Many parents who work outside of the home are hesitant to leave the workforce to stay at home with their children. Some parents fear that a gap on their resumes will make future employment difficult or that their skills and knowledge will become outdated. Working from home can offer an opportunity for parents to keep their skills up-to-date. Guest author Michael Gifford has these tips to convert current job skills to a home-based business.

Right in Front of You?

That home business opportunity for which you've been searching for the past several years may have stared you directly in the face today. You may have touched it, seen it or heard it several times. In fact, it may be so obvious that when you finally do discover it, you'll wonder how you ever overlooked it.

Your Current Employment

Consider for a moment the possibility that your best opportunity for working from home may lie in the tasks you currently perform for your employer. Let's say, for example, that you spend a significant portion of your day typing. Perhaps you could start a typing service at home. Maybe you could start a resume service. You might work to expand your writing skills, combine them with your typing ability and create press releases. Perhaps you could learn design skills, combine those with your typing proficiency and launch a business that designs marketing materials or even websites. The point is, it's conceivable that the same task or series of tasks that you have been performing so faithfully in someone else's employ for so long could be the very foundation of a successful home business for you.

A Prime Example

Gina Holub, owner of GMH Research in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania found this to be true. After she was laid off from her market research job in 1995, she dutifully began sending out resumes in pursuit of a similar position. It wasn't long until a company called her for an interview. The only difficulty was that this company was located in a different city and Gina was not interested in moving. Upon declining the invitation to interview, Gina was told by the company representative that they would keep her resume on file in case they ever needed freelance market research. It was that casual comment that struck a chord with Gina. Perhaps she could take her experience in market research and make a home business out of it. "Why not give it a try?" she reasoned.

She began contacting people in market research firms with whom she had done business with her previous employer and informed them that she was starting her own company. She also purchased a membership list for a market research professional organization and started sending out sales letters. Now, nearly five years after leaving the 9 to 5 routine, Gina's business is thriving and continually growing from her home. It all started with a desire to work from home, an assessment of the skills that she had learned on the job and the simple question, "Why not?"

How to Consider the Obvious: Make a List

Why not take a little time and make a list of the tasks you perform on your job each day? Do you type, design, write, build, sell? Whatever you do, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the moment, add it to your list.

When you're finished, go back over your list and ask yourself if there are any of those tasks which you could develop into your own home business. Conduct a search for those tasks on the Internet or in your local Yellow Pages to see if anyone else has created a business from them.

Is Your Mind Open for Business?

If you're like millions of other men and women, your mind is wide open to ideas for going into business from home. Make sure it's open wide enough to allow the obvious to enter.

"No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious." - George Bernard Shaw

Michael Gifford is the author of "There's No Business Like Home Business." He is also the editor of the free e-zine, "Home Biz Journal." Visit http://www.nobizlikehomebiz.com to learn more.