A shout-out to all the moms out there! Especially to all the stay-at-home moms. You moms are truly an inspiration to all of us. Just one thing – what do you do when you’re at home all alone and you have nothing to do? I say, start a small business, become an entrepreneur. Work from home, earn for yourself, and save yourself the boredom of being home alone (and also from those endless saas-bahu serials).
Now, you may be thinking what if working hampers your day-to-day life? The growth of work-from-home jobs has paved the way for you to earn without compromising on your family life.
Starting your own business can be tricky, and certainly not easy, but it is the key to achieving your dreams. To help you get started, we have come up with our list of 15 business ideas perfect for stay-at-home moms.
Also Read: Success comes to a woman when she becomes a rebel!
Artist
Is the artist in you paining to break free and explore the world? Has painting, sketching always beckoned you? Have you considered the prospect of chasing this dream professionally? Pick up that paint brush and paint away! You can sell your paintings online or as parts of merchandise on sites like CafePress. Being an artist doesn’t only mean drawing. You could also be a jewellery designer, graphic designer or sculptor. You can have just about any artistic skills and use them to turn it into a business model.
Bakery
Got a knack for baking cookies and cakes and all things baked? Start your own bakery. Every reason to celebrate, calls for a cake. Be it birthdays, weddings, or baby showers – nothing’s complete without a cake. With a bit of social networking, and a catalogue of your designs, you could be on your way. Target a particular sector of the bakery business, like vegetarian, fat-free or specialized decorations like cartoon characters, princess cakes.
Blogger
With sites such as WordPress providing domains for free, or for costs so minimal that you can almost call them free, having your own blog has never been easier. With a low start-up cost, you can start writing your own blog in areas you are most passionate about. The internet is full of people wanting to learn something new, and a blog is your go-to medium to share your knowledge. It allows you to work around your own schedule, so it’s a perfect idea for work from home moms.
Career or Life Coach
How many times have you helped your family members make the right career choice or guided them towards the correct decision when faced with a difficult situation? You can do it professionally too! With suicides rates being ever so high, and depression being a common thing among the youth, becoming a career/life coach could possibly be the next best thing for you if you can handle people well. A lot of companies are coming up which provide these services.
Craft Business
Your passion for art and craft could be the starting point for your new business. You can sell your handiwork in local exhibitions, craft fairs. Nowadays popular e-commerce websites also allow you to sell your work online. You could also pass on your talent and knowledge to young ones by teaching them how to make the stuff and charge them for the classes.
Event Planner
Planning an event takes a lot – food, decoration, and the most important is how you execute the theme of the party. Events these days are planned months in advance and to the smallest detail – be it a birthday, a wedding or a corporate event. With good networks of businesses to work with, you can easily climb the ladder of success.
Food Business
There’s nothing like providing a tasty meal to a hungry stomach and being paid for it. You can use your culinary skills for a variety of purposes – a personal chef, catering business or your very own bakery. Personal chefs need to have detailed knowledge of nutrition and health and should be able to adapt to different kitchens. If you think you can cook for large groups, catering business is for you.
Gift Basket Making
No celebration is complete without a few gifts. Now imagine a card, a bottle of champagne, chocolates, flowers along with a bottle of perfume all packed neatly in a decorated gift basket. Can you imagine yourself making such beautiful gift baskets? There you go. With some creativity and the ability to buy gifts and pack them neatly into baskets, bags or boxes, you can start your own gift basket making business.
Graphic Designer
With the growth of online marketing, the need for graphic designers is on the rise. Depending on your skill set, you can have a variety of business opportunities. As a freelance graphic designer or illustrator, your work will mainly include designing campaign posters, advertisements, flyers and informational pamphlets. You could also use your skills to create your own line of stationery, or even web design templates. You could market your services to ad agencies, small magazines, individual entrepreneurs and product manufacturers.
Music/Dance classes
Trained in classical music or Bharatnatyam or an instrument like the piano? There are always children, and sometimes even adults looking for teachers in these areas. With a bit of networking and advertising your skills, you can get students willing to learn and pay for the knowledge. You could also market your skills at child day-care centres, preschools and get hired on a regular basis.
Pet Related Services
Love taking care of and playing with pets? Would you like getting paid for doing this stuff? The pet business is booming, and this could be your chance to take a step into the business. Pet walking and pet sitting are right up your alley. While dogs and cats are the most common pets, you might be asked to take care of other unusual pets. You could also try your hand at a variety of pet related business, like designing your own pet fashion, pet grooming or even homemade pet snacks.
Pickle/Papad Business
Papad and pickles are the quintessential Indian household’s most favoured item eaten with every meal. They are also available in a number of varieties – Mango pickle, chilli pickle, lime pickle, masala papad, etc. If you are good at making pickles and/or papad, half the business is already set up. Pack your pickles in nice jars and sell them for nice profits.
Seamstress
Is stitching your hobby? Can you transform any old piece of jeans into a new one? Can you stitch designer bags, curtains or even clothes? Try to find out the latest trends and specialise in a particular niche. You could also look into doll dress designing. It is a trending market right now. Overall the sewing business is a very profitable business.
Tiffin service
We are living in an era where the younger generation lives in PGs or hostels away from home. The food served is almost always tasteless. At such a moment, tasty, finger-licking good, home cooked food is nothing but a relief from the bland food. Pack lunch boxes for these office goers at affordable prices and kick-off your business.
Tutor
When you’re not helping your own wee ones with homework, how about tutoring the neighbours’ kids? The satisfaction of seeing a kid you tutored succeed in school, in life, is one of the best feelings you can ever have. If you have a previous teaching experience, that is just the cherry on top.
So there you go. This list is not exhaustive. There are a lot of options for all you moms and it all just depends on what interests you. Get out there into the world and rediscover yourselves.
