If you’re a mom, you know just how precious your available time is. Between caring for the kids and your home, there isn’t a lot of time left in the day. When you have a job, finding the time to get everything done is even harder, so what do you do if you need to bring money into your household while you’re busy taking care of the kids, running errands, and maintaining the house? Starting a small business helps you regain control of your life. Discover what type of small businesses are flexible enough for busy moms to maintain a healthy work/life balance. Here are Home Business Ideas for every busy mom.
Massage Therapy
While becoming a massage therapist does require training and education, it isn’t an overly difficult certificate to obtain. Once you’re certified and you purchase a professional massage table, you can schedule massage clients whenever you have free time. Consider setting up a dedicated space for your massage therapy clients in your home — use an extra room, convert the garage, or finish that basement. This way, your clients have the quiet, relaxing space expected during a massage and you can transition seamlessly between your massage clients, the kids, and your normal chores. Alternatively, set up a base workspace in your home and massage clients in their home. You’re in control of your schedule, so it’s easy to schedule massage appointments while the kids are at school or between errands.
Freelance Writing
Freelance writing is a great way for moms who have a knack for writing to make money from home. All companies need good writers. They need writers to update and maintain their websites, write sales copy, and even, write training manuals for new employees. All you need to do is find your niche and start looking for clients.
In addition to having your own list of clients, consider using online content sites and job bidding sites to land gigs. These sites work as the middleman between the writer and the client, so it’s easy for moms to simply log into a website and write when they need extra cash.
Blogging and Affiliate Marketing
A lot of moms earn extra money by building and maintaining online blogs, and one of the ways they monetize their blog is through affiliate marketing. While it sounds complicated, it isn’t. Most online companies have affiliate programs. These programs pay affiliates a percentage of any referral sales. For example, if you created a blog for new moms and wrote a blog post about the best bottles for newborns, you could place a link in the blog post that directs traffic from your blog to an online retailer who sells the bottle you’re writing about. When people click on your link and purchase the bottle, you’d get a percentage of the sale. This type of business takes awhile to build — it’s definitely something that you need to stick with for an extended period of time. So if you like the idea, but you need fast cash, consider a combination of freelance writing and blogging — both are extremely flexible, making it easy for moms to schedule work time around family time.
Babysitting
If you have young kids, you may not have enough downtime to spend an hour with clients or sit down at the computer. However, babysitting in your home lets you bring in extra cash and while spending time with your own kids. Keep in mind, if you plan to run errands with kids in tow or you want to be able to transport kids to and from school, you need a vehicle large enough to transport all of the kids in your care at the same time. Also, when figuring your rates, you need to take into consideration the cost of the extra food and supplies you need, in addition to your time.
Starting a business from your home isn’t difficult, which is why it’s a great option for busy moms who need some extra cash. Choose a business that you know you’ll enjoy and stick with it. Before you know it, you’ll be bringing money into your household on a regular basis without too much interruption to your normal routine.
