Mum running a franchise business

Eight Best Franchise Business Types for Mums

A franchise can be a great way to start a business (if you want to know more, check out our post on franchising). You get to learn from someone else’s mistakes and have a business that you know can be successful. The key to successful franchising is choosing one that meets your needs and with so many to choose from that can be difficult. We’re rounded up the top 8 franchise business types that can work well for mums.

Franchise Baby & Toddler Classes

Baby and Toddler classes can be a great fit because they are generally term time only. You may be able to take your little one with you. It’s important that you like babies and small children and are happy leading a group. Lots of classes will require you to sing too so you can make use of all of those nursery rhymes you’ve learnt since becoming a Mum!

Pet Sitting franchise

If you like animals then pet sitting could work for you. This type of business can take many forms from, having animals stay in your house like family pets, a cattery or Kennels type arrangement, visiting other people’s homes to car for pets or just walking dogs while people are at work. While you could start this type of business alone, one of the main benefits of franchising is that insurance is generally provided for you.

Nearly New Sales

Baby and Children’s Nearly New Sales are becoming more and more popular. There are a number of different franchises around to choose from so you’ll need to do your research carefully. You’ll need to work at weekends sometimes to run the sales and spend plenty of time marketing the events to make sure they’re successful.

Castings/fingerprint jewellery Franchises

Children are small for such a short amount of time that we all love to have mementos. There are now many franchises that offer either castings, which can be of hand, feet or bumps or jewellery with hand, finger or foot prints. These franchises can offer flexibility and an outlet for creativity.

Franchise Parties

Children’s parties are big business with parents admitting to spending an average of £320. Some franchises offer a variety of party types while others are quite niche for example for example science or football. You’ll need a big personality and be happy to work at the weekends.

Cleaning franchises

Before you dismiss the idea because you’ve got enough cleaning of your own to do, cleaning franchises don’t generally involve you doing any actual cleaning. Franchisees market the business and hire other people to do the cleaning. Some franchises deal with PAYE and National Insurance which makes the business much easier to run.

Publishing Franchises

There are publishing franchises available both online and in print. There are a number of franchises that run print magazines, the basic content is created by the franchise and then franchisees sell advertising and distribute the magazines. Online publishers run large websites and franchisees buy the rights to sell advertising for a certain geographical area.

Virtual Assistant franchises

Becoming a virtual assistant (offering admin support from home to small businesses) is a popular choice with Mums. There are now a growing number of virtual assistant franchises that can help you get started. You’ll want to choose an established franchise so that you can benefit from their reputation and marketing.

With so many different franchises available it’s important to do your research to find one that will work for you. If you need help deciding which business is best for you then our course “How to become a Mumpreneur” can help.

8 best franchise business types for mums

Mum running a business with a baby

25 Home Business Ideas for Mums

Based on the stories that have been shared on Mumpreneur Inspiration we’ve compiled a list of business ideas for Mums. These have been inspired by the stories shared on Mumpreneurs Inspiration somyou know they can really work for Mums.

 

The 25 HomE Business ideas for Mums

Selling things on the Internet – If you’ve got some space for storage then selling on the Internet could be an option for you. The promotion can be done in your own time and little ones usually quite enjoy a trip to the post office. Even if you don’t want to develop your own website their are plenty of third party sites you can sell through such as eBay and Etsy.This often requires a lot of logistics, including packaging, so ensure you have a reliable supplier and/or partner.

Best for: Mums with storage space who need complete flexibility
Worst for: Mums without customer service experience

Stories from Mums who are running businesses selling online

Virtual assistant – If you have great administration skills and are good with technology you could offer your skills as a virtual assistant, helping other business owners with their day to day tasks. You can generally work in your own time as long as things are done by the deadline.

Best for: Mums who are organised and good at working to a deadline
Worst from: Mums who find admin tasks dull and repetitive

Stories from Mums who are virtual assistants

Creating and selling information products – If you are knowledgable about something you could consider creating information products such as online courses, ebooks or even a blog to share that knowledge. Once the products are created you can focus your time on marketing so this can be a great home based business for Mums.

Best for: Mums who are knowledgeable about a particular topic
Worst for: Mums who don’t have the best IT skills

Stories from Mums who are selling information products

Remote coaching – If you’re very experienced in something you could consider remote coaching, this lends itself well to coaching in areas such as business, marketing and finances.

Best for: Mums who enjoy helping others
Worst for: Mums who don’t enjoy working on a one to one basis

Stories from Mums who are remote coaches

Face to face coaching – Some types of coaching work better in the real world but can still be scheduled round family life. You may already have skills that you can coach such as fitness, parenting or counselling or you could train in one of these areas. You could either run this as a home based business if you have a home office or hire space at a local business centre for the actual consulting.

Best for: Mums who have access to some space to carry out the coaching
Worst for: Mums who have small children with them full time

Stories from Mums who are face to face coaches

Antenatal classes – Some woman are inspired to join this industry through a good birth experience and some by a bad experience. Whichever is true for you, if you’re passionate about woman’s experience of birth this could suit you but you will need some childcare.

Best for: Mums with a passion for supporting new Mums
Worst for: Mums who don’t have great empathy

Stories from Mums who run classes

Childminder – Probably the only job where you can have your children with you all the time while you do it. Everyone in your household will need to have a background check and you’ll need to do some basic training. The government is keen to increase the availability of childcare so there is lots of support available.

Best for: Mums with a decent sized home and don’t mind some red tape
Worst for: Mums who don’t enjoy looking after children

Stories from Mums working in childcare

Baking – Becoming a cake maker or decorator is something that appeals to lots of women. If you’ve got the skills to create something really beautiful then you can make some money.  You’ll have to be very well organised to fit it around small children. You’ll also need to keep your kitchen very clean to meet the health and safety requirements.

Best for: Mums who have a good kitchen space and like to keep it clean
Worst for: Mums who don’t have time to keep on top of the cleaning

Stories from Mums running food based businesses

Crafts – If you enjoy crafts then you could make them to sell. You could either do this online, through your own website or a third party site, or via local craft markets.

Best for: Mums who enjoy working with their hands to create something
Worst for: Mums who won’t  put as much time in to selling as creating

Stories from Mums running craft based businesses

Bespoke items – One of the things that small businesses can do better than larger ones is create personalised items, this might jewellery, pieces of art, castings or clothing.

Best for: Mums who have sometime alone to work on items.
Worst for: Mums who want a business they can scale.

Stories from Mums who run Bespoke item based businesses.

Graphic/website design – If you have design skills these can allow you to work around your family as you can design for other people in your own time while little ones are asleep or at school. It’s a busy marketplace but if you can develop a good reputation in your niche then you can be successful.

Best for: Mums who either have or are willing to learn design skills
Worst for: Mums who don’t like their creativity to be directed by someone else

Stories from Mums who run Design based businesses

Book keeping – Accountancy and book keeping can work well around a children but you’ll need to already have the skills and qualifications as it’s difficult to get qualified without a period of working for someone else.

Best for: Mums who enjoy attention to detail
Worst for: Mums who don’t already have qualifications in the area

Stories from Mums who run book keeping/accountancy based businesses

Baby and toddler classes – Massage, music, gymnastics, dance, babies and toddlers can do it all these days! These can combine well with having children, some people take their children along to the classes but it is easier if you have enough childcare to cover class times, then admin, lesson planning and marketing can be fitted in elsewhere.

Best for: Mums who are comfortable standing up in front of the group
Worst for: Mums who don’t enjoy small children

Stories from Mums who run baby & toddler classes

After school classes – If you prefer older children and have a skill you could teach them then you could run after school classes, karate, music, swimming and dance are all popular things for children to take part in after school.

Best for: Mums with a skill to teach
Worst for: Mums with no childcare

Stories from Mums who run after school classes

Fitness classes – This could be standard adult classes, a buggy fit style of class or a class for Mums and babies to do together. If you’re interested in fitness you could train as an instructor even if you don’t already have the skills.

Best for: Mums with a passion for fitness
Worst for: Mums who,wouldn’t be comfortable with teaching

Stories from Mums who run fitness classes

Nanny – There is much less regulation for Nannies than for childminders and full time Nannies are often employees of the parents whose children they look after however some Nannies work on a self employed basis but in their clients Homes.

Best for: Mums who would enjoy a long term relationship with their clients
Worst for: Mums who don’t want to work in someone else’s home

Stories from Mums who work in childcare

Beauty therapist/hairdresser – These jobs can be done from home or on a mobile basis, while you couldn’t really have your children with you it’s possible to book appointments for times that you have childcare.

Best for: Mums who have some help with childcare, even just at the weekends or in the evenings
Worst for: Mums who don’t have a qualification in the area or the willingness to get one

Stories of Mums who run hair/beauty businesses

Selling by subscription – Subscription boxes where people sign up to receive something each month, great because there is automatically repeat business and can be promoted online and via social media in your own time.

Best for: Mums with a great product idea
Worst for: Mums who get easily bored

Stories of Mums who sell by subscription

Events – An event based business can work well around children as the events themselves can be scheduled when childcare is available and the promotion can be fitted in to evenings and nap times.

Best for: Mums who are organised
Worst for: Mums who don’t enjoy marketing

Stories from Mums who run events based businesses

Pet Sitting – If you love animals then pet sitting could be a great home based business for you. You look after other people’s pets in your own home, usually for a few weeks while they are on holiday but sometimes for longer.

Best for: Mums who like animals
Worst for: Mums who like things clean and tidy

Running an animal themed website 

Making and Selling Jams and Chutney – While you’ll need to have your kitchen approved by the local council and follow strict hygiene rule, if you have a talent for cooking you can turn it into a business.

Best for: Mums who love being in the kitchen
Worst for: Mums who don’t like cleaning

Stories from Mums who work with food


Indexer
– If you have good attention to detail and enjoy being organised then you could consider training as an indexed.

Best for: Organised mums
Worst for: Mums who don’t like detail

Stories from Organised Mums

Seamstress – If you’re handy with a needle and thread you can earn an income from it by taking in mending in alteration work. If you’re creative you could also make your own items to sell.

Best for: Mums who enjoy sewing
Worst for: Mums who don’t like fiddly stuff

Stories from Mums who make a living through textiles

Social Media Manager – If you love social media there are companies who will pay you to run their accounts for them, you’ll need a good knowledge of the platforms and be able to follow their style guidelines. You will also need to know what tools to use to maximise your results, such as social media schedulers, insight tools, and a Broken Link Checker for Youtube videos.

Best for: Mums who enjoy being online
Worst for: Mums who find social media addictive

Stories from mums who run online businesses

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10 business ideas for mums

 

Parent bloggers

Why Becoming Parent Bloggers is a Popular Choice for Mums Who Want to Work from Home

In terms of career choice, blogger is relatively recent addition to our options. Bloggers have been around since the early days of the internet. They started out as simply an online version of the paper journals many people used to keep and it’s only in the last 10 years or so that people have really started to make money from it. Parent bloggers are one of the largest groups of bloggers, here are some of the reasons that blogging attracts them.

 

Low Entry Barriers

These days, it’s very easy to start a blog. You don’t need to know any coding or have more technical skills than it takes to use a word processor and the internet. There are lots of platforms around, like WordPress, Blogger and Square Space, where you can start a blog and be online in less than an hour.

Blogging also has little or no costs associated with it when you first start. Even if you choose to buy your own domain name, and host your own site, you could spend less than £100 in the first year.

 

Parent Bloggers have Flexibility 

This is obviously one of the huge benefits for parents who need to fit their work around children, especially younger ones. You can blog in the evenings, while they nap, while they’re in the soft play or while they’re at school. 

This flexibility does come at a cost though. Blogging can easily take over your life. It takes time to build a blog and it’s easy to end up spending every spare moment on it. Once you start to get paid work, you’ll also have deadlines to meet and that can be tricky if your children are also demanding your time.

 

We’re often sharing our lives anyway

In the age of social media, many of us spend a lot of time sharing our lives online anyway. Social media is a huge part of blogging and so can feel like a natural extension of it. It’s important to bear in mind that what we share will be in the public domain forever. When they first start, every blogger has to decide how much information they are comfortable putting out there. Some people are happy to share images, names and town, others give their children nicknames for the blog and only share photos of them from behind. Ultimately there is no right choice, you just have to decide what you’ve comfortable with.

 

A Creative Outlet

Parenting may be very rewarding but it can also be really tedious. If you are used to working full time and having your work recognised, it can be hard to adjust to spending your days at home, changing nappies. Most bloggers have always had an interest in writing and enjoy the chance to express themselves through their blog. 

For some bloggers, photography is key to their blog and that’s where their passion lays. Whatever topic you care about, a blog can provide you with a way to keep that passion alive and share it with others.

 

A Sense of Community

While some women are lucky and have lots of friends with babies, others aren’t. Blogging can be a great way to meet other parents who you have something other than your status as a mother in common with. The blogging world is a very friendly one where, in general people support each other and that can be a life line if you’re finding parenting a bit lonely.

If you want to work from home and enjoy writing, blogging is definitely something to consider. Building a blog from scratch is hard work and it takes before money can be made but if you love it, it’s well worth the effort. If you fancy giving blogging a go, check out this great parent bloggers course*.

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Woman working in a virtual assistant franchise

Running a Virtual Assistant Franchise

Working as a virtual assistant involves providing admin services to other businesses, often small businesses and one man bands, in exchange for a fee. This might be a set fee you are pained every month for taking responsibility for certain tasks, or a payment for a one off piece of work. Some people prefer to take on a virtual assistant franchise to lower the start up risk and have access to support.

Virtual Assistant work often fits in well for mums as it can be done from and can usually be fitted into the hours you have available as long as work is completed by the agreed deadline.

Starting a virtual assistant franchise rather than going it alone can increase your chances of success as the franchisee will provide training and you will be working under an established brand.

To help you decide if work as a virtual assistant is for you, we have interviewed Sandra, who runs a virtual assistant franchise with Pink Spaghetti.

Tell us your name and a bit about your family?

My name is Sandra and I moved to Sussex with my family 7 years ago, I am married to Paul, who is a Product Manager in London and mum to three girls, Mia aged almost 14, Alexa aged 11 and Sienna aged 9

What’s your business called?

Pink Spaghetti PA Services

Can you describe it in one sentence?

Your 25th hour in the day, offering you the ‘Gift of Time’.

How did You end up buying a Virtual assistant franchise and what inspired you?

I started my virtual PA business over two years ago and have never felt more fulfilled. I had always wanted to run my own business, especially after starting a family of my own. When my first child came along I reduced my hours to part time with the full intention of returning full time to my corporate role but when no.2 arrived and then no.3 I knew I had to have the flexibility of working for myself and started to think and search for ways to achieve this, I dreamt of running my own business someday and knew I had to turn this dream into a reality.

How did you fund your start up?

I had a small savings plan mature and weighed up the pros and cons of putting it towards a new car or holiday but instead the business concept won out. I didn’t want to look back at retirement and regret not going for it. I knew in my heart of hearts that it was now or never!

How do you manage Running your virtual assistant franchise around your children?

I work during school hours but sometimes have to work after school pick up or in between school clubs. I make sure I carve out time to support them in their homework or have a planned meal for dinnertime so that the evenings are stress free.

I have become much more conscious now of putting my family first. As my family has grown I have realised the importance of being there for them is even greater. Contrary to popular belief they need me more now, perhaps not so much physically i.e. I no longer need to help them with their shoe laces but they definitely still need me emotionally, whether it is to discuss school work or generally just being available for them as a sounding board.

Can you describe a typical day, what tasks do you have to get done, how do you manage your time?

I love the variety of my work, the day is never dull and you can never guess what your next enquiry could bring. For example I may be organising a party one minute, then be creating social media content the next. Helping my clients with their book keeping or sourcing a gardener. Some tasks are on-going month on month and others are one-off jobs.
I try to structure my week carefully, spending one morning per week on my admin, one day on my social Media Marketing and the rest of the week working on my clients work. I try not to have more than one day per week at networking meetings or 1-1 meetings, although it doesn’t always work out like this, just like life there are curve balls thrown at me i.e sports day at my kids school recently.

What challenges have you faced in your Virtual assistant franchise and how have you overcome them?

Getting the balance right is always tricky, especially in my first year of business where I was working long hours and it was impacting my family life, my work/life balance was non-existent. I found it really hard to switch off from the business and was thinking about it 24/7. I realised this was not healthy and had to find a happy medium. Working from home also created other challenges, I would often feel the pressure to do housework or could get easily distracted by social media. I have now become much more disciplined with my time. I set a timer for tasks and also switch off notifications from certain platforms to avoid unnecessary interruptions. I also have my own office space now, which has helped tremendously, I walk in and immediately turn to work mode.

What’s the best thing about being Virtual assistant?

The best thing is definitely being my own boss and having the flexibility to go out for lunch with a friend or make that important school assembly.

What are your plans for the future?

I would like to see my business grow and become an employer, this will be a huge step for me.

What advice would you give for someone just starting out in business?

NETWORK. It takes a good year to get established within your community and to turn a profit in your business, sometimes even longer, so adapting your mindset to this is crucial. Going from an employee to the boss is not an easy transition at times. Every aspect of the business is your responsibility, which is easily overlooked when you are first starting out, new skills need to be gained and dedication is the key, being able to adapt and continue to keep learning.

All this though can be very overwhelming. I found lots of support from my local networking groups. It is vital to network with other small businesses, gaining their trust, confidence and expanding your network is fantastic for your business and for you, you learn so much from each other. It also brings new friendships and combats any loneliness you may be feeling working from home. You will be out, socialising with other businesses in the same situation as you or who have skills and expertise to advise you and will offer support. I have made some really good friends from my networking groups and have even become an Ambassador for one and currently run another networking group of my own now, something a few years ago I would never have believed I would be doing… I didn’t even realise networking groups existed before I started my business!

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us

It has been a steep learning curve with many challenges and amazing milestones along the way. I am truly happy to have had the courage to start this journey, it has opened doors to me I never knew existed, I have established friendships and collaborations with fantastic local businesses and feel so empowered, don’t get me wrong there are up days and down but the ups definitely outweigh the downs.
I hope that one day when my children are older they will be proud of their Mum and admire the business woman I have become. #NoRegrets

You can contact Sandra via Twitter

If you’re interested in running a franchise, you can find more suggestions in our post on franchises for mums. You might also like to read the story of the a Pink Spaghetti Virtual Assistant Franchise opportunity.

You can find other stories of mums who are running a virtual assistant franchise in our Business to Business stories.

Home Business Ideas for Mums

With childcare costs as high as they are working in the home is an appealing option for many mums. Unfortunately there are a lot of unscrupulous people promising unrealistically high earnings for home working jobs. To help you find an opportunity that really can earn you money from home we’ve put together 5 home business ideas for mums. These aren’t get rich quick ideas and all will take time to establish but, with hard work, can create an income.

Information products

Information products describes a range of products, usually online, that provide the purchaser with information they need. The products might be books, ebooks, courses or access to a library of resources via a subscription payment. The hard work is in creating the products or writing the book, once that’s done, the focus is on marketing them. This way you can continue to make money from them long after the initial hard work is finished.  If you’d like to go down the writing route, then you’ll need a publisher, there are some great publishing companies in Canada.

E-commerce

If there’s a product you’re passionate about then selling online could be for you. If you’re fairly good with a computer then there are plenty of packages that will help you to build an e-commerce site. You couldn’t also consider selling through another platform. eBay is a popular choice as is Amazon. If you’re selling something you’ve created yourself then Etsy can work well. Just bear in mind that all of these sites will charge you a fee for using them, usually a percentage of sales. If you plan to hold stock you’ll need some storage space, either at home or through a company. Alternatively you could look at drop shipping, where you take the orders and pass them on to another company to ship. Read about Mums who run e-commerce businesses.

Selling Private Label Products

Private label products allow you to buy a product and then add your own branding before selling it on at a profit. It can work well if you want to do something like start skincare business or a clothing business. Private label products can also be digital products like printables which eliminates the need to store stock.

Bespoke items

Bespoke items are one of the few things that small businesses can often do better than large ones. There are hundreds of items that can be personalised for buyers for example clothing, food items, gifts, stationery or furniture. Just be prepared to spend as much time Marketing the business as you do on the creative process. Check out our stories from mums who’s create bespoke items.

Blogging

Of all our home business ideas for mums this one will probably take the longest to build in to a profitable business. However if you enjoy writing it may be one of the most fulfilling. Bloggers make there money from advertising on their blogs. In some cases they will be given a product as payment for reviewing it, in others they will be paid either to write a post about something or to publish a post written by someone else. They also sometimes sell display advertising on the blog and run affiliate programs like Google Adsense. Read blogger KatyKicker’s story for inspiration or check out this fab course on how to get started as a blogger.

Virtual assistant

If you have excellent admin skills then you could put them to use to creat an income. Many small business owners prefer to focus on the core elements of their business and outsource the admin to someone else. This creates opportunities for people whose forte is admin. You’ll need a decent laptop and good broadband speed to make it work. Networking skills to help you find your clients. To the stories from Mums who have become VAs have a look at our business to business stories.

Other home business ideas for mums

We’re tried to stick here to home business ideas for mums that are fairly accessible to everyone but if you have a particular skill set you may well be able to make use of it at home. You may be knowledgable about something that you could teach. You could either do it by inviting clients to your home or via the internet. If you’re a coach or counsellor you could offer your services via Skype. Perhaps you could do something you’ve done before but on a freelance basis. Whatever home business idea you choose to go for, make sure that you meet the legal requirements by getting insured and informing the council, landlord or mortgage company if necessary.

Want to start a business but not sure which one is right for you? Check out this review of “How to Become a Work From Home Mum” a book with over 50 work from home mum ideas.

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Home business ideas for mums

Green typewriter with a hand typing and a cup of tea - How do bloggers make money

How Bloggers Make Money

You might well have wondered in the past, how do bloggers make money? Well today we’re going to answer that question. Essentially, bloggers are very similar to the free newspapers and magazines they you receive through the door. They provide some interesting articles for you to read and are paid via companies pacing adverts. For bloggers, advertising can take various forms. While each blogger’s sources of income will be slightly different, we’re going to explain 6 main ways that they make a living. 

Pay Per Click Advertising

Programmes like Google Adsense allow bloggers to display adverts on their sites for products that might be of interest to their readers. Bloggers make money when visitors to their site click on the advert. The amount per click is very small and there is usually a minimum payment threshold to be reached before they are paid but blogs that have developed a good level of traffic can make a worthwhile amount.

Display Advertising

Display advertising is when a blogger is paid to display an advert on their site. It usually goes either in the sidebar or at the top of the page. The amount they are paid will vary but essentially the more established and well visited the website is, the more they will be paid. If you have a blog in a small niche advertisers within that niche are likely to be keen to get seen by your audience.

Affiliate Programmes

Bloggers can advertise specific products via an affiliate scheme. These basically mean that when someone goes on to buy the product after clicking a link on their site, bloggers make money. It’s usually a percentage of what the buyer paid. Bloggers may work via large affiliate schemes like Amazon Associates or Affiliate Window or they might have a direct relationship with the brand whose products they are promoting.

Sponsored Content

In some cases bloggers are paid to talk about a product on their blog. This might be a one off, for example being paid to write a post on the benefits of travel insurance. It could also be an ongoing relationship through an ambassadors programme. In an ambassador programme the blogger talks regularly about the product, these are often consumable products like nappies.

Working with Search Engine Optimisation Agencies (SEOs)

A Search Engine Optimisation agency’s aim is to increase the Google ranking of their clients website. One of the ways they do this is by getting other websites to link to that client’s site. Bloggers make money by hosting posts on their site that contain those links. It’s not something Google are very keen on people doing but it isn’t in anyway illegal.

Creating Information Products

Where bloggers are an expert on a certain topic, they can make money from that by creating an information product. An information product basically aims to teach someone something. They can do this in the form of a course or book, usually accessed online. For example, if you were an expert as decluttering, you could create a course called “How to declutter your home”. Bloggers make money by selling these products via their blog. 

You can see that, essentially, all of the ways that bloggers make money, involve some kind of advertising. If you want to make money from blogging it’s important you create great content. Great content will make people want to visit your blog. That in turn will make advertisers want to pay you. It can take time when you first start bloggingfirst start blogging to build an audience but is well worth it once you do.

If you think blogging might be for you, check out my review of the Parent Blogging Secrets course which is a great way to get started with blogging.

This post contains affiliate links.

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How Bloggers Make Money

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Mum holding baby while working on a laptop

6 Top Business Ideas For Stay At Home Mums

A career shift, a new baby, or the need to take better care of your family; are some of the reasons why mothers would want to become ‘stay at home’ mums. However, whatever the reason is, being at home should not stop you from making some extra money. Don’t know what to do?  Here are five business ideas to consider as a stay at home mum.

  • Sell Private Label Products

Private label products are unbranded products the you buy in bulk to sell. They come “unlabelled” so you can add your own branding to them. It’s a great option if you have the skills for marketing and selling but not the resources to create your own products. Private label cbd skincare are a popular choice, as are clothes and accessories, hair care, and even supplements.

  • Become a virtual assistant

A virtual assistant (VA) job allows you to make some money in your free time, perhaps, while your kids are away at school or taking a nap. Virtual assistants offer administrative services, such as managing emails, social media, and calendars, booking hotel rooms, air tickets, and appointments, amongst others. Unlike nine to five jobs, not only do you get to get work comfortably from home as a VA, but you also get to work flexible hours.

Another great advantage to being a virtual assistant is that as the work is online based you could work in almost any industry anywhere in the world. If you come from a marketing background for example you could seek opportunities within marketing and look to be a VA in an Orlando marketing agency, from the comfort of your home. Further, it would be in keeping with your skillset, relevant and may even enhance your CV should you wish to return to an employed role in the future. Alternatively if you are looking to expand your reach, industry, and network then why not try an entirely new sector to see how you find it.

  • Start a transcription job

Transcribing audio and video files to text is another business idea to consider. Most of the transcription jobs available online do not require any experience – so anyone can join. As payment depends on the number of files transcribed, the transcriptionists have control over the number of files converted in a day or the month- whichever allows for flexibility.

  • Sell crafts

Are you a mum who can knit a blanket, make wigs, make cute hair accessories, or just like making things? Creating and selling your craftwork might be a business idea you would want to explore. Online services like Etsy and Amazon, provide a platform for you to sell your crafts. You can also sell your items from the comfort of your home or at the crafts market in your neighbourhood.

  • Daycare services

Creating a daycare center can help turn what would have otherwise been your daily chores into a good source of income. If you have a spacious backyard for children to move about, then this is an idea you should consider. Include activities like sensory play, outdoor gym equipment and active play. It is an essential part of children’s development as it develops their motor skills, keeps them healthy, builds social skills, and improves their senses. It doesn’t matter the size of your backyard; consult a School Playground Company to help you design a specific playground area that will fit your backyard, pocket as well as meet the particular age group needs. This may seem as if it’s an unnecessary expense, but it’s one fail-proof way to ensure that you stand out from the other daycare centres. Other busy mums would like to have a daycare within the neighborhood to take off some of their stress and to provide a safe place for their children while they are away.

  • After school pick up service

Just like the daycare idea, you can help other busy mums by running an “after school pick up” service. You could offer to pick up kids of working parents for a fee, either dropping them off at home or have them stay at your house till their parents close from work. Are you worried about being distracted by many excited kids in your car? Well don’t fret because ADAS Systems (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) like CarSafe, can help you keep both yourself and the kids safe. If you already use a vehicle with these systems installed, then you should have them frequently checked and tested to avoid any accidents.

So, if you want to be a work at home mum, these five flexible business ideas can help stay creative while making some extra money to support your family. This way you may be able to say goodbye to the stress of trying to build a career while carrying out the responsibility of taking care of your family.

 

Mums Business Inspiration: Where does it Come From?

Mums Business Inspiration can come from many places. On Business for Mums we’re shared the stories of hundreds of Mums who have started their own business. They all answered the questions “What inspired you” and we’ve used their answers to look for recurring themes.

Mums Business Inspiration: Why Mums want to start a business

I had a always known that I wanted to start a my own business but I had never known exactly what I wanted to do. It took until the maternity leave of my second pregnancy for me to take the leap. The stories shared on Business for Mums suggest I wasn’t alone in knowing that self employment was the direction I wanted to take.

“When my youngest was a year I started watching out for ideas. I wanted to do something that worked around my three young kids (they were 1, 3, 4 when I started) and also something I am passionate about.” Lisa from A Fine Choice

It can also be the experience of motherhood that inspires the Starting of a business. Grace from Beauty by Grace was inspired to start her business by the need for a sense of self “Even though I absolutely loved being a mum, I felt like I had lost myself, I felt like I had no identity.” Keeping hold of your personal identity can also help with postnatal depression.
Many life changes are inspired by a significant life event and that’s no different for Mothers, Suzanne started working as a virtual assistant as it offered a way to work that suited her circumstances.

“I was in a car accident and as a result of the injuries, I was off work sick for a few months, which I hated. I was desperate to get back to work but needed a role that was flexible as I was still recovering, so I decided to hand in my notice and began building up my own Virtual PA business.” Suzanne from Pink Diamonds Office Support

For Ethne from Wood Street Books, it was a personal tragedy that led her to reassess her priorities and become self employed.

“I disliked my job intensely and had long had the desire to become self employed. I had a miscarriage in March 2013 which made me reassess my work/life priorities and I promptly handed in my notice at work. Fast forward 12 months and I had finally completed my long overdue accountancy qualifications and done all the leg work involved in becoming a self employed accountant just in time for Erin’s arrival. Then there was only the small matter of managing a start up as well as a new born baby!”

Mums Business Inspiration Ian often triggered by the thought of leaving their children to return to the work place. That then pushes them to start a business.

“I was feeding my youngest in Chessington World of Adventures and looking through a parenting forum. It was about 6 months from my return to work and I was having that wobble….”I can’t possibly go back to work, my babies need me at home!”. I saw a post on a forum from another Mother with the same dilemma and someone had mentioned Pink Spaghetti Virtual PA’s.” Laura, Pink Spaghetti Franchisee

It can be important for Mums to both be their for their children and retain a sense of self. For a lot of women to best way to achieve that is through self employment.

“I made an active choice that being a Mum was more important than financial success, but having the mental stimulation that work provided was still important to my own well being. Becoming self employed seemed the best answer. As the children have grown, it has allowed me to be the Mum I want to be but fit in the work commitments to allow me to still be ‘me’ and keep a platform from which to grow as my children’s needs change.” Caroline from Added Zest Ltd

There are also less positive circumstances that push Mums in to self employment:

“What inspired me was not being able to get a job! Previous to 2012, the last time I’d been applying for jobs was 2001 and things had changed A LOT! I wanted something well-paid and part-time but I wasn’t getting anywhere so essentially I was forced into the position of finding freelance work – and it grew from there.” Tanya from How to become a Virtual Assistant

Mums Business Inspiration: Where Mums ideas come from

So, we know why Mums want to start a business, but how do they come up with their ideas? A lot if Mums take their inspiration from a skill they already have:

“I was approached by my son’s headteacher to give French classes in the curriculum from Year 2 to Year 6 last year. Then I also set up Spanish breakfast and after-school clubs there. I was then approached by another school to do the same. Next I started looking into ways of expanding without compromising my life-work balance and came across Kidslingo.” Jill from Kidslingo

It can also be reigniting a previous passion that leads to a business:

“Initially, after having my first son in 2012 I became a little frustrated at the lack of time I had to concentrate on my art. But then one day I drew him – nothing radical! – bit it was a breakthrough…I showed some family & friends, who really liked them & said that they could relate to them & so I decided to make them into more finished pieces in order to produce limited edition prints to sell. So, my family is a huge inspiration!” Anne-Marie Rickus Arts

For other Mums, a new business means a completely new direction:

“I found a book online about how to become a VA. All you needed was internet connection and you could work with people online. This was a totally new way of looking at things for me and I realised that I could be doing this and working with people all over the world.” Chichi Eruchalu

People often imagine that all businesses are inspired by a gap in the market or finding the solution to a problem. Evidence from the stories on Business for Mums suggest that this is the case for only a small proportion of Mums. Here are a couple of examples:

“I had always enjoyed making and sewing but didn’t have time or resources to make more ambitious things such as clothes and, speaking to peers it appeared that there are many people in the same boat. When I looked around crafting shops or haberdashery departments in the larger stores they were full of kits, aiming to simplify a particular craft, but none contained kits to make actual clothing.” Kate from The Pretty Lovely Company

Businesses can also be inspired by a childhood experience:

“I’d had a bad experience as a child learning to swim and I swore my kids wouldn’t be afraid of water…I looked around for children’s swimming classes but was disappointed with what I found. Eventually, I found classes in London and I used to go all the way to London once a week from Buckingham! The owner of that particular swim school asked if I would like to be a teacher so I qualified and became a swimming teacher. I started teaching locally and I was in the pool one day and a lovely little baby was sick on me – and that was my lightbulb moment! I thought, I need to be doing something for myself…” Tamsin from Water Babies

You can read more about my personal Buisness journey on the About Us page. You can also read about my two business stories, Tots Tales and Mum2mum Market Nearly New Sales.

Running baby and toddler classes

What’s it Really Like Running Baby and Toddler Classes?

Running baby and toddler classes is a popular choice for Mums who are looking for a business that will fit around their families. Weather you want to run them independently or through a franchise, here’s what you need to know.

It’s about the parents as much as the children

The classes might be for the children but it’s the Mums who make the decision to come. I attended a music class with my son for a couple of years. The class itself was pretty rubbish but it was such a lovely group of Mums that I kept going. If you can foster a nice atmosphere and discourage cliques, you’ll get more parents coming each each term.

If there is time during, or at the end of, your session for parents to chat that can help to develop a friendly group. Less formal meet ups at parks or soft plays during the school holidays also help. Mums of under 5s are often left with nothing to do when classes stop for the holidays.

Finding the Right venue is key

Venue hire is an odd business. Mostly it’s done as an add on to an organisation’s real business (church’s hiring out their halls, school’s hiring out their gyms) and that means price and terms vary massively. This means that shopping around is key.

For running baby and toddler classes you’ll need good parking (make sure that the car parking won’t be used for something else when your customers will want to use it), baby changing and a room without hazards. A cafe and are near by park are also bonuses.

You’ll also need to be happy with the person that you’re dealing with and their reliability. I viewed a hall which was perfect but rejected it because I found out that they cancelled all bookings if a funeral was taking place. I also moved on from a venue because the person I was supposed to collect the keys from was so often not in when I arrived.

Facebook is your frieNd when running baby AND TODDLER classes

When I ran baby and toddler classes, I got very few bookings until I started using Facebook. If you only have a small advertising budget then this is where you should spend it. I paid a lot for adverts on parenting websites and in parenting magazines. They were all wasted money when compared to the number of bookings I got through Facebook.

There are also lots of free ways to advertise on Facebook. Every area has lots of Facebook parenting groups where you can post about your classes (just not enough to annoy people). You can also get your friends on board with spreading the word by asking them to share your posts

You’ll get recognised in the street (aNd you’ll feel a bit famous!)

Who knew that running baby and toddler classes could make you famous! The baby and toddler world is surprisingly small. I would often run into my customers when I was out and about. There’s nothing quite like having a toddler run up to you in the library and give you a big hug because they know you from your class.

Your own children will love it

When I first started developing my classes I would try my ideas out on my kids. Soon I found myself running baby and toddler classes everyday at home because my baby and toddler loved it! It was a great way to practice my songs but it did get a bit old in the end.

If you think you might enjoy running baby and toddler classes then have a look at the stories on our classes and education page or, if you think you’d like to go down the franchise route then you can check out our franchisees stories.

Becoming a childminder involves taking children out

Becoming a childminder

If you’re considering becoming a childminder then there’s a lot to think about. Like anything involving children it’s carefully regulated. Taking care of other people’s children is a big responsibility so it’s important think carefully about the decision before committing.

Are you suited to becoming a childminder?

Of course it’s important that you like children, you probably wouldn’t be considering it if that wasn’t the case. What people sometimes forgot is that you need to like parents too. Liaising with parents is one of the most important parts of a childminders job so think carefully if that’s something you’ll enjoy. If you have strong opinions about parenting this might lead to clashes with parents that would make it difficult for you to look after their child Looking after someone else’s children is a huge responsibility so you’ll need to decide if that’s something you can cope with or not.

If you’ll have your own child with you when you’re working you’ll need to consider how becoming a childminder will effect them. Will they enjoy having other children around or will they find it difficult to share you? If they struggle, how will you cope with it?

Regulation

To become a childminder you need to be registered with the local authority. The only circumstance in which you don’t need to register is if you’re looking after children for less than two hours a day. You also don’t need to register if you only look after children over the age of eight.

The registration process involves undertaking a training course approved by the local authority. Some authorities run their own, alternatively most authorities have approved the course run by PACEY which is available by distance learning. You will also be required to complete paediatric first aid training. There are online first aid training courses to help you meet this requirement.

The local authority will want to check that you are suitable to look after children by carrying out a DBS check and speaking to referees that you provide. They’ll also carry out DBS checks on anyone else who lives in the house, including young adults.

Your Home

As childminders look after children in their own home, your home will need to be suitable. You’ll need to have enough space for children and ideally some equipment for them to play with. You’ll need to keep records for the local authority so will need space to create and store your paperwork.

The location of your home is also important. Parents will need to drop off and pick up there children so a location that’s close to family homes or a station can helpful. It can also be useful to be close to a school/preschool for pick ups and drop offs. Becoming a childminder could be difficult if you live somewhere very remote.

Finding clients

Most parents find their childminder through word of mouth but this can be tricky when you first start out. Make sure everyone knows that you are becoming a childminder. That way they can recommend you if they hear that someone’s looking for childcare. Most local authorities keep a list of local childcare providers so make sure you’re on it.

Facebook can be a great place to advertise your services, in local parenting groups and general local groups. Lots of schools have a Facebook group for parents. If you know people with children at a local school you can ask them to mention in the group that you have vacancies.

Alternatives to becoming a childminder

If you don’t think your home is suitable for looking after children then you could consider becoming a nanny. Nannies look after children in their own homes and tend to ok after fewer children at a time.. Childminding hours can be long, if you want to work less hours then you could look at running baby and toddler classes or after school classes. If you’re really ambitious you could even consider setting up your own nursery.