Want to work online from home? Well why wouldn’t you? It means you can set your own work hours, work with your own music and a cup of tea, work without being told off by your boss and get more profit with fewer expenses. More to the point though, working from home and generally working for yourself will give you an incredible feeling of satisfaction as you realize that you can take full credit for the ingenuity and drive that made you a success.

And it needn’t be a pipe dream either – as today more than ever before there are many, many different ways to make a go of it on your own. Thanks to the internet and various other technologies like 3D printing and POD publishing, it’s now possible to make something for nothing – and even to market and distribute it for nothing meaning that a small individual can actually compete with a huge corporation with no financial backing.

But maybe you need to find courage from somewhere to really believe all that and put yourself out there. Maybe you’re waiting for that little push? Well if that’s the case then looking to your role models might be a great way to find the inspiration you need to put your reputation on the line and strike out on your own. Here we will look at some of the best entrepreneurial role models for you to set your sights on.

Richard Branson: He came before the digital age, but he is very much a 21st Century Man and has managed to stay on top since he started selling CDs still in their cellophane wrappers (hence ‘Virgin’) from free ads in magazines. What’s set Richard Branson apart – and what enabled him to become a success despite his poor academic record – was his ingenuity, daringness and fun attitude which enabled him to try and do things that other companies were too afraid of. Even today his adverts and his campaigns have more style and sex appeal than the rest of the ads on TV, and he has managed to make his personality into a part of this. One quick lesson to learn from this guy is to spread your eggs across lots of baskets. It works.

Mark Zuckerberg: If you Mark Zuckerberg is the number 1 ‘geek who made it big’ and after the Social Network in particular he became an idol for many a programmer with big dreams. What made his story so compelling is the fact that he managed to become rich straight from his Harvard Dorm room and with what seemed at the time to be a somewhat unremarkable site. A great launch strategy (adding allowed universities one at a time) along with great coding, some innovative ideas and a simple and streamlined vision enabled Facebook to thrive beyond all expectations – and it’s the kind of success story that every guy who programs or runs a website wishes he could follow.

Tony Stark: Okay so he’s not real, but does that mean he can’t be a great role model? The great thing about a fictional role model is that they’ll never let you down and never make a big mistake, and particularly the super hero variety. Iron Man is such an inspiration because he managed to achieve greatness not through a gamma explosion or a radioactive spider, but through his own ingenuity. He is the entrepreneur-inventor-as-superhero and reading his adventures makes you really believe that it’s possible to achieve anything if you have determination and a spark of genius. It’s just waiting for that spark.

Albert authors blogs related to business and education. His website provides Online Business Opportunities to people who are searching for low cost OR free home based business opportunities.