Rather than work a 9-5 job every day, what if you could be your own boss and make your own schedule? That’s where business ideas for moms play a major role.
Starting a work-at-home endeavor is a rising trend that is only going to become more prevalent, especially with stay-at-home moms. This is because a lot of people appreciate their freedom, even if it means potentially lower wages.
That said, sometimes the business is so successful that you wind up earning a lot more than you expected.
While every mother’s skill set may vary, I can assure you that there’s something here for everyone. You just need to be willing to put time and effort into your business plan.
Of course, the income, time investment, and difficulty of setting up the new business varies greatly from one company to another.
However, with so many possible businesses to choose from, you’ll undoubtedly find one that’ll fit you. Below are some options for moms.
1. Freelance Writing
This can end up being a profitable business if you know how to handle it and your grasp of a language is decent enough to hold a conversation.
I’d personally recommend freelance writing if you’re looking to make an actual career out of it, but do know that the market is now quite saturated and it might be hard to break into.
You can either try setting up your own website or choose to advertise through the many third-party hubs (Fiverr, Upwork, and the like).
Either way works, except the latter will require less effort to set up on your part — however, you’ll still need to actively promote yourself and submit job proposals.
If you have any experience in dealing with WordPress or have knowledge in web development and design, then I’d suggest the former — you will have so much more freedom to customize your website to attract clients.
The amount you earn solely depends on how many contracts you get as a freelancer. It can take a while until it blooms into something you could proudly call a full-time job with decent enough pay.
2. Blogging
Another venture in a similar vein as freelance writing is blogging. It’s the favorite pastime of many stay-at-home moms.
The fun part about this is that the blog is its own site that becomes richer the more you write. Your blog can also be about anything, such as cooking, regular mom stuff, a major you’ve studied — any topic under the sun.
Earning money with your blog is all about the connections you make: the backlinks, partnership deals, sponsors, advertisements, and, most importantly, the affiliate marketing connections.
You can’t expect these to come to you; you need to seek these connections out on your own. Send a ton of emails and make several phone or Skype calls to clinch deals with the right people who will help you grow and break through to the surface, much like in freelance writing.
Amazon tends to be the easiest place you can earn affiliate status and start making commissions from redirecting people to products on their site.
SEO copywriting is also something I urge you to look into, as it is a crucial skill to master if you ever plan on starting your own business as a blogger.
3. Become a Tutor
Another sound home business idea is to become a tutor.
Now, I’m certain many of you have degrees in something or you excel greatly at some aspects of life.
Why not turn that skill into an even greater asset by passing it on to a younger generation while you make money off of it?
While it may not seem like the massive profits other business ideas for moms may be turning, it’s a safe and surefire way to earn a decent wage through your own small business.
The best part about tutoring is that starting your business is comparatively low-cost and low-effort. The market is also a lot less saturated, because it’s more of a local business than a global one like online businesses (bloggers, freelance writers, Etsy craft sellers, proofreaders, etc.) are.
Of course, you don’t have to tutor others in person if you don’t want to. You can hold online courses as well, which most kids tend to prefer over having to go to someone else’s house (especially if it’s too big of a commute).
4. Virtual Assistant
Become an online assistant to a person who needs your services! Unlike a regular assistant, you won’t waste your own precious time by fetching coffee or doing some other menial task. Rather, you will perform tasks relevant to the business or person who hired you.
Some roles include social media manager, schedule planner, content writer, email sorter and manager, and even dabbling in web and graphic design. It all depends on what qualities you offer them when they request your aid.
This is why it’s crucial to always expand and diversify the number of services you can offer as a virtual assistant to be able to stand out from the rest.
Naturally, the usual factors apply as with other online businesses; it is a saturated market, so the quality of your services and a measure of luck will determine how long it’ll take for you to make your business a successful one.
5. Running a Daycare
If you want your more maternal instincts to come to the forefront in your business idea, then you may want to consider using your home as a private daycare center for babies and toddlers.
Why the youngins specifically? Well, because babies and toddlers are, oddly enough, easier to manage than older kids. And they occupy less space.
Plus, babies are usually the ones in need of babysitting the most, so you’ll stand a better chance of getting hired if they’re your target “market”.
The profit of this endeavor ends up being roughly the same as that of tutoring, though it can be higher depending on how big a workload you can take on. It also reaps the benefits of being more localized, meaning you have more chances of getting hired since you’re targeting a concentrated spot rather than competing globally.
If you choose to go the daycare route, my best advice is to stay strong. It fortunately takes a lot less time to see the fruits of your labor with this endeavor than most other online business ideas for moms.
6. Craft Seller
If you’re skilled with your hands, then you might want to try this vocation and then delve into the realm of e-commerce.
Making crafts is popular across all generations, as people both young and old like having these little niche things on offer that they can buy. These items make their lives just a bit more comfortable and lively.
It’s less than a few hours of effort a day to maintain a healthy business, and the startup costs are also almost negligible. It’s the ideal work-from-home job if you’re craftsy.
All you need to do is set up an online store or sell through sites like Etsy or even Ebay to get your name out there and get people buying.
Again though, much like with many of the business ideas mentioned earlier, it can be tough to get going at the start and the first year might feel agonizing.
However, patience is always rewarded in businesses like these, as they take time to build up (unless you strike gold with a specific niche).
Business Ideas for Moms to Avoid
While this may carry a bit of bias, some of the income-generators I’ll touch upon here are too hard to get into and too unstable to make a sustainable, long-term business out of.
This usually involves things like becoming an influencer, a YouTuber, or a life coach.
Not only do these endeavors have to deal with a saturated market, but also there’s a lot of effort required to make these businesses work. This effort just doesn’t seem like they’re worth it in the end, especially because the first two (becoming an influencer or a YouTuber) stand on an ever-evolving field that can be exhausting to keep on top of.
That, and some aren’t really sought out too much, like life coaches.
Naturally, if you think it’s worth it, then feel free to give it a go. However, I’m here to warn you to be prepared to stay on your toes and face disappointment here and there.
6 Key Components for Any Business Idea
If nothing here seemed to strike your fancy, you may be able to figure out something on your own by asking yourself the following questions:
- Is this business idea something that can help others?
- Is it something people are in dire need of?
- How much time and effort do I need to invest in this?
- How much is it going to cost me?
- Is it something I like doing?
- Do I see myself doing this for a long time?
If you can answer positively to all these questions when pitching ideas to yourself, you may have found yourself a keeper.
In Conclusion
Business ideas for moms are vast and plentiful, but most occupy rather saturated markets. This means they’ll require a lot of commitment and proper planning on your part to get them to a level that you’re going to be satisfied with.
There is no such thing as quick-and-easy money, at least not when you’re looking to start a long-lasting, successful business.
Keep that in mind so you don’t get disappointed if your first paycheck isn’t as massive as you’d expect it to be (from all those fake and misleading ads polluting the internet).
The keys to success in the real world are perseverance, creativity, and knowing how to categorize your expenses so you can further invest in what works.
And these tenets don’t seem like they’ll be changing in the near future, so get those gears rolling and start working on building your own business.
