics, and found a place for logo contests. Finally i found a possible source of stay at home income. After tons of practice and contest entries, it finally paid off, and i received my first win. I won a $50 logo contest which lead into a bit more work with developing the graphics for a flash game. All of this while working a full time job. As i entered more and more contests i got better and better.

As the economy continued to weaken, my company that I worked for full time, had a round of layoffs, due to the lack of work. I was told, we, in transportation, would be ok due to a massive back log. So i continue doing my job, and maintaining the home business, then, another layoff. At this point im starting to get worried, because it's an obvious sign that the company is really struggling. I was told transportation should be ok. I continued on about my business, working full time, and running my business at home, and getting better and better at it. The money was beginning to become pretty steady, not a lot, but it was help none the less.

One day at work, the day was nearly done, and my boss called me to the back, I knew something wasn't right. He walked me to the department manager's office, where i was given a severance package and an apology, and was laid off to the wolves. I was devastated emotionally. I cried. But then i looked at it for what it could be... a chance to develop my home business even more.

Today I work full time as a graphic designer, while my wife works. I maintain a pretty stable income from Skilled Graphics, Which is the name of my business. This all started 3 years ago. It's been a long learning process, but it's all paying off now.

Within this book i am going to explain to you what it takes to create your own stay at home business. It may not allow you to quit your job at first, but eventually you can guarantee you will be able to do just that. This is not one of those scams that make it sound like there is no work involved. I assure you, there is a lot of hard work involved, but its well worth it in the end.

Dennis Bosher • Graphic Designer• Skilled Graphics

UPDATE

9-2-10
This is just an update to this article. It was written almost 2 years ago. Today my wife and I now work side by side from our office/living room. I am very proud to say that we are now making a very comfortable living together. At the time I wrote this my wife was working, as the economy weakened even more, she also lost her job. This lead to another great opportunity. It allowed me to take on more work, I showed her the ropes, and helped her when needed, and now together we run Skilled Graphics full time. This is no longer part time income. We now make enough to pay all of our bills, and live a comfortable life. It has required, much hard work, but it has paid off in the end. Never give up.