Being a stay-at-home mom is a job, to begin with, however, choosing to pursue a career while raising a family is even more difficult. According to recent statistics, the number of Australian mothers in paid employment is gradually rising but the number of stay-at-home moms is still quite significant (35%-39%). Still, this doesn’t mean that you’re completely locked out of some career choices. It just means that it’s more difficult to choose the right one.
With that in mind and without further ado, here are several top business plans for stay-at-home moms. These ideas provide flexible work hours (usually deadlines) and a chance for future growth. This means that there’s a chance that you can transition from part-time into a full-time profession.
Homemade production
The first category that we’re about to discuss is the homemade production of various items. This is great because it requires minimal investments in terms of starting materials and equipment.
Baking
You can operate your own catering business from the comfort of your own house.. Sure, your kitchen appliance may not be industrial-grade but, then again, you can start by only accepting those contracts that you can make. The best thing about this is that you have a deadline and that, if you don’t take renovation of your kitchen into an account, the initial investment is relatively low. In the majority of cases, you will just have to pay for the ingredients.
Beauty products
Making beauty products at home can be quite lucrative. There are a lot of simple crafts like making homemade soap, which a lot of people in urban environments usually don’t have an access to. This gives you a chance to earn money by maxing something simple and inexpensive. Other than handmade soap, you can make lip balms, bath bombs, body scrubs and even lotion bars. Overall, this is an industry with a lot of growth potential.
Gift basket service
Making a gift basket is a matter of aesthetic intelligence, creativity and patience. It is also something that’s been in demand for quite a while. This is also something that you could produce in your spare time, on order. Making just a couple of those per week can make a serious difference in your household budget. From the perspective of time management. Once kids grow a bit older, even making one (or a few) per day won’t be impossible.
Traditional business
There are always those who want a traditional business structure. For them, it’s not just about making a profit, it’s also about leading a lifestyle of an entrepreneur. Here are several ideas.
Digital marketing services
If you have digital marketing skills, you can always start your digital marketing agency. You can start as a one-person startup and work your way up from there. In these fields, you will have deadlines to offer, which gives you the flexibility to choose your business hours. For a stay-at-home mom, this is one of the greatest selling points of this industry. Still, the job is not easy and it requires self-improvement regularly. It also takes more time than you may have available.
Buying a franchise
The next thing you could do is start a local business, not far from your home. If you’re too busy to start an original business, there’s an easier way to do it. What you should do is look for some of the top franchises in Australia and try to figure out whether there’s anything up there that sounds appealing to you. This way, you get to be a business owner in a traditional sense of the word, without spending too much time and energy setting up the basics.
Starting an antique store
Running an antique store is a difficult business but it’s not labour-intensive. First of all, you don’t have to own an actual brick-and-mortar establishment. You can simply sell these items online. The biggest problem lies in finding antiques to buy and resell. Still, if research is one of your strongest traits, this might be just the thing you’re looking for. Not to mention that this form of scavenge-hunting tends to be quite exhilarating. It’s one of the ways to introduce some action into your daily routine.
Art
Those who have a prominent creative side can always try their hand at art. This field has never been more accessible and potentially lucrative than it is today.
Writing
Becoming a self-published author has never been easier. All you have to do is find a platform like Amazon Direct Kindle Publishing and upload your works. This way, people can immediately access your works and buy them on this online marketplace, while you receive a royalty. This is something that can allow you to pursue your life-long dream of becoming a writer. There are a lot of people who earn thousands this way but you have to be consistent in what you’re doing.
Photography
Selling photography is also quite easy nowadays. You see, from the technical standpoint, your skills, equipment and knowledge on the subject matter will determine the quality of your photos. However, to run a business, you need to be able to sell the product. With numerous platforms where you can easily upload photography in a matter of seconds (similar to self-publishing we’ve discussed in the previous section), this task becomes so much easier.
Graphic designer
Being a professional designer requires a lot of skill and precision. It also requires some specialized tools, both hardware and software. While there are a lot of free tools out there, if you’re going to be serious about this line of work, you must get yourself a premium platform. You also need a computer with specifications that can run some of these programs, as well as a tablet with a stylus or (better yet) a drawing board.
Home maintenance
The advantage of this idea lies in the fact that it’s not a 9 to 5 job, which gives one a chance to make a flexible schedule. There are many ways in which you can proceed here, as well.
House cleaning
This is quite simple and self-explanatory. The advantage of house cleaning is that you get to take on a couple of return clients and make a schedule that everyone seems to agree with. Keep in mind that some cleaning agencies charge by an hour and that a regular cleaning session seldom exceeds an hour or two. The best thing about this is that the investments are low and that the nature of business (which relies on return business) means that you will have higher stability of income.
House painting
House painting is somewhat opposite to the previous idea that we’ve mentioned. It’s done once every several years, however, the services are far more expensive. This means that you can broker one or two jobs per month (if you’re just trying to complement your household budget). This also leaves some room for growth and when you get enough renown in the industry, you can easily hire additional people and transition into full-time house painting.
Appliance repair service
In 2021, it’s time that we break off from house maintenance stereotypes and admit that a woman can run an appliance repair service just as good as a man does. This, nonetheless, is a field that requires a lot of technical skill. It will also be a challenge to set up a proper workshop, seeing as how the last thing you want is for your kids to be around appliances in repair, to begin with.
Tutoring
Those who possess a valuable skill or knowledge may decide to make a fortune by teaching others. Remember, here, people skills are just as important as the skill itself.
Online tutoring
The first thing you should consider is online tutoring. Teaching people from Far East English online can be incredibly lucrative and the job itself is far more fun than you think. Then again, in the era of platforms like Fiverr, you can find people who are willing to pay for video game instructions or comic book lore and history teaching. In general, whatever your strongest skill is, chances are that you can charge it. You should also do some research to ensure that you’re charging the right price for your lessons. Both overselling and underselling yourself are quite bad.
Music instructions
Those who are skilled with a musical instrument will probably be surprised to see just how many people willing to learn there are. You can go the traditional way and give an ad in the local newspaper. You’re targeting a local audience, to begin with, right? Still, it’s far more effective to just advertise online. Also, during the lesson, the home needs to be at peace, which may be quite challenging.
Personal training
Becoming a personal trainer requires you to be knowledgeable about training, nutrition and lifestyle in general. It’s also important that you’re in great physical shape (a part of your marketing). Using social media marketing to promote your program and the results that some of your clients are making is always a smart move. Also keep in mind that there are constantly new finds in this industry, which is why self-growth through courses and learning materials is mandatory.
In conclusion
In the end, you need to try and put everything into perspective. How much free time do you have? How much money do you need? What are your skills and marketable traits? Just by figuring out these three things, it will be a lot easier to pinpoint those business ideas that are made for you. It will give you a lot to work with from the very start. Since the majority of those business ideas don’t require initial investments, you can start in a matter of days or weeks. The sooner you start, the better.
