Low overhead, a flexible schedule and the freedom of being your own boss — those are the benefits some local business owners are finding with home as company headquarters.

“The beauty about a home-based business is you can demonstrate a product or service and business model with low risk,” said Shawn Winkler-Rios, the executive director of eDev, a Lane County-based organization that helps prospective business owners.

That enables entrepreneurs to test the market before making any major financial investments.

With mass layoffs across most sectors, more people are beginning to explore the idea of starting a business at home.