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The 2008 StartupNation Home-Based 100 list is now in, and one thing is clear: Starting and running a business from home is more mainstream than ever.

The number of contestants in the Home-Based 100 tripled, numbering in the thousands. Votes in support of those businesses increased tenfold, up to a quarter of a million.

Part of that is because our list is becoming better known, of course. But it's also a sign that what home businesses do is of immense interest to more and more Americans, as the do-it-yourself boom expands.

Indeed, more than half of all U.S. businesses are now run from kitchen tables, extra bedrooms, basements and garages. Home-based businesses make a $530 billion contribution to the nation's economy each year.

And for many Americans, starting up at home has become a necessity. What appeared to be simply another economic downturn a year ago, when we compiled the first Home-Based 100, has devolved into a far more dire situation. Major economic giants, including Lehman Bros. (LEHMQ, news, msgs), American International Group (AIG, news, msgs) and General Motors (GM, news, msgs), have shown their vulnerability. As corporate titans lay people off by the thousands, many Americans are being forced to find new ways to make a living.

Their criteria? Inexpensive to start. Immediate results.

Enter home-based businesses. Running your own show from home typically requires little more than a skill set and a passion. It has become the stepping-off point for many a newbie entrepreneur.

A recent Wells Fargo study indicated that the average amount of capital required to start a business is approximately $10,000. When you consider that that statistic includes capital-intensive, brick-and-mortar startups, you realize that some home-based businesses can be started on a few hundred dollars.

Just look at 2008 honoree Britt Taylor, who began marketing swords and related merchandise online about two years ago. He threw a few hundred dollars at Google AdWords and has since grown his home-based business to a monthly gross of $30,000, half of which he pockets as profit.

Once again this year, we ranked Home-Based 100 competitors in 10 categories ranging from the serious, such as Best Financial Performers, Recession Busters and Most Innovative, to lighthearted, like Most Slacker-Friendly and Wackiest. The contest has produced a wide-ranging list of entrepreneurs turning their passions into profits -- and here's hoping it inspires a few of you to do the same.

Easier to start every day

Greasing the skids for home-based startups are key solutions that bring home operations to life. Take Home-Based 100 sponsors Microsoft Office Live Small Business and FedEx Office, for example. (Microsoft is the publisher of MSN Money.) They offer free Web site templates and efficient printing and shipping services, respectively, that are optimized for home businesses, and they're among the many companies that have realized the appeal and opportunity the home-based market represents.

Outsourcing plays a role, too, in the growth of home businesses. The ability to outsource certain tasks is simpler than ever. Web design, payroll, accounting services and contract manufacturing, for example, are all available to the at-homer. In many cases, there's another home-based venture that can supply them.

New this year was the priority placed on social media by home-based businesses and their audiences. For the first time, the sense of isolation at home has given way to immense connectivity through online networking.

We've noticed this trend in the blogosphere, which has been lit up with references and links to the StartupNation Home-Based 100, as well as social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Digg and StumbleUpon, which have driven immense amounts of traffic to contestants' profiles during the competition. This is testimony to the swelling current of conversation that home-based business owners participate in online and the networking and marketing benefits they gain as a result.

You'll see great examples of how home-based entrepreneurs leverage social media by visiting the Highest Vote Getters for 2008.

A boom among boomers

In terms of who is being drawn to home-based business, it's a mix of men and women, young and old. But one group that seems particularly drawn to starting up is the baby-boom generation, as indicated by a huge spike in boomer entries to the Home-Based 100 this year. This group is clearly leveraging skills accumulated during corporate careers and previous entrepreneurial adventures. They're realizing that they can no longer count on long-term corporate careers.

Adding additional impetus, boomers have watched their retirement savings wither with Wall Street, forcing them to figure out ways to replenish their coffers. That helps make the income generated from a home-based business -- whether primary or supplemental -- incredibly appealing to boomers.

For those who are still skeptical about the capacity of a home-based business to generate meaningful income, look no further than the winner of the 2008 Home-Based 100 Best Financial Performers category: a Berkeley, Calif., company called Fetch! Pet Care, which has seen revenue more than double in 2008, to more than $9 million.

Let's talk about passion

But as compelling as the income may be, the winners of the Home-Based 100 confirm again this year that at the center of every home-based business is one driving force: passion.

The opportunity to do what you love, to have proximity to family and pets and the comforts of home while conducting meaningful work, still plays the starring role. Running a business built around a passion adds meaning and direction in life, a welcome antidote to these confusing and disenfranchising times.

For some, this passion is expressed by going green. Fun Photo Guys, the winner in the Greenest category, offering eco-friendly photography services, is a shining example. Kevin Slovick and his partner at the photo business use every extra hour to promote green business practices. He uses his business to influence other business owners and in so doing is creating a better world for the next generation.

One of our Recession Busters honorees has also infused her work with a mission. Karen Conroy created Fundraising for a Cause, which sells cancer-awareness items in bulk so they can be resold at higher prices and the profits then donated to cancer research. It's proving to be far more effective than sticking a hat out for donations.

Our Most Innovative winner, Lee Lonzo and his Kick-Off Program, has followed his passion, too. He's helping freshmen transition into high school more smoothly, a time when statistics show they're vulnerable to dropping out. He's helped more than 100,000 students already.

Also, you'll get a kick out of America's Wackiest and Most Slacker-Friendly home-based businesses.

The startup world shows no signs of slowing down. Whether people join to combat a tough economy, as an alternative to the corporate life or to simply follow their passions, startups are alive and well. Unlike many of the big enterprises out there today, a great number of home-based ventures are still open for business and truly thriving.

This article was reported and written by Rich Sloan for StartupNation.

from: MSN Money

2008 StartupNation Winners: http://www.startupnation.com/homebased100/2008-winners/