If you’re someone who is looking for the opportunity to start a home-based or other small business of your own, but you’re just not sure if it’s the right decision for you, these top seven reasons to take the plunge might be just what you need to get started:

1. Flexibility—Working from home means you have much more control over your day and how you spend it. Sure, any profitable business requires an immense amount of time and energy, but when you work from home, there’s no one looking over your shoulder to tell you exactly when you have to take steps to get something done.

2. Purpose—As the old saying goes, do what you love and the money will come. Add that to the fact that having the opportunity to own a business doing something that you really enjoy doing day in and day out goes a long way toward improving not only your mental but your physical health, and you’ve hit a home run.

3. Tax Advantages—Working for someone else in a regular 9 to 5 job means you pay taxes on all of your earnings. Owning your own home-based or other small business means you only pay taxes on the difference between what you earn and what you spend. Plus, you can deduct a percentage of your mortgage and other household expenses if you work from home in a separate home office.

4. Better Work-Life Balance—While owning your own small home-based or other small business can be stressful, there’s something to be said for having the freedom to call the shots when it comes to your downtime, especially where family is concerned. Being your own boss means having the ability to drop everything and run if need be, such as when a child calls home and is sick at school. No more being frowned upon when you have to leave the office for that reason or any other for that matter.

5. Health Benefits—Recent research shows that more than half of all small business entrepreneurs report their personal health has improved as a result of their running a home-based or other small business of their own. The flexibility that comes along with business ownership fosters the ability of the entrepreneur to put greater emphasis on such wellness activities as diet, exercise and sleep.

6. Independence—Owning your own home-based or other small business means you’re the boss. You make all the decisions and reap all the rewards. Of course, there’s another side to that equation. Your decisions and choices also can lead you in the wrong direction if you’re not careful. So before you jump into the idea of owning your own business or buying into a ready-made business model like a business opportunity, distributorship, licensee opportunity or even a small franchise of some kind, make sure you’ve done the necessary self-assessment and homework. Asking yourself the question of whether or not you’re cut out for entrepreneurship in general and all that it entails is a really good and necessary first step!

7. Satisfaction—When you work for someone else, there is usually some level of satisfaction that comes along with a job well done, especially if your employer recognizes your hard work and rewards it. However, that sense of pride is dwarfed by the magnitude of satisfaction that comes from building something profitable as a result of your own sweat equity. Owning your own successful part-time or full-time home-based or other small business creates a feeling of achievement that will permeate your life and give you the overall sense that anything is possible.

Tell us what you think! What other reasons would you add to our list? Are there other benefits of home-based or other small business ownership that we didn’t mention? If so, we’d love to hear from you…