Making money while staying at home

The tough economic times may be dealing hard blows on big business, but they are giving an auspicious start to many home-based businesses in the country.
The reasons are obvious. Doing business while staying at home requires much smaller startup costs; you don’t have to pay a small fortune for a fancy office and the staffing and utilities to maintain it. And, of course, family members and others living in the household can be expected to help or pitch in for you anytime and on short notice—often without need to pay them hefty overtime or holiday compensation.
Even more gratifying, a great many home-based businesses become the seed bed or takeoff point for bigger, more ambitious mainstream businesses, some of which blossom into multimillion-peso ventures even if they continue to be run at home.

The following are examples of businesses that were started from the comfort of home, and the brains behind each idea. Read on, and maybe you too can be inspired to put your brewing idea into action.
Punchdrunk Panda: A stylish bag for laptops
Bosom buddies Jennifer Horn and Nathania Gail Go have known each other since grade school. After their graduation from college in May 2006, they decided to pursue a sideline business together. Go says they did this so that as partners, they could mutually judge each other’s work and improve on each other’s ideas.