1<br >THE HOME-BASED-<br >BUSINESS PHENOMENON<br >WHY AI~ERICANS ARE COMING HOME TO<br > START BUSINESSES<br > orking from home. Sounds good， doesn t it? For<br > millions of people， it not only sounds good， it ts<br >good. In the last ten years， so many people have traded<br >their office jobs for a home-based business， it s beginning<br >to look like a definite trend.<br > We re not talking just about sideline businesses or<br >hobbies that bring in a few extra dollars. On the other<br >hand， many successful businesses start out as a hobby<br >and turn into full-time operations. The point is， some<br >people have an outdated notion of what it s like to work at<br >home. Many consider it a half-baked， last-resort， no-friUs<br >attempt to make a little money until a "real" job comes<br >along.<br > The fact is that while few home-based entrepreneurs<br > strike it rich， many have found that they can make the<br >same income they would have in their former positions.<br >What they leave behind are long commutes， office politics，<br ><br >