Can you afford to start a home based business?

Firstly I apologise, the title may seem a bit misleading in today’s times. We are all hearing about the financial crisis. Here in the United Kingdom we are hearing stories on a daily basis of jobs being threatened, peoples income being reduced and more and more starting a home based business to earn some extra money or completely replace your previous income becomes a lot more enticing.
What I want to put across in this article is not necessarily the financial impact of starting a home based business but more the time aspect. I am sure most people will agree there are a multitude of home based business opportunities willing for you to invest your money in them, but I feel it is the cost in time that the majority of them fail to get across. You see an opportunity, it looks good, you can afford to get started, but can you afoard the time. I know this is one trap I have fallen into previously. As somebody whom always seems to be chasing that elusive pot of gold I found myself constantly being seduced by glossy sales letters and the promises of endless amounts of cash, the flashy pictures of somebody kneeling in front of a BMW or the latest Aston Martin (my dream car).
However, I sometimes think I am missing the point, money is very important, but I feel quality of life is just as important, if not more. As somebody who works in a full time job and is married with 2 children and relatively new to internet marketing, I accepted I was going to have a lot to learn. But what I am starting to realize is just how difficult it is to get that precious time to devote to your business. You come home from work, you’re tired, exhausted, the children need attention, the baby’s crying, you have to pitch in, do your bit, it’s your duty and you start to think that the time you should be devoting to your new business is not going to be as easy to come by as you originally thought. What do you do? Do you preserve or do you cut your losses and run. It might seem the cut your losses and run option is best, given your current circumstances. However, I see problems with this.
1). If you give up now are you going to be in the same position 2,6,12 months down the road looking for another opportunity.
2). Have you wasted money for nothing, don’t you owe it yourself to give yourself a fighting chance.
It’s my opinion that it’s about time management. Rather than worrying about spending hours on marketing commit to what you can, I truly believe that it’s about doing little and often, make a commitment. Remember effort x time= results