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38 Ways To Make Money While You Stay Home With Your Kids

During my research for The Chill Mom: How to go from anxious expectant mother to relaxed, confident mom book, I posted a question on an expecting moms Facebook group.

I asked them: What are your biggest worries?

I was surprised to hear that besides the fear of labour pain and health-related issues, many soon-to-be mothers expressed worries over finances. Many are planning to stay at home with their babies but they would also like to contribute financially to their families.

Do you feel the same way? Or are you currently working full-time but ideally, you like to work from home so you can spend more time with your children?

Is it possible to have the best of both worlds? I say yes!

Whatever your reason is for wanting to earn an income from home, here is a list of ways to contribute to or provide for your family as a stay-at-home mom.

1. Sell things online

Setting up shops and selling things online couldn't be easier these days. You can set up your own website or use platforms like Shopify or even sell on a marketplace like Etsy. The hard part is figuring out what to sell and how to differentiate your offering from others. Elaine Ang-Giraud from Celebrate With Love, an online shop that specialises in bespoke gift sets spends about 40 to 50 hours a week on her business as well as her other social enterprise project which helps children from a disadvantaged background. Each bespoke set is crafted from scratch, takes about 6 hours from conceptualisation, selection of baby goods, making it and photoshoot along the way (for marketing purpose). She gets about 10 orders per month.

Besides selling your own products, you can also consider reselling products. If you are the type to buy loads of things at garage sales or during online sales, then reselling those items would be a great way to make some extra cash.

2. Blogging

If you can attract a regular readership for your blog, there’s good money to be made from sponsorships and other digital product offerings. I've been blogging for more than 7 years now and I make between $10k to $20k per month. Decide on the message and direction of your blog early on and don't blog for the sake of making money.

Good content is what makes readers coming back for more. If you’re interested monetising your blog, here’s a free cheat sheet I’ve created. This is MY own step-by-step plan to bring the content and income generated from my blog to another level. Let’s do this together! Just type in your details below to download it.

3. Baking

For those who love to bake, why not start a baking business? You can start off baking for friends and family and be sure to take lots of lovely photos. Marketing your biz couldn't be simpler these days. I've purchased many cakes from mothers whom I found through Instagram and Facebook pages.

Depending on your experience, you can start by doing something simple on the side like making rustic cookies before heading on to offer exquisite artisanal fare.

4. Tutoring

Many parents are eager to shell out money to outsource tutoring their kids to someone else. A fellow mommy blogger, Jacqualine Chan (I've featured her other business here) charges SGD50 per 60 minutes lessons. She takes both primary and secondary school children and the lessons are conducted at her place.

If you're an accredited teacher or have special certifications, you are able to charge a much higher rate for the right students.

5. Hairstyling

My aunt used to own a hair salon. When she encountered staff problems and tired of working long hours every day, she closed down her shop front and started a hairstyling business from home.

All you need is a presentable room or space within your home, dress it up with a large mirror and a comfortable chair and you can get down to business.

Of course, if you have more equipment, you can offer more services like perming and treatments. Otherwise, with a background in hair cutting, all you need is a few pairs of good scissors, combs and clips.

6. Freelance writing and content marketing

With growing startups, established brands, and even notable influencers needing to establish and grow their brands, professional writers who can serve up compelling content enjoy a huge demand for their services.

And, since brands will always need high-quality content to bring in new customers to their businesses/websites, your skills will always remain an asset to invest in.

7. Graphic design

Petra of Creabuena is the prime example of starting a graphic design business from home. A mother of 2, she started the company two years ago when her younger child turned one.

She has worked in advertising agencies back in Finland for more than 10 years and felt that it was time for her to be her own boss and she wanted to stay at home while the kids are still small.

Now she has clients from Singapore, Finland and the UAE. Her work is project-based, so sometimes she works around the clock and sometimes her schedule is a bit more relaxed. She works approximately 8 hours per day, 5 days a week.

She charges SGD50 per hour, but many times she goes by package price when the scope of the project is more extensive. The pricing depends on how many hours the work takes and the level of difficulty.

8. Become a social media manager

According to the Salesforce 2016 State of Marketing report, social media advertising is one of the top two priorities for marketers this year. In fact, 80% of marketers say they plan to increase spending in this area in 2016.

So if you have an aptitude for writing a short engaging copy, graphic design (especially useful on platforms like Instagram and Pinterest) and an understanding of how to utilise social ads to take advantage of online word-of-mouth marketing and to scale brands' organic social media effects, this could be something you could do from home.

From my research, freelancers on Upwork are charging between $15 to $60 per hour for this position.

9. Be a virtual assistant

You can be a virtual assistant for pretty much anyone or businesses from around the world. Virtual assistants offer many different services. What skills do you have and what do you enjoy doing?

I for one, hire a virtual assistant to reply to my emails, schedule my meetings and help with the boring admin side of my businesses. You can offer your services on a freelancing platform like Upwork.

Kayla Curry who's now a fiction author and entrepreneur started out as a virtual assistant making about USD8000 per year, working only 8 hours a week which was enough to give her family some 'fun money'.

10. Tailoring and Alterations

If you know how to mend clothes, then you have a growing market of budget-conscious and personalisation-obsessed customers readily available.

Firstly, get your hands on a commercial-grade sewing machine. Next, offer to partner with your local dry-cleaning and laundry services in exchange for referral fees every time they send you a new customer.

After that, all you have to do is do a good job and hopefully grow your at-home business via word of mouth!

11. Party decorator

If you love parties and have a good pair of hands at putting things together, being a party decorator could just be your thing. Jacqualine Chan from Hello Lobang does about 5 events on average per month, which brings in about SGD500. Being her own boss, she chooses to have a balanced work/home life over more events. So she keeps it to a comfortable number of jobs she can handle.

12. Social media marketing

If you have a sizable Instagram following or have a knack for getting followers, major brands, PR companies and other relevant businesses could be knocking on your door wanting you to market their products and services to your audience.

25-year-old Liz Eswein for example, who charges a fee to brands for taking the photos she posts on her account @NewYorkCity, and an additional $1 per like on top of that. Not bad, considering most of her photos get between 10,000 to 20,000 likes.

13. Selling your craft

Adeline of Adeline's Loft started making accessories for herself instead of getting them off the shelves. The interest had since spurred her to offer her handmade affordable bespoke lifestyle jewelry to many women online.

While the business does not provide a regular side income for Adeline, she thrives on passion. On a good month, she earns a modest $400 to $500, which is good enough pocket money to treat her family to a nice meal.

If you have a talent for crafting or creating handmade goods, you could also easily sell your handmade baby clothing, phone cases, hats and bags on Etsy - one of the world's biggest independent marketplace that's perfect for anyone who is creative and willing to sell their handmade creations.

14. Network marketing

In the past, I have joined direct sales/network marketing companies and failed miserably. But with the internet and your ability to grow online audiences around a product or service that you truly believe in, direct sales could be a viable option.

Serene Seah grows her Young Living essential oil business from home, which she calls a 'mobile' business. She learns the benefits of essential oils online during her free time and provides product supports to her team of oilers via Whatsapp.

You can read her posts on how essential oils works for her family on her blog and Instagram. She takes home between $1700 to $3500 per month.

15. Write an ebook

Access to self-publishing tools and marketplaces is so easy and affordable these days, anyone can publish their own book. While some ebooks never sell more than a dozen copies; when marketed correctly, you can earn a good recurring passive income from ebooks.

Abby from A Girl and Her Blog makes a comfortable five figures income from 3 of her ebooks each month.

16. Teaching music lessons at home

If you're comfortable playing an instrument and have a good instrument you can teach on, and you enjoy teaching, you can teach music at home.

Try to get all the training you can. Do sign up for at least one class before you start teaching to understand the basics of teaching. You can learn as you go by talking to other teachers, and read professional journals.

If you're planning on teaching children, you'd have to enjoy working with children and be comfortable around parents. You can find students by word-of-mouth, putting up ads on community boards and posting on social media channels.

17. Cosmetology

Florinda Tay, an Independent Senior Sales Director with Mary Kay earns up to five figures monthly by providing skincare/makeup consultations, personal customer service, and coaching people who'd like to realise their dream by becoming a Mary Kay products distributor. Not bad for someone who works an average 20 hours per week on flexible timing.

18. Start a consultancy business

Have you noticed your friends and family were asking you for advice or help in a certain area? Is that something you are naturally good at and wouldn't mind continuously learning more about?

That was basically how I started my maternity concierge business - helping new parents with anything to do with the arrival of a baby, from products advice to services such as finding a suitable doula, confinement nannies, etc.

I charge by the hour for a one-off project or a package fee for bundled services. What I like about what I do is the flexibility of time and I get to pick whom I like to work with.

19. Trading

A former remisier, Jenn Lee now trades stocks, indices, commodities and invest in real estate. Her goal is to a have a fully paid-up shelter over her heads, to have at least one fully paid-up property for rental so that she can safely retire, and to have one investment property set aside for her son.

Over the last 7 years, her annual income and capital gain range from S$50,000 to $200,000 - not bad for a stay-at-home-mum.

20. Provide online tech support from home

Creators of The Blog Help, tech support (including WordPress transfers) service for bloggers, are husband and wife team - Forrest and Katie Clark. Katie, stay at home mother of one, is self-taught with most of her SEO, tech support, and blogging skills.

21. Teaching online courses

If you have marketable skills as a programmer, photographer, or online marketer, there's a worldwide online audience who'd be willing to pay to learn from you.

You can market your courses on online educational platforms like Kajabi or Skillshare, where there's already an existing audience and tools to deliver your courses.

22. Photography

Do you take great photographs? You could sell your photographs directly to customers or you could sell to a stock photography website like Shutterstock.

You could also set-up a photography business like Theresa Olesen and take pictures at special events like birthday parties, celebrations, weddings and more. This option requires you to actually get out of the house, though.

23. Be a massage therapist

If you enjoy meeting people and are interested in overall holistic wellness, you could offer massage services during your free time. This one requires you to venture out of the house though. These days, a postnatal massage therapist charges between $80 to $120 per hour.

24. Turn a hobby to a business

Janice Wong of Rhapnroll Diapercakes turns her hobby of crafting into a business from home. This mother of two under five years old makes her 'cakes' bit by bit each night after the kids have gone to sleep. It takes about 2 hours to complete each order.

She gets about two to four orders per month. Her marketing effort includes postings on Facebook, Instagram, and Carousell. The rest of her business comes from word of mouth.

25. Web design

With the increasing usage of the internet, it’s no wonder the popularity of doing freelance web designing as a side job is growing rapidly. There are always new websites popping up that need web designers to create a good and value-driven experience for web users or app users. If this sounds like a job you can do, then go for it!

26. Web development

As a web developer, your skill sets are in extremely high demand. Not well versed in it? No worries, there are so many inexpensive or free online programs such as Udemy and Codeacademy to hone your web building skills. Once you have knowledge of HTML, Python, JavaScript, CSS, or Ruby, it’s time to become a freelance web developer and build your portfolio.

27. Online coaching

If you have something you are skilled at and really passionate about, you can turn that into one-on-one online coaching.

Imagine doing what you love and spreading that knowledge to others who want to learn what you know!

Besides the skill and experience components to being a successful online coach, this business idea is all about building a community around the help you are offering and building rapport with members.

Also, your community members will learn from each other during their journey. Creating the space for that community can be as simple as setting up a private Facebook group such as what I have done for my MomBoss Academy #MomBoss Goal Mentorship Program!

28. Podcasting

If you can create a regular audience or have an existing audience from your blog to listen to your podcast on a specific topic, this is a great way to get sponsors and fund this side business idea.

It helps if you already have an audience, but even if you don’t, you can still be one of the many people who have successfully turned their side businesses into podcasts such as Neil Patel.

29. Commission-only sales

Many startups seek part-time and commission-only sales-people, especially when they have just been established. If you enjoy connecting with people and willing to take on some risk, then this could be a good side home-based business idea.

You could earn a lot if you are pitching a solid product or when the startup succeeds. You can also utilise your selling skills to sell your own products in the future.

30. Affiliate sales and marketing

If you already own a website that’s driving in a targeted audience, this is a great way to make some passive income.

Rakuten and Clickbank are a few of the best affiliate networks and tools that can help you make money from the content you already produce, thus amplifying your income from your website or blog.

31. Tax preparation

It’s not the sort of side business idea that screams creativity, but someone needs to make sure all the numbers add up at the end of the year.

Every business and most individuals need someone with the domain expertise to help prepare tax returns, especially time or resource-strapped small business owners. That’s when you, a freelance tax preparer can step in.

32. Google paid ad specialist

If you are comfortable with Google and know about paid internet advertising, signing a freelance contract to manage a company’s Google Ad Campaigns can earn you some extra income.

Make sure you know all the right business lingo and industry terms used in the online marketing world before you dive into this freelance job.

33. Buy used electronics and refurbish them

How many of us have given up on their faulty laptops, mobile phones or cameras without looking into the real cause of their malfunctions?

Sometimes repairing at the stores are even more expensive than buying a new one! If you have the skills to fix them, consider pursuing this side business idea of refurbishing and reselling used electronics in your free time.

34. Yoga or meditation instructor

Very often, you will see people in their yoga pants carrying their mats around with them. Yoga is getting ever more popular, which means yoga instructors are more in demand than ever. This is one of the most physically rewarding business ideas since you get to make money, work out and keep your mind healthy at the same time!

Link up with a local yoga studio to teach classes or offer personalised yoga in-home lessons at a higher rate.

Kathryn Budig started out as a yoga instructor as a side job to support her classes but has now become well-known internationally as a yoga teacher.

35. Start a YouTube channel

Yes, if you are really focused and committed, spending time on YouTube can honestly be a legitimate business idea. By creating value-driven and entertaining videos, you can grow your subscriber base to a few thousand subscribers.

Your videos can then begin generating quite a substantial amount of money from the advertisements on your videos. YouTube users can earn a lot and many of them even make millions each year! With the right content, audience, skills, connections, and timing, this business has a lot of potential.

Remember that when starting a YouTube channel, you might want to do some research first and read up on tips to quickly grow your channel.

36. Translator

Have you mastered more than one language? If your mastery of another language is good enough to speak and write fluently, then translating can be a good side business idea that helps you to continue improving your language skills.

Make use of your bilingual or multilingual skills and pick up some remote translator jobs online. Browse through remote job websites to find the right opportunities for yourself such as Flexjobs that has literally hundreds of freelance, remote translator jobs available.

37. Home-based makeup service

If you have a talent for helping people look their best and know how to use cosmetics to make heads turn, consider using your beauty skills to pursue this easily profitable side business idea.

You need to invest money into buying the necessary equipment and products before starting your own makeup artist business. This lays the foundation of profitable business through referrals and word-of-mouth from your happy customers.

38. Floral design

Valentine’s day, birthdays, weddings, you name it! Throughout the year, there are tons of occasions when people need to order pretty bouquets of flowers thus making this a good side venture.

The costs can stay relatively low if you know where to source your flowers and materials, especially after gaining more experience. Check out this stunning floral designer, Sara Tedford of Ladybird Poppy to learn about how her floral design company started out as a side business idea of doing weddings and events for her friends and family.

Final words

You don't have to decide on one way to make an income from home.

The more streams of income you have, the more financially secure you are.

For example, my maternity concierge business alone has many ways of giving me a return, not to mention my blog, social media accounts, my virtual kitchen, and MomBoss Academy.

I'm always looking for more ways to complement what I'm already doing. Go for it. And good luck with deciding!

P.S. I don't want your aspiration to end here, join us in our #MomBossGoal Mentorship Program where I help mothers who are really serious about making an income from home.

Whether you are struggling with a business idea or you already have something going on and looking to grow your business, I will walk you through each aspect of building your profitable stay-at-home business.

If you would like to stay connected with and find other amazing mombosses who can help you get what you need, click here to join our Facebook closed group – MomBosses United!

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About Michelle Hon

Michelle is the founder of MomBoss Academy. She is the author of The Chill Mom, and the host of The Chill MomBoss Show, a podcast and YouTube channel all about living a full live with purpose.

She was named by Zine Magazine as one of the "Top 10 Mommy Influencer in the World" and she has been featured for her businesses on Channel News Asia, The Asian Entrepreneurs, Lifetime Asia, Asian Money Guide and SmartParents.

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