Having children almost always means a change in lifestyle for women. For some, it can cause financial strain. That’s why more and more are deciding to stay at home and work in order to be with their children and keep an income flowing.
So, basically, the number of stay-at-home moms with their kids increased drastically. It nearly doubled from 15 percent in 2022 to 25 percent in 2023.
Thanks to the internet, working from home has become a real possibility. With the right idea and the right amount of effort, a stay-at-home mom can create a substantial income without the need to go into an office.
There are plenty of success stories with mompreneurs who started an online business and later expanded to open a brick-and-mortar store.
There are others who found their online business to be successful enough that hiring a nanny and getting back into the workforce weren’t necessary.
10 Best Online Business Ideas for a Busy Stay-at-Home Mom
We put together a list of 10 profitable online business ideas for a busy stay-at-home mom, and we know that you will find them useful.
Section 1: E-commerce Business Ideas
When you are a stay-at-home mom, e-commerce seems like a great fit for a busy mom. An e-commerce business means working from home, doing something you love, and making real money for it.
1. Dropshipping
The dropshipping business is a system where a business owner sells products to their customers without having a physical store.
Usually, the store owner will take their customer’s order and payment, then order the product from a third-party retailer who will ship the product directly to the consumer.
At first glance, this sounds like a great sales system. You can skip the product creation or product stocking steps and jump straight to making a sale. It’s also a cost-effective way to test a product.
At worst, it’s a system that demands no financial investment on the part of the store’s owner.
Gone are the days when creating and managing a website would cost thousands. Now you can have a reliable e-commerce platform with great design for less than $30 a month.
2. Handmade Products
If you have spare time to get involved in e-commerce, handmade products are a good choice for you. You can do this work on the weekend, after the kids fall asleep, or during free time. Crafting handmade items to sell online is like art and is very profitable.
You can use many platforms to sell your items, such as Facebook, Etsy, eBay, and many more. Then you can also make custom products that come from customer orders.
If you want to reduce the level of difficulty, try involving kids using their imagination or asking them to build something. Building a snowman, origami, creating a story, and many more.
Then apply their creation to something that you can sell. You will get quality time with your kids and profit from that.
3. Online Boutique
Another profitable e-commerce business ideal for a stay-at-home mom is setting up her own online boutique. Setting up an online boutique is way cheaper than setting up an actual store.
However, it takes a lot of work and dedication at the start, and it might take up to 2 years to see real profit. To set up an online boutique, a mom can purchase wholesale items and resell them online.
There are many websites that offer wholesale items. Try looking through eBay, and when you come across a seller that has merchandise that you like, check out the seller’s store to see if they sell that particular item wholesale.
Section 2: Service-based Business Ideas
As a stay-at-home mom, you can offer online services such as virtual assistance, tutoring, freelance writing, and social media management and earn thousands of dollars monthly from it.
4. Virtual Assistant
Virtual assistants are in high demand by corporate and entrepreneurial businesses. One can create a very profitable business while still being present for their children and their needs.
This job is very flexible with time and can be done at any time of day for the most part. This is perfect for stay-at-home moms who need to still have a flexible schedule.
For example, while the kids are at school, during their afternoon nap, or once they’ve gone to bed at night.
The only downside to this is that you may have to set aside more time to complete projects than anticipated, and it is more tedious desk work.
As a virtual assistant, there’s a wide range of services that you can offer using your own skills, and whether you want to specialize in something specific or remain a virtual assistant that provides general office services, the possibilities are endless.
Some examples of services you might offer are:
- Data entry/typing
- Word processing
- Business correspondence
- Creating and maintaining spreadsheets
- Setting up and maintaining databases
- Email services
- Desktop publishing
- Transcription
- Writing/copywriting
- Proofreading
- Event planning
- Travel arrangements
- Creating PowerPoint/Keynote presentations
- Customer service
- Reminder services
- Shopping comparison research
- Service/product comparison research
- Internet research
- Audio/video services
- Forms creation
And much more. The sky is the limit.
5. Online Tutoring
Tutoring online is an excellent opportunity for stay-at-home moms who enjoy teaching and helping others learn. You can work for a company that matches tutors with students or simply advertise your services in your local community or online.
There are also companies that employ tutors to work with students. This can be done at home, but you might have to do some traveling to meet with students. As an online tutor, you might provide homework help, test-taking assistance, or general subject help.
You can have sessions through an online classroom or something interactive online. The need for online tutors is increasing steadily, and it’s a good way to earn some extra cash with flexible hours.
You could also go on to create your own online course and effectively teach many people at once. With all the collaboration software and online course platforms out there, creating your own online classroom is easier than ever.
Usually, an online tutor must have teaching experience and great communication skills. In addition, the person needs high-speed internet access and a cup of coffee.
6. Social Media Management
If you spend a lot of time on Twitter (X) and Facebook and have a passion for building up a large network of followers, you might consider picking up your social media skills and putting them to use as a social media manager.
With companies both large and small increasingly dabbling in social media, there are plenty of opportunities to pick up some extra income. This is a job that can easily be done at home, as managing social media simply requires a computer and internet connection.
As a social media manager, you will be responsible for handling a company’s Twitter account, responding to tweets, and driving up followers, or you could be tasked with increasing visibility and membership for a site’s forum.
You may need to create and promote events or sales, get feedback from visitors, implement new marketing strategies, or do a combination of any of these things.
7. Freelance Writing
Freelance writing can provide an income while working from home. The internet has a large demand for written material, and with the correct research and writing skills, you could earn good money. The writing world is large, with a variety of different writing jobs.
You could concentrate on article writing, providing content for websites, copywriting, eBook writing, proofreading, editing, blogging, technical writing, product review writing, resume writing, etc.
The best way to start out would be to identify the possible areas in which you have the most skill and knowledge and choose the type of writing you enjoy and are good at.
Learn as much as you can about the particular area you wish to concentrate on and become an expert writer in that field. Then locate companies or individuals that may be in need of that specific type of service.
Section 3: Content Creation Business Ideas
It is true that creating content online can help you make money, even if you are a stay-at-home mom. You can start blogging, creating a YouTube channel, and podcasting.
8. Blogging
Starting a blog is one of the most profitable and flexible business ideas. As a mom, you can write about anything you want to write about. You can start a cooking blog, sharing your daily recipes and meal preparation tips.
You can start a blog about local attractions for kids and review playgrounds, parks, and other kids’ activities. You can start a craft blog and sell directions for your crafts.
An online business using a blog as your platform is a great opportunity to work around your children’s schedule and have an online business.
How can you generate income from a blog? The income methods for a blog are plentiful. They range from contextual advertising, featured ad sales on your blog, affiliate sales, and selling a product or service to your blog’s visitors.
Your work with your children can be incorporated into posts, adding to the uniqueness of your blog. Many moms blog about what they’re doing with their kids—crafting, playing, going to events.
Offered advice if it works or doesn’t, along with laughter and tears. Many people reading your blog will see it as a valuable resource since it’s not just from another person trying to sell something.
9. YouTube Channel
The second choice is creating a YouTube channel. If the blog you’re considering writing is visual, then this would be a fantastic choice. You can simply turn your written content into video content by researching and finding relevant pictures or creating your own.
YouTube has a traffic rank of 3, right behind Facebook and Google. With over 100 million page views, this is a surefire way to get visitors to what you’re trying to promote.
Also, if you have some semblance of the ability to shoot and edit video, doing a sort of “vlog” or talking head video to act as a vehicle to promote your blog is also an effective strategy.
The vlog has exploded in recent years with such personalities as Grace Helbig and WheezyWaiter (both of whom still have their older YouTube channels as well). Like blogging, however, the key is to be passionate, informative, and engaging.
Try not to fall into the habit of making videos that no one watches. It’s demoralizing, and you won’t get any better by doing it. Always make sure there’s a clear goal for what you want your channel to be about and who your target audience is.
10. Podcasting
Podcasts have become very popular in the past few years. As a mom, you have a story to tell, something to say that others can relate to. There are a couple of podcasts that center around moms and issues that concern them.
The good thing about a podcast is that you can talk about whatever you would like. You won’t have any restrictions on the content. It will be your own talk show. Friends can also be a part of it.
If you want to talk about the PTA and childcare with a couple of your PTA friends, you can do that. If you have a story to tell about what’s happened at a recent soccer game, you can do that.
A weekly spot about the happenings in your family is a great way to keep in touch with distant relatives. They will be able to hear the latest family news on their own.
Starting a podcast is simple, and many of the software programs are free. You can do podcasts on your blog site or at numerous podcast sites that will be linked to your blog.This is also something that can easily be done in spare time, a great activity to do for the night owl mom.
Podcasts can also be a business. There are many companies that will pay you to do a podcast about their service or product.
If you already have a blog, this can be a great companion to it. You can talk about blog topics and get some of your readers involved in discussions via podcast.
Conclusion: Profitable Online Business Ideas for a Busy Stay-at-Home Mom
It’s not easy to juggle a number of responsibilities. Whether the heavy expectations of parenting while being an effective spouse, slipping in time for your aging parents, or maintaining an economy wage through furthering your career, our lives are all characterized by duties.
Corporate jobs can be very time consuming. For this reason, making the transition from a corporate career to a home business is a growing trend.
There are many benefits that come with the ability to work from home, be it telecommute positions or building your own home business, and people are beginning to recognize these benefits.