These days, stay-at-home parents really can have it all: freedom to nurture the kids at home and flexibility to pursue professional interests while earning a pretty penny or two. Building a business from your living room is as simple as combining a well-designed website with a skill you’ve already learned and mastered. Jumpstart your inner entrepreneur with these 25 money-making ideas.
- Babysitting. Try adding another charge to your load. Even better: team up with local moms and dads to create an online babysitting network, matching at-home parents with those needing childcare.
- Pet daycare. More of an animal person? Walk dogs or check in on Fido and Fluffy while their owners take a vacation. Superpower your biz with a version of the babysitting network, connecting pet-parents with neighbors wanting to pet sit.
- Tutoring. Share your math skills with the neighbor kids, but don’t be afraid to venture beyond the block: post downloadable lesson plans and activities on your website, offer Skype sessions, or customize learning plans.
- Affiliate links. Boost ad revenue on your blog with Amazon.com affiliate links. When a reader clicks on a product link from your website and buys something — anything — from Amazon, you get a cut of the sale.
- SEO link building. Master link building for a big reward: every business aspires to the top of Google search results, and most are willing to pay well for help getting their links on other sites.
- Craft store. If you love the D side of DIY, try making your favorite projects and selling them online. Customers will appreciate the chance to place custom orders.
- Meal planning. Once you’ve perfected feeding your own family, build a business that creates and customizes meal plans and shopping lists.
- Personal chef. Maybe cooking is your passion — if so, kudos to you: time to study up on food-handling and nutrition best-practices, and cook for people willing to pay for homemade, quality meals.
- Home catering. Catering can cost a fortune. Why not advertise your crowd-feeding skills as a cheaper, more personal alternative for small events or holiday dinners?
- At-home bakery. Take a cake-decorating class and sell custom confections for weddings, birthdays, and baby or bridal showers. Boost your business with how-to tutorials on your website.
- Music lessons. Don’t let the piano lessons Mom paid for go to waste. Combine your music skills and experience with children to teach music classes for tots in your home or community, and extend your reach online with videos and downloadable lesson plans.
- Freelance writing. Websites and blogs are always looking for quality ghost writers and freelancers. Start out with subjects you are already an expert in, and create a website with writing samples to promote your work.
- Photo or video editing. Learning to edit family photos and home videos will be worth the investment: it just takes time, a good computer, the right software, and a little tech savvy.
- Graphic design. Create wedding or event invitations or design fliers and print materials for small businesses.
- Fitness coach. Teach private or small-group mommy-and-me fitness classes for other at-home parents, and don’t forget to embed your YouTube workouts on your website.
- Event planner. Plan baby or bridal showers, birthday parties, office dinners, anniversary celebrations, and more.
- Wedding consultant. Try specializing in decor, flowers, receptions, or venue hunting; complete your consulting business with a website offering tips and reviews of local vendors.
- College coach. Study up on college admissions and coach students in penning a winning essay and error-free application.
- Home staging. Have a knack for interior design? Monetize your skills by making houses shine for real-estate buyers and sellers.
- Decoration rental. Collect or make decor for weddings, such as backdrops, fairy lights, centerpieces, and more, and rent out your collection online.
- Herb gardening. Employ your green thumb: grow and sell fresh herbs, spicing up business by listing everyday tips for using the plants on your website.
- Sewing. Sewing is a lost art. f you’re lucky enough to be handy with a needle and thread, or have the patience to learn, why not create an at-home hemming and tailoring shop? Throw in online orders for custom projects like curtains.
- Paper shredding. Believe it or not, this is a big market — institutions such as banks and clinics are required to destroy sensitive documents, and sometimes get swamped with papers they can’t trash. Cash in with a mobile shredding and recycling business.
- Consignment shop. Try selling children’s clothes and antique nursery furniture. Online consignment shops are cheap and low risk, as you don’t own the inventory and stand to gain half of each sale.
- House cleaning. Leverage the skills you’ve perfected while cleaning up after your family. Drive traffic to your business website with cleaning hacks, household product reviews (don’t forget affiliate links!) and Pinterest-friendly graphics.
