The formation of cottage industries (usually called work from home today) came about when things were manufactured at home by people or families who wanted/needed to make some extra money. (like a farmer's wife who took in sewing during winter for other outlets to sell )

These cottage industries did not rely upon the Internet so the Internet is not required to have a home business or cottage industry. The advantage of having the Internet is in the ability to advertise to large numbers of people with relative ease, and if one does it carefully at little or no expense.

Any business requires advertising, even if it is only word of mouth which is far less effective than using the Internet as a tool. The Internet is not a business unto itself, it is a tool one can use to promote one's business.

It is also a viable means for communications between business' or customers that enables many more people to work at home than ever before.

Anyone can have a home based business. The issues of advertising, managing stock or having drop shipments on what you choose to have as your products, storage space, manufacturing space, time management etc are all things that need to be given some thought before hanging up your shingle saying you are in business.

How much time do you have? What are you going to sell? Who are your customers? What is your turn around time? Are you going to produce or manufacture something for sale? Are you going to sell someone else's products and either have them stored at your home or are you going to have them drop shipped from your supplier?

All these issues need to be planned out and workable for your space and time restraints. If you have a large house and huge garage, and you want to produce hand made widgets then you will have to have the manufacturing space, storage space for your stock, shipping facilities and materials and time to make it all happen.

There are other types of home based business you can consider, service oriented ones. Is there space for you to set up a photo studio? A repair shop? Will your customers come to you or will you go to them? A lawn service, pool cleaning service, or consulting firm can be run from your home as well.

Forming a business plan is probably the first order of business to determine what you want to sell or what service you can provide. If you are a woodcarver, can knit or crochet you can have either a shipping operation or have your customers come to you. The issues about having customers come to you include location (are you where you can be easily found, is there adequate parking etc) If you don't have customers come to you, but you go to them, you will need to be accessible via phone. Nothing loses more customers other than poor service is not being able to reach a service when you need to.

The only limits to what cottage industry you can create from your home are your imagination, your skills and the space you have available. Any business you start will take two to three years to show profit. This is the time it takes to build up clients and get known, and even then the advertising has to be an ongoing part of your business.

Taking a lesson from Joseph Campbell's writings, one should follow your bliss. If you love doing something, you will be happiest and most able to find a way to make a business out of something you love. Do you have a hobby that you can turn into a cottage industry? You are more likely to succeed if you have something you love doing.

Don't forget to get expert advice on issues such as taxes or business planning. Liberty Tax for example has offices all over the place who are more than happy to give you the tax advice you need. There are many organizations who help small business owners with business plans and planning.

If you have a special skill, you can market it. If you have a special interest, you can usually figure out a way to make a profit from your knowledge on that subject.

A brain storming session with those who are supportive of you might even give you more ideas. Whether you set up silk screening equipment in your garage, or a photo studio in your den, or load your garage with vitamin suppliments to ship or set up drop shipping of just about any product, the bottom line comes down to how you can answer the needs of your customers and make them want to come back to you for their needs.