Your description was purposely vague so lets fill in the blanks. I am imagining car repair with parts and disassembled vehicles strewn about like some West Virginia wrecking yard. Probably have a refrigerator and couches on the porch too. Customers coming and going in a residential area. I sure would not want a mess like that next door. If you want to play car repair business then do it by the rules.

Gee folks, I must have missed something. Todd-this is year 1 of my small business run from my home. When I read your post it sounded like you wanted to design, grow, and maintain others gardens. That by itself might be difficult to make money. But right now this organic, sustainable movement is huge. I took an ad out, for grins, in a local newspaper to see if there was any interest in locally grown organic produce that would come out of my garden. I had about 8 customers within 2 days-all more than willing to pay top dollar for this stuff. I couldn't do it for that many people, but I ended up doing it for 5 of them. I run it like a miniature CSA, but with some definite advantages. With that small of an operation you don't feel like a farmer and it's still enjoyable. As good as this is, I believe the real money is in teaching others how to do it for themselves. This is where the money is-at least from my experience. You're going to have to combine a few things to make it worth something. I'm a square foot gardener and I'm able to produce an enormous amount of food in just 148 square feet. With this small of an area I really can't take on any more than 5 customers. But I've been able to build up a small name for myself locally(not bragging), and that's beginning to spread to outlying communities. The need to know how to garden will grow exponentially in the future for a couple of obvious reasons. For most people, it's a lost art-something we haven't had to rely on for a long time. That's all changing. I'm not saying you can make a living by just doing this. My business is very, very part-time and very seasonal. In my first year I think I will make close to $8000, and I'm just beginning. That might not seem like a lot. But keep in mind that it's a seasonal thing, and I work on a cash basis only. Start-up costs are very minimal. If you're interested in ideas, you can visit my at my website: www.thewealthyearth.com. You all know how hobbies usually end up costing you money? Well, I've just figured out a way to make my hobby pay for itself many times over. It's pretty fun. Don't give up, just keep the dream big. Don't limit yourself with doing just one thing...keep thinking....you'll come up with something...

In my other life I was a portrait/wedding photographer working from home. My clients came to our living room for consultations. I had a couple of 24x30 canvas portraits of clients on easels, 20x24 portraits of each of my children on the walls and a 30x40 of my family over the fireplace. All were framed in frames I sold. The room was large and all these worked well without overwhelming the room. IT was an excellent example of how to decorate with wall portraits. My current living room couldn't handle this many photos, so we were fortunate before. We had a couch and chairs seating area near the fireplace and TV, but I did the consult at a small dining table against the wall behind the couch. Show albums stayed on the small table. A can light above the table provided great light for viewing the photos. Most of my work was done on location, so a studio was a temp thing. I'd move the furniture and set up. You sell what you show. The only small prints in the room were in an album, not the wall because I wanted to sell wall portraits. Display your finest and have fun. Photography is a great career. I closed my studio after almost twenty two years to move to Europe and begin homeschooling my sons. I'm a writer/homeschool mom these days. Happy

Just be sure to pay yourself enough to make it worthwhile. There is a tendency for those of us who work at home to under pay ourselves and when all is said and done, we find that we've given up sewing for ourselves and our families to start a business that doesn't make any money. And remember that once you turn your hobby into a business, it is a JOB. It won't be fun and therefore you need to be compensated adequately to make the trade-off worthwhile. Other things: Don't invest more into the business than you can afford to lose. Hopefully, you will be successful, but be prepared for things to go more slowly than you had planned. It may take a year or more for your business to take off and you need to be ready to tighten your belt and tough it out until it does. Be sure to find a wholesale source for ALL of your materials, including thread, needles, rotary cutting blades, fabric. You cannot buy at retail prices and expect to make a decent profit. Buy volume quantities when you can, but avoid stockpiling inventory that may be hard to move later. With something like this, you will find that there might be a huge demand one year for pink blankets and that the next year everyone wants them in purple. Pick up magazines on the newsstand and follow the current trends in baby clothing and nursery decor. Make several samples and work out the most efficient way to produce the product in volume quanities. This means that you need to streamline steps, figure out how to perform similar steps all at one time, cut many units and sew them at the same time, etc... You will never be able to compete with the cheap ready-made stuff, so be sure that your quality is top-notch. People will pay more if they know that they are getting a better product. Don't forget to research sales tax requirements in your state and keep GOOD records. The customer is always right. Don't get into this if you are thin-skinned and be prepared to do whatever is necessary to keep your customers happy. Good Luck! Annie (professional quilter)