Congratulations, you finally decided to take control of your life and start a home based business. The question now is: which one?With so many home based business opportunities out there, it is easy to get lost in the sea of possibilities. How can you make sure the program you choose will generate the income and personal freedom you desire?Here are four questions you need to ask when evaluating programs that will make sure you start a home based business that fits your goals.What is the marketing support of the program?Every day, people start a home based business and every day, a good portion of them fail because the marketing plan they used was unsuccessful at generating income. So the first thing you want to ask is: what techniques are being used to market the product or service?Are they using outdated methods that have been proven ineffective? Do they limit the use of techniques that may be better in this digital age such as internet marketing? Not every program is onboard with the idea of using the internet to sell to prospects even though it is proving to be a better way to reach them.If the opportunity you are considering lacks a good marketing plan, chances are it won’t help you achieve your goals no matter how hard you work at it.How much money are you required to pay out up front and how long will it take to make it back?It is generally expected that you will front some money when you start a home based business. Is it something you can afford to shell out? Are you getting a good value for your money?It is never a good idea to tie up your cash in a kit full of product that you can’t sell. Additionally, calculate how long it will take to recoup your investment. If it takes more than a few months of honest effort to make your money back, you would be better off looking at a different opportunity.How much of your time is required to run the business?Most of us start a home based business because we believe working from home will allow us to spend more time doing the things we really want to do. But you don’t want to jump from the frying pan and directly into the fire by joining a program that requires you to spend most of your time in other people’s homes.If you are required to give presentations, find out how long they are and how many you have to do a week. If you have to spend forty hours a week doing presentations outside your home in order to make money then you might want to look for something else.Is the program duplicable?Many programs will pay you a referral fee just for providing others with the opportunity to start a home based business of their own. Because of this, you want to make sure that getting into the program is fairly easy. If starting with the program proves to be a lesson in frustration for your potential business partners, chances are good that they won’t bother to join.There are no guarantees that when you start a home based business you will be wildly successful. However by taking time to thoroughly investigate opportunities up front, you will save yourself time and money and ensure that you launch off on the right foot. The successful one.