Consider working in an office first in order to reach your final goal of working from home. If all goes well, you can present your employer with a telecommuting proposal after you've established yourself -- perhaps just one telecommuting day per week first, then gradually build up to several days a week. An excellent site for help on how to create a telecommuting proposal is http://www.telecommutingproposal.com/ .

Of course there are companies that hire telecommuters from outside as well. Be aware, however, that some of these companies (not all) may take advantage of desire to work from home - for example, with low pay and few or no benefits.

Keep your options open! You may have to consider jobs that you otherwise would not. Consider freelance or contract work in addition to 'permanent full-time' jobs. An excellent site for freelance jobs can be found at http://homebasedwork.com/freelance.html .

It all comes down to what your priorities are. Telecommuting can be a wonderful thing for many people, but you may have to 'sacrifice' some things in order to get it. How much work are you willing to put into your desire to work from home? What are you willing to give up in order to achieve this goal?

I'm not saying that you can't find rewarding telecommuting work at a company for which you've never worked before ... far from it! However, it's highly competitive and employers can afford to be choosy. And if you're entrepreneurial type? You may be able to find more success or satisfaction with your own business.

Be prepared, stay open to new possibilities, and do your research!

2) Add New Products or Services In addition, you should be offering multiple products or services, to offset any downturn in sales of one or other.

Here's an often-overlooked place where you can look to find new product ideas -- space between your ears.

Reason? You -- like every home business owner -- have a book in your head, waiting to be written. And you don't have to be a "best-writing" author to be a "best-selling" author, as Robert Kiyosaki, author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," points out.

Example: When David Garfinkel, president of Overnight Marketing, launched his "Killer Copy Tactics" Web site in April of 2000, he netted about $10,000 for his efforts. But all he really did was take existing content and "repurpose" it for sale and use as an ebook.

What do you already sell in your home business that you could also sell as a book ... or ebook, audio tape, video, newsletter, tele-class or live seminar? There really are NO limits here.

It's no secret that almost all $100,000+ home business owners have multiple sources of customers, and offer multiple products and services. So, start setting up _your_ multiple streams of income. When you "recession-proof" your home business this way, you can stop worrying and start living your dreams!