Business ideas for stay-at-home moms are more plentiful and varied than an Instagram candy buffet. Smart technologies, virtual networks, and other changes offer new possibilities for aspiring entrepreneurs. Many are mompreneurs who balance parenting with businesses they start from home.
Some business moms test the waters with easy businesses to start from home. They make money tutoring students, reselling products, or offering services where they see a need. Others seek financing for larger enterprises.
Business or no business, every mom is a working mom. If you’re a mother, you balance home and family demands through changing seasons of life. Most Christian moms want to serve the Lord, support home budgets and share their gifts while maintaining a work-life balance.
Mompreneurs in the Lord’s vineyard
“She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.” – Proverbs 31:16, NIV
Scripture offers many examples of women entrepreneurs. The Proverbs 31 woman (Proverbs 31:10) is a familiar and industrious business mom. She finds wool and flax, works with her hands, brings food from afar, buys property, plants seeds, and makes deals. She provides for her workers, helps the needy, and is undeterred by bad weather. Her children call her blessed. She rejoices in what the future holds, knowing God is trustworthy.
To weary moms, the Proverbs 31 woman can seem like the Martha Stewart of Biblical times – a little too perfect. However, she’s just someone who worked with what she had and bloomed where she was planted.
She invested her time, talent, and resources. She kept God first, had a faithful heart, and served her husband, family and others, for a greater good. Everyone’s gifts and goals differ according to our calling and the grace God gives us (Romans 12:6, NASB).
Easy businesses to start from home
Your entrepreneurial path depends on your reasons for working. You may take temp jobs or freelance gigs to pay off bills or start college funds for the kids. You may plan to start and grow a business.
After you and your husband pray about and discuss it, consider what works for you and your family. Opportunities are endless. These business ideas for stay-at-home moms may help:
Solve parent problems
Moms are problem-solvers. When babies yank, chew on, or mistake necklaces for toys, mompreneurs design sturdy and pretty baby-proof jewelry. When babies drop pacifiers or food, mompreneurs develop anchored plates and tethered pacifiers.
Moms have designed colorful, kid-friendly medical ID bracelets as fun, potentially lifesaving solutions for children with peanut allergies, bee allergies, and other conditions. Whatever worries you or tries your parent-patience could be your next business idea.
Share your gifts
What’s your superpower? Do you have the patience of a saint, the heart of a minister, the energy of a hummingbird, or the gift of gab? It could be a springboard for a podcast, book, blog, or networking club. You can coach, teach, lead, inspire, and build community among individuals and families.
There are ways to monetize your writing, speaking or organizing talents. You can give talks, sell related e-books, add affiliate links to a website, or guest blog on trending sites. You can host webinars, sell creative T-shirts and hats, charge membership fees, offer real-life or online training, or sell lesson plans to home-school families.
Everyone’s gifts and goals differ according to our calling and the grace God gives us.
Lift a burden
In an era of look-at-me social media, do you have a heart for the less perfect things in life? Look for home-based business opportunities to serve forgotten brethren close to home: bullied teens, homebound seniors, grieving widows and widowers, families with hospitalized children, the homeless, prisoners, battered women, the poor, unemployed, or other needs.
Provide affordable daycare, respite care, and ride services. Offer pet care or train and place companion pets. Deliver or share meals, flowers, or care packages. Wash or fix cars, clean houses, or care for lawns.
Aspiring entrepreneurs can develop both nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Fundraising options range from donations and grants to corporate sponsorships and product sales.
Sell, organize, or pitch
Some people feel overwhelmed by too much “stuff.” Clutter-management businesses are booming: Rented storage, professional organizers, movers, junk-to-trash haulers, and recyclers. Help others – or yourself – to downsize.
Ditch the dusty collectibles, sell like-new clothes, and remember that one mom’s junk is another mom’s treasure. Maybe you have an eye for antiques, hard-to-find replacements, or furniture that just needs TLC and fresh paint.
Frequent flea markets, auctions, estate and garage sales, and resell things at a profit. Consignment shops and online marketplaces resell everything from books, music, and clothes to hard-to-find replacements, hardware, and auto parts. If you offer services, such as cleaning, moving, organizing, storing, or hauling, check legal, security, and insurance requirements.
Ask the number-crunchers
If you envision a start-up, make plans and schedule appointments. You’ll need a business plan and funding. Talk to business experts, lawyers, accountants, bankers, and investors. Most start-ups don’t turn a profit right away. Can you afford to wait? Do your homework, and pivot as needed. You’ll learn as you grow.
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