Watch any news channel today and you will be bombarded by more and more depressing news of yet another big company filing bankruptcy or laying people off by the hundreds. Many large chains are shutting down dozens of stores. Big names like Circuit City, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Linens and Things and Sharper Image are all closing their doors.

2009 doesn’t look any better, at least for the first few months. The number of pending bankruptcies is still rising and will likely continue for the first few months of the year. Many people are now looking for additional ways to generate income from home.

What most people don’t know is that the network marketing industry has consistently show explosive growth in economic down times over the past 50 years. When the economy starts going South, people begin to turn to network marketing to create additional income working from home.

Today even professionals like Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki are singing the praises of network marketing as a strong and viable path for todays independent entrepreneurs. The benefits, such as low startup costs and overhead, no inventory to manage or ship, no employees, no franchise fees and many others, make network marketing a wise choice to generate additional income from home.

There are more than 125,000 new home based businesses opened each and every week in the US. Those numbers are sure to grow as the market and economy continues to struggle for the foreseeable future. Political uncertainty and a falling stock market will continue to strip hard working Americans of their jobs, but you don’t have to be caught off guard.

By starting small and conservatively, you can begin to gradually create a supplemental income stream that can even replace your full time income over time. By starting now you have the opportunity to begin to take control of your financial future even during these tough times.