The structure of the economy is changing – again. Back in 1999, only around 24 percent of moms defined themselves as “stay-at-home.” But by 2016, that number had exploded to more than 56 percent. Many moms took the decision to give up on work to look after their kids, reversing the decades-long trend of women entering the labor force.
Unlike in the past, however, stay-at-home moms can’t afford to go without an income. Wages for many people are flat, and so being supported on a single income is difficult, especially with the increased cost of housing. Many moms, therefore, have decided to try out being entrepreneurs from their own homes using, among other things, the internet. Having a home business is no longer a pipe dream for many women. In fact, dozens have already made it happen. Here are their inspirational ideas and stories.
Appeal To Novelty Value
Being a full-time mom is a tough gig. You have to be on alert all day, every day. That’s why many moms have taken to inventing products which they know that other moms will love and appreciate for their novelty and sentimental value.
For instance, one young mom decided that moms across the country needed to moral supposed to help give their parenting a boost and provide some light relief. She began by printing out toddler’s t-shirts with messages on the front that other moms might appreciate, like “Mommy needs a bath.” Soon her website had grown into a bit of an online sensation, thanks to her links to mommy blogs. In time, she created a big following through online marketing channels as well as word of mouth. Other moms saw children wearing her T-shirts at play dates and decided that they would have to buy them for themselves.
Soon the business had grown so much that the mom in question decided that she wanted to expand. She bought a printing press to make her own t-shirts and launched a website. Now she’s built up a network of partnerships with other mommies across the country, as well as some online retailers, and is selling hundreds of t-shirts a month, pocketing the cash.
Help Empower Children
Another thing that moms want to do is help empower children to be successful in the world. Many moms choose to homeschool their children, not because they are afraid that they might be exposed to radical views, but because they are worried that they won’t get a quality education. But there’s a problem with homeschooling: sometimes it’s not very good. Moms aren’t experts in everything.
A pioneering mom called Nuria Gabitova realized that homeschooling needed a boost. Moms needed a way to plug the gaps in their kids’ curriculum but didn’t want to approach schools or the authorities. As a result, she created an alternative called iSchool for the Future. It’s essentially an online site where moms can opt for hands-on training for their kids provided by other people in their local community. For instance, if moms are worried that their child isn’t getting the practical experience they need to pass their geography exam, they can use the platform to find a program where kids go out on a field trip.
Since starting the platform, Gabitova has matched hundreds of kids to placements, all through the internet. She gets to stay at home and live off the income.
Products That Keep Kids Safe
Many moms worry intensely about whether or not their kids are safe, both inside and outside the family home. Now some enterprising moms have realized that there’s an opportunity to sell products to worried mothers that promise to keep their kids safe.
Jamie Kaufmann is an ambitious mom who decided to set up her own home business selling products to the parents of children with food allergies. Food allergies can range from the mild to the incredibly severe, and so Kaufmann got thinking about ways that she could help other moms fearful of their child getting sick. Thanks to her own experience with her son, she came up with a “chemical-free” cleaning cloth.
Kaufmann focused on getting the practicalities of her business sorted first. She investigated which manufacturers would be able to produce the clothes that she wanted, as well as the companies that could provide logistics. She also used a DIM calculator – a tool that allows people who send packages in the post to accurately work out how much they will cost to ship. Thanks to this attention to detail, she turned a simple idea into a thriving home business.
Products For Other Moms
Moms tend to know what they want very well. And it’s thanks to that fact that moms usually make for very good online entrepreneurs when selling to other moms. Stay-at-home moms know how busy and exhausting their days can be when they’re trying to control kids, and so they have a window into the lives of other moms, living up and down the country. When you know the problems that moms face, it’s a heck of a lot easier to come up with the right solutions.
Two moms, Ali Hutt and Mary Tjoelker, came up with the idea of building an online business that would deliver fresh, “home-cooked” meals to busy moms. They saw it as an opportunity to help moms avoid feeding their kids unhealthy take out meals and instead give them proper meals, cooked from scratch. The business, named Mitten Chicks, soon took off and began replacing “pizza night” in many family homes in the local area. What’s more, with the trend towards healthier eating, many moms appreciated it too: they were getting something that was both nutritious and decisions.
The Mitten Chicks started their business when they realized that they themselves couldn’t seem to find the time to cook healthy, wholesome home-cooked meals for their families. What they wanted was a service that could eliminate this problem one or two nights per week. Their goal today is to bring all their customers’ real food that’s hot, delicious and ready to eat as soon as it comes through the front door.
