this question comes up all the time! lol. its always one of my favorites though given that i have tried just about all of it. As far as not having a "start up", that probably just wont happen. I know that sounds negative, but even working outside the home requires something. for example, having to buy special shoes, or a uniform, or office attire, etc. sometimes the start up can be $10, sometimes it can be $110. its really up to you and what you really WANT. Just make sure you are checking it all out, make sure it is legit, has a good rating with the better business bureau, and if at all possible, the fee is refundable. Even if it is only refundable for a month or 2.
unfortunately, work at home jobs are not the same as work outside the home jobs. Part of what you trade off to be able to stay home and reduce the expenses of daycare, gas for your car to drive to work, etc is that you give up hourly pay. there ARE work from home jobs, and they CAN replace an income, but i would say on average they take about 1-2 years to really replace a full time income if you are really working at it. I know you said that she is looking for online work, and that is fine, but she also needs to be realistic and understand that working ONLY online will take a little longer for her to be making a large chunk of income.
There are lots of different things she can do, but she really needs to find her own niche and what really works for her. she could sell cosmetics like mary-kay or avon (i recommend avon over mary-kay personally. there are a lot of fees, but there is no inventory and i like the products more), there is also things like pampered chef and what not, my sister answers questions for cha-cha.
I work from home and i really enjoy it, but again, its not a get rich quick thing. ive been doing it about a year and i bring in a good chunk of monthly income, but it is by no means a full time job. I enjoy it because i just help educate people on health and health is something that i really care about, especially when it comes to kids since my own kids had health issues before.
i dont know if that even sounds like something she would like, but if it is, tell her she is welcome to give me a call. My name is LeAnne and my phone number is 913-563-7963 (obviously i have nothing to hide! lol) or the website she wants to check out is http://www.PerfectWorkForMoms.com