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Friday, March 29, 2024

Best Home Business Ideas for a Stay-At-Home Mom with a Baby

home business ideas for stay at home momsThis is not an article where I give you THE BEST BUSINESS IDEA. After all, a business that will work for one stay-at-home mom may not work for you. My hope for this article is to give you a way to think of the best business idea that will work for YOU.

The key to choosing the best business to start is to determine what your interests are, what you want to do, what is suitable for your lifestyle and your overall goals, and what can fit with your resources. With a toddler, your choice of business will depend on several important questions:

  • How much time are you willing to dedicate to your business? Will your working schedule depend on your toddler’s schedule? Are you available to work on your home business only when your child is sleeping or can you work even if the baby is awake?
  • Is there a set time or given number of hours that you can work? Can you work only during the day, or only during at night, or random times during the day? Can you work for only about 2 hours per day, or do you think you can work 6 hours or more for your business?
  • Who will take care of your baby while you work? Have you made child care arrangements so you can focus on your business at specific times during the day?
  • Can you do work outside the house, or can you work only inside your home? Some home-based businesses can be managed in your home, but may require you to go out of the house. For example, you may be very interested in starting a wedding planning business; but with a toddler, it may not be easy to be always available to the needs of a bridezilla who expects you to be at her beck and call as she faces the challenge of finding the best reception areas or the perfect bridal gown. You can also start a cleaning business, but this will require you to go to your customers’ homes to do the cleaning.
  • What level of customer interaction are you willing to provide? Are you comfortable with customers dropping by your place anytime of the day, or do you want a business where all interaction is done online and via email? How will having a crying baby in the background of your telephone consultation with your client be perceived?

By knowing the above factors, you will be better able to narrow down the list of business ideas that you can start.




Time You Can Dedicate to Your Home Business

If you intend to work for your business only when your child is asleep or awake but busy playing, the time you have for working on the business may be limited. Nonetheless, there are still a lot of things that you can work on, though you may want to choose a business that:

  • Allows you to set your own time and does not require you to work on specific times of the day
  • Online-only business, with most customer interactions done via email
  • Does not require you to meet customers personally
  • Does not need for customers to contact you by telephone
  • Does not require you to produce outputs on strict deadlines as the number of hours you may be able to work is limited

There are some types of businesses where you need to present yourself in the most professional manner possible, which means no crying babies in the background while you are on the telephone or in a video conference. There are also some types of businesses where clients are more accepting of the circumstances of a home-based business mom and won’t be surprised to hear crying or whiny babies in the background.

Given the above conditions, some home business ideas that you may be able to successfully run include:

Online

Service-oriented types of businesses

Product types of businesses:

Availability of Child Care

Will you have help in looking after your kid when you are working on your home business? Even if your kid and the nanny are just in a separate room, having someone watching your child will allow you to more flexibility and choices in what business to start. You can also talk to your clients on the phone and work uninterrupted, or actually have clients come to see you at specific times of the day or meet with you.

In addition to the above home business ideas, some additional business ideas you can do from home include:

Online

Service-oriented types of businesses

Product types of businesses

Additional Home Business Ideas

There are still many more home-based businesses that you can start. Get a copy of any of these books for more home business ideas:


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