Careers don’t have to stop when the baby arrives – with the advent of technology and the Internet, stay-at-home mums can continue their professional lives alongside watching their children grow. Here are 10 businesses and careers you can pursue while keeping close to your kids:
1. Virtual Assistant
If you have exceptional organisational skills, you might be able to monetise them managing other people’s schedules. Virtual assistants are often self-employed, remotely managing schedules, providing administrative and technical support for several clients at a time. With emails, Skype and telephone, your clients can be located anywhere in the world, while you remain right at home with your little darlings.
2. Data Entry & Transcription
Those with quick fingers, sharp eyes and keen hearing may also consider taking on data entry and transcription. These are especially tedious tasks that many interviewers are happy to outsource, and requires accuracy and efficiency. Consider this field should you be the meticulous type and able to take a few hours to work while the tykes are at school.
3. Translation
Flex those linguistic muscles and maintain fluency in your other languages, especially if you don’t use them regularly. Translators work on all sorts of documents – from articles to technical instructions. Good translators are always in demand, and most likely will need to be done on computer and emailed back and forth, making it perfect for a stay-home mother to handle.
4. Copywriting
Do you have a flair for headlines, taglines, witticisms, and puns…sometimes together? Then offer your writing services for long- and short-form writing. Copywriting is an important aspect of any business, and clients are happy to be rid of embarrassing typos and poor grammar.
5. Affiliate blogging & social media reviews
As an influential blogger and online personality, affiliate blogging – where you affiliate with certain companies and receive commission should your readers buy their products through your links – can help push your blogging from hobby to career. It’s no secret that specialised blogs also often receive media benefits and freebies from relevant companies. So if you have something you love talking about, share your expertise online, build your web presence and monetise that passion.
6. Accounting
Those with a head for organisation, fact-checking and numbers may already have some accounting experience, or a knack for the profession that just needs a few online courses to develop. Accounting can be done at home once you have the necessary data, but be ready for number-crunching when accounts closing rolls around.
7. Online Retail
Expatriates who go from country to country with potential contacts, or those who are just adept at spotting good deals and opportunities, may want to consider online retail. Online marketplaces are prolific worldwide, and registering is often free as their revenue is made from commissions from their users’ sales. The cost of starting to sell items is now fairly low, and besides trips to pick up and send items, majority of the process of buying and selling can be done at home.
8. Graphics
Those with artistic inclinations and an eye for graphics may monetise their skills by offering graphic design or illustration services. Many graphic projects are based on computer, and easily delivered online. Just make sure your time management is good – not only would you have to juggle the kids and work, you have to watch deadlines, too.
9. Crafting
Creative types with tactile leanings love nothing than to craft for their family and friends, and if your work is polished and saleable, you should consider sharing them with the world via online marketplaces. Websites like Etsy and Big Cartel already have the right audience for independent crafters, making it easy to start. Doing what you love on a daily basis alongside your children is an ideal that some crafters have achieved.
10. Tuition & Daycare
If your little one seems lonely and you’re strong enough to handle more company, consider babysitting other kids while their parents are away. Patient mums skilled at explaining concepts with a strong grasp of the curriculum may also make good tutors. Running a daycare and providing tuition is one way to pad your wallet and make an impact in many lives at the same time.
Many stay-at-home mums rekindle their professional passions and coordinate small burgeoning businesses with their new lives. With so much of the world online at your fingertips, you can too.
