In a real work at home business you can lie at home naked in front of your PC without worrying about being arrested!

But how do you know a real work at home business from a swindle?

The first sign of real work at home businesses is the length of time they've been around.

Of course, just because a business is relatively new doesn't make it a fiddle.

As basic indication though, a dodge is generally discovered within a year.

In today's Internet age it's not viable to keep something cloak-and-dagger and if a firm is a con there will be livid victims all over the Internet expressing their displeasure on Facebook, Twitter and various blogs and forums.

When you see something unpleasant on the net about a business opportunity it isn't necessarily something you should believe.

Marketers do this to appeal to people searching on the brand name and try to frighten them off by telling them it's a swindle, so that they join whichever opportunity they are promoting instead.

In general, if a corporation has been in service for three years or more then it's a somewhat safe gamble that it's a genuine company and there is no need for you to worry.

The most favourable time to join a work at home business is when it's been in existence for 3 to 5 years. That is the timescale when the majority of companies are in their biggest expansion stage.

The hardest thing is getting a company out of the starting blocks and then there's a phase in which any early problems are eliminated.

Once that's done it's the "full steam ahead" phase in which the business is now deep-rooted and has made a name for itself. But full market saturation is still a long way off which means it's still very easy to recruit fresh members.

Clearly it's out of the question for any company to continue in rapid growth forever and what happens then is that it reaches a plateau.

It's still growing although no longer at a consistent rapid pace.

The most advantageous time to join a home business is during the rapid growth period.

That's the period when you're increasingly likely to get off to a flying start and achieve a full-time income in the least possible timescale.