Most people in search of the most legitimate home based businesses are often confronted with the ever present danger of a fraudster collecting their cash and getting out of town. What further complicates the problem is that there is a very fine line between the real thing and the fake thing. In this article, we look at how you can find some profitable and legitimate home based businesses that will create a dependable income.Your first plan of attack when looking for a legitimate home based business is to begin by eliminating all so-called “turnkey” opportunities that require money upfront for you to get started. What these folks normally do is to provide you with a website and products only to find that their money making system has been sold to thousands of other unsuspecting people like you.Such “opportunities” that are pitched as legitimate home based businesses are heavily penalized by the search engines and will never rank for any keyword as they carry duplicate content. This leaves your business out in the cold with no possibility of ever making money. Infact, you will be hard pressed to find someone who has made money from these turnkey projects.So, how exactly do you go about looking for a credible business that will make you money?While there is no science to it, there are a few guidelines that will give you the upper edge. To begin with, the most legitimate home based businesses have lots of positive reviews spread throughout the net. The best reviews are from ordinary individuals who have taken advantage of the opportunity and found it to be something of value in their lives.Interestingly, you are most likely to also come across complaints when researching an opportunity. You need to exercise judgment and weigh the positive evaluations against the negative ones in order to come to a proper assessment.Another powerful method for finding a legitimate business is to conduct research at websites that specialize on the subject of home based businesses. These are content sites that are maintained by independent professional editors whose recommendations carry a very high level of trust. They are most likely to make recommendations that will damage their reputation.Additionally, the most legitimate home based businesses are backed by solid demand for the products or services being offered. Where no demand exists, there is really no business to talk about. You will soon realize that most of the scams that are being marketed as legitimate businesses are packaged as convincing offers, yet, a closer analysis of the market clearly shows a lack of demand.You should not be drawn by attractive packaging and sales copy. You should infact be looking at an in-demand product or service that is priced competitively if you want to achieve any real success.As you can see, finding a home based business to promote is like finding a needle that has fallen into thick grass. The process is characterized by much research to identify the gold hidden beneath the rubble. The above guidelines will definitely get you started in the right direction.