This special guest article was written by Mim Jenkinson, Love From Mim
2018 Gold winner of the AusMumpreneur NSW Business Excellence Award
*****
Opportunities for mums who want to work from home are a little more frequent these days but what about if you want to start your own business working from home?
There are so many benefits to working on your own business at home when you have kids.
You can often dictate your own hours, meaning you get to spend more time with your family, attending events with the kids or running them to appointments.
If you’re no longer commuting to working out of the home, then school or daycare picks ups and drop offs are also much easier to manage.
Even if you are still employed, there are still many home business opportunities for mums that you can consider – here are five of them:
5 Easy Ideas for Mums who want to Work from Home
1. Sell Your Own Product
Do you have an idea for a product or service that you can start to sell from home?
Perhaps you have a creative flare and make handmade items that can be sold on Etsy, eBay or Shopify? Popular hand-made items include jewellery, clothing and art pieces.
What about digital products? A great way to earn passive income from home is to create a digital product.
Perhaps you have an idea for an eBook or online course? Or could you create printable items such as planners?
As well as the passive income, selling digital products also means you can stay at home without trips to the post office.
2. Blog
If you love to write and have something to say that you think others will appreciate, consider starting your own blog!
When you build up an audience, you can earn an income through advertising, sponsored posts or affiliate marketing.
Blogging and building an audience takes time and it’s rare that you’ll build a big following overnight but it’s something you can do as a side hustle while you’re working for someone else.
Consider what you’re passionate about and let your personality and passion shine through in your writing – you will attract like-minded people that way.
My own blog began as a hobby but as my audience built up, I was able to convert it into a full-time business!
If you’re a talented writer but would rather write for others than your own website, there are many more freelance opportunities for writers these days.
A qualification in writing or journalism isn’t always essential (I don’t even have a degree!) when it comes to writing paid content for others but a flair for creative or business writing is key though – plus the ability to write to a brief.
3. Use Your Expertise to Consult for Others
Are you a qualified or experienced Lawyer, Accountant, Chef or Florist? Or another profession entirely? Can you use your experience and qualifications to offer people advice while you’re working from home?
For mums returning to work after maternity leave, sometimes it’s hard to negotiate flexible working hours. Think about if you can use your skill set to set up your own home working business. If you’ve worked in HR or Recruitment, can you consult or even write resumes for people?
Many people consult for a wide range of expertise – start by asking your friends and family if they, or anyone they know, might consider you consulting for them.
4. Be a Virtual Assistant
If you have strong administration skills such as scheduling, typing, data entry or Microsoft Office, you could be a VA for others.
Or, do you have skills in more niche programs like Canva or Photoshop?
These days, many businesses and individual entrepreneurs are outsourcing work to Vas and are looking for reliable and organised administrators who can take over the jobs that they no longer have time to do.
Being a VA can be one of the best jobs for mums who want the flexibility to work from anywhere.
5. Go Mobile!
Whilst not always a “work from home” business, perhaps you can offer a service that makes someone’s life easier? Qualified hairdressers have been visiting people’s homes for years to cut their hair.
Perhaps you can do the same if you have skills in hair styling, make-up artistry or more.
Just consider that sometimes it won’t be appropriate to take your child along to the job with you. It might be possible to set up a business in your actual home though – and have customers visit you there.
I hope that some of these suggestions have given you a starting point if you’re considering working for yourself.
Using your passion and talents to set up a home business could transform your life, allow you to have more flexibility and spend more quality time with your family!
If you’re considering working for yourself, or you’re a mum and already have your own business, you’re very welcome to join the Self-Start Mums community.
We’re an online mother’s group for self-employed mums and share advice, support and plenty of ways to collaborate and promote your business.
About Our Guest Writer
Mim Jenkinson is a married mother of two small children and they live in Newcastle NSW.
She’s a professional blogger at https://lovefrommim.com/ and shares simple solutions to help busy mums get stuff done and have more time to spend with their families and on themselves.
Mim loves to share the journey of how she set up her multiple online businesses and help other mums make working from home successfully work for them.
Mim is also the 2018 Gold winner of the AusMumpreneur NSW Business Excellence Award!