For those of you who currently operate, or are considering taking the steps to operate a home based business, this article was written for you. The key is to recognize that some home based businesses put you in charge, but do not make you the owner. Often times people think because they signed up for a business, and received a website stating their name, or that of their company, they own the business. As you will discover throughout this article, many of these individuals are mistaken.Yes, it is true that essentially every single opportunity which promotes the operation of a home based business to its members, portrays the notion that its agents will become business owners by becoming involved with the parent company. The unfortunate thing is that many arrangements give you the title of business owner, but the authority of a distributor. Therefore, you are forced to work within the confines of the business model of the parent company, selling only their products, at prices which they have determined, earning what they have told you that you will earn.As negative as this may read, it is not to say that such home based businesses are necessarily a bad thing. Rather, I am simply pointing out that many people who join these companies fool themselves into believing they are business owners, when they are really distributors. As a distributor, you will not be able to make any changes on the website. Furthermore, you will not be able to sell anything that is not from the main company, and in a majority of these businesses, you will not be allowed to even remotely adjust pricing. Thus, if a competitor is undercutting you, there is no recourse. The only thing you can control, is how much money you spend on marketing this new distribution endeavor.With all of that being said, franchising in a pretty good way to open a business due to the name recognition and trust which it provides. This holds true whether you are operating brick and mortar or strictly online. Both situations present a similar scenario for the franchise business owner. Fees will be charged to take advantage of any national advertising campaigns and you are restricted to using only products bought from them or their authorized distributors. Again, your name will be right up there as owning the franchise for the business, but not the business itself.When deciding on one home based business over the other, you need to keep in mind that some opportunities will enable you to own the business, while others will not. If you want to have the freedom to market and sell products of your desire, then you will have to avoid businesses which make your enterprise subservient to a parent company.