Corner office? Try the kitchen

Stay-at-home mom Anne Marie Casey of Newmarket, N.H., was searching for an extracurricular activity when she founded her organic dog treat business in August 2003.

''Now I think, 'What have I started?' " Casey said, jokingly.

She estimated that she bakes 500 to 700 Rod's Pawz treats every week. She then packs bags and gift baskets in her basement and sells them through the Stratham, N.H., office of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as well as Valerio's Kitchen, also in Stratham, the Sandy Paws specialty store chain, and at craft fairs such as the Made in New Hampshire Expo, which will be held April 2-4 in Manchester, N.H. She has a website (www.rodspawz.com) and a business plan that includes a big step forward in two years, when her youngest child begins school.

''My close ratio would be 100 percent if I went out to specific targets and asked if they wanted to sell them," said Casey, 40, a former software sales representative. For now, with her children at home during the day, being a mom is her first priority, and the hours for the at-home business are limited.

''When the kids start school, I'd like to go land a big national account," she said.

Casey is not alone -- local home-based business owners have launched a variety of ventures, and have kept their businesses close to home for a host of reasons. Some are displaced workers on their own after layoffs, business failures, early retirement, or other job market realities. Some are stay-at-home parents looking to create a second income while sharing child-rearing responsibilities.

Diane Zold-Isenberg, business and professional development manager for the Continuing Education Division at Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill, Lawrence, and satellite locations, said some of those taking entrepreneurial courses say they're tired of the rat race, and -- since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- don't want to work in high-rise buildings. She said that the college is offering more entrepreneurial courses, including several that focus on home-based businesses.

Paul Jermain, a small business consultant who runs the college's 20-week Entrepreneurial Training Program, said that the program has expanded and early enrollment has increased thanks in part to a recent state grant that helps dislocated workers pay for tuition.

Interest from the community has spurred North Shore Community College to offer a variety of entrepreneurial classes at its campuses in Lynn, Danvers, and Beverly. The classes have been well-received, said Dianne Palter Gill, dean of workforce development and corporate community education.

The number of home-based businesses doesn't match the peak year of 1999, when there were an estimated 22.2 million home-based businesses in the United States, and a proportionate number in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, according to Ray Boggs, vice president and small- and home-business analyst for Framingham-based International Data Corp. .

However, of the slightly fewer than 20 million home-based businesses operating today, Boggs has found that the differential of part-time to full-time workers, which was 2 to 1 in 1999 when the economy was booming, is now approximately 1 to 1. ''The economic downturn following 1999 meant that folks had to make it work or get back to work," Boggs said.

Jeannette McRobert of Newburyport, a home-based Web designer and member of the North Shore Business Forum, said that she's seen an increase in the numbers attending the forum's educational and networking meetings, which tend to draw small and home-based businesses. Meetings that used to draw about 25 people are now drawing 35 to 40, she said, and in late January, 52 turned out for a ''how-to" talk about writing business plans. ''That's a big clue," she said.

Donna Johnson of Wakefield, a home-based life coach for three years, said that several of her clients are entrepreneurs, many of whom work from home. She sees the number of people starting home-based businesses as an indicator that they're taking control.

''There's so much less security in the corporate structure, people are looking for ways to create some sort of stability, even if it means going on their own," she said.

The boom in home-based businesses came in the late 1980s and 1990s, with the convergence of workforce reorganization and a new level of sophistication in telecommunications and technology.

''People can do more with less," said Robert Bradford, executive director of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce. ''The products have improved, so that the activities involved in running a business don't always have to be done in a street front office."

''What we're seeing is more people starting home businesses with prior experience in the business world," said Nancy Black of Beverly, a longtime member of the Homebased Businesswomen's Network and owner of Organization Plus, a professional organizing company, since 1983.

Leanne Soden, 36, of Lynnfield, formerly a technical sales consultant, is now a mother of four and proprietor of Pieces of Class, crafting jewelry at her dining room table and selling it at bridal shops, by word-of-mouth, and at bridal fairs she attends with another Lynnfield mother-entrepreneur, Tracy Karavetsos, who makes custom invitations and stationery.

Like Casey, Soden has a business plan that accelerates when her youngest child reaches school age. She started as a hobbyist, launched a business, and then decided to specialize in bridal and special occasion jewelry because she recognized a niche market.

''This is really the first generation of women where a huge amount did go to college and then to work," she said. ''Now, we're happy [at home], but we have a sense of who we are and we're not willing to give it up. We'll take some time off, but then we want to get back out there."

While many home-based businesses involve limited costs and limited risks, quite a few have much larger aspirations, including the one run by Kel and Anne Hoffmann of Salem, partners in Whitebirch Software. In addition to time, they have invested a significant amount of money and sold their Marblehead home to help finance the business.

For five years, Kel Hoffmann, 48, has been developing and marketing a software product called Projected Financials 2.0, which builds sophisticated financial models for small- and medium-size businesses. The program (www.projectedfinancials.com) was recently used to build models for a project MBA students were working on at the Silicon Valley campus of the University of Phoenix. A former CEO in manufacturing, Hoffmann developed an early version of the software while working as a consultant, and decided to build a company around it as he realized how useful a planning tool it was.

''It was easier to use and more error-free than a spreadsheet [software program]," he said, adding that because traditional forecasting software has drawbacks, businesspeople frequently ''end up not doing the financial planning they need to do. There's plenty of programs that are great for documenting the past, but for tools that help you look forward, there's not much."

The Hoffmanns' chief financial officer, Craig Cleaveland, recently redesigned the software ''from the ground up," Hoffmann said. After launching in November 2003, they are planning a public relations push in the coming months and hope to move into outside offices later this year.

Hoffmann currently operates from an office in his apartment. Anne, a former consultant and cofounder of iknowtion, works in a separate office in the same unit.

''Eventually, we'll be busy enough to have full-time employees, but that hasn't been the case up to this point," he said.

Phil Arloro, 33, of Everett is another entrepreneur who would like to move from his home to different quarters this year. An operations manager for a retail store, he and partner Kai Wang of Malden have been operating Red Devil Computer Services (www.reddevilcomputers.com) out of Arloro's basement. The company provides upgrades, repairs, customized systems, and networking. As the business has outgrown the basement, Arloro has started looking for storefront space in Everett.

''Working at home has allowed me to do this on the side and also take care of my kids," said Arloro, a father of two. ''The technology is out there to do anything you want to from home, because of access to the Internet and access to phone lines. We're only limited by the cellar space, because of the hardware that we store."