Hello! This week I have a guest post from Virginia Cooper! She is a retired community college instructor. She always encouraged her students to see the real-world value in their education, and now, she wants to spread that message as wide as possible. Her hope is that Learn a Living will be a go-to resource for adult learners embarking on starting, continuing, or finishing their education.
Being a stay-at-home parent is hard work. What many people don’t understand is that having a job or becoming an entrepreneur helps homebound parents maintain their mental and financial health, which can lead us to being better parents. While there are some unusual ways to earn an income, you might be more comfortable trying your hand at more traditional home-based businesses.
Before you start thinking about what you want to do for work, it pays to prepare ahead. Quick tips for a fast start include:
- Establish a business structure. If you have never owned your own business before, you might not be aware that there are many different types of business structures. If you’re going to work from your home, it might make sense to form as an LLC. A limited liability company can help protect your house in case your business is sued. If you don’t mind researching state-specific formation rules, you can avoid the attorney fees using an online service with very little paperwork.
- Clear a space for work. No matter what you’re going to do, you have to have a space to do it. Make sure that you have a dedicated home office or workstation if you’re crafting or making things.
- Streamline the payment process. Getting paid is an important part of doing business. But, avoid the temptation to try and plug numbers into Excel on your own, as this is often inaccurate and will take up lots of your time. Instead, look for an automatic invoicing software, and preferably one with an API to retrieve bank account balance on your customer’s behalf. This keeps your clients from paying overdraft fees and tells you with 100% certainty that they can afford what you are selling.
- Get a grip on marketing. Marketing in the digital age typically means sticking to the internet. But, you shouldn’t ignore traditional marketing methods, such as word-of-mouth or even using business cards. Business cards are great to keep on hand, as they are fun to hand out when you are face-to-face with your customers. If you have a unique business card – design this yourself using a template and switching up the color schemes and other visual elements – your customers won’t soon forget you.
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Businesses for Beginners
The vast majority of new businesses these days are launched online. But, ecommerce isn’t the only way to make money, even in the digital age. A few business ideas that can help you focus on parenting while also earning an income include:
- Pet sitting. If you love animals, pet sitting might be for you. Keep in mind here that this requires safety measures on your side, and you should be able to keep your children away from animals until they can be gentle with them. Further, as the Budgets Are Sexy blog has noted before, you also need to be really comfortable with cleaning up poop.
- Teaching. If you have a degree, you can make up to $22 per hour teaching English to other language students through companies like VIPKids. You might also consider teaching music, art, or other skills that you possess.
- Crafting. If you are a craft diva, you can easily sell T-shirts, embroidered pillowcases, or engraved items all from the comfort of your home. Your garage makes a great place to work.
- Website design. You don’t necessarily have to have coding experience to help other small businesses create websites. There are many drag and drop services and website templates to platforms such as WordPress that make it easy to get a new site up, running, and visually stunning in less than a day. Many business owners simply don’t have the time to do it, and, if you get really good, you may be able to make $100 an hour or more doing so.
- In-home childcare. Once your baby reaches the toddler age, you might consider babysitting a few other kids in your home. Many in-home childcare providers charge around $125 per week, which is less than half of other childcare options. As a benefit to you, you get to stay home and your child has a playmate.
Being a stay-at-home parent doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your income or have a gap on your resume. There are many ways that you can work from home, and starting your own business while tending to children is a great way to show future employers that you’re motivated and won’t back down from a challenge. Remember, get yourself set up for success, and think outside of the digital box. You have lots of options, you just have to explore them.
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