Options and Opportunities for Stay At Home Moms
Although before my daughter was born and I had a full time job I still took on work on the side, I believe to this day that anyone can work from home if they want to and they’re driven to make money.
Driven, in fact, is a great descriptive word for the top quality it will take to work from home – especially if you are a mom just entering the work force or re-entering it after years of raising a child. You know it still ‘freaks me out’ a bit to remembe the day I turned on Oprah and she was talking to a young family – husband, wife and baby. The wife sat back and watched her husband slip into a depression, neglect to find work, and have their cars, appliances and eventually home taken away from them. The wife and baby were ‘forced’ to move back in with her parents and the marriage was dying. When discussing the marriage, the wife said (and I’m quoting quite loosely here) “I just wanted to sit in the passenger seat. I thought he should drive.”
Well he drove alright! Drove them right into the poor house while she just sat in her ‘passenger seat’. Honestly I was surprised Oprah didn’t go into a rant over women taking some responsibility for their own happiness, their own financial fitness, their own security. And, if not for them, but for their child!
Now before you think I’m standing on some soapbox and that I’m just a woman who has lived a priviledged life, you can forget it right now. I was on my own at 14 years of age, a product of two alcoholic parents, didn’t finish high school and raised my daughter on my own for the first ten years of her life. I know how hard it is to enter or re-enter the workforce first hand. As such this article is being written with compassion and understanding but you have a part in this as well. You need to be driven and, in the case of the wife on Oprah, you need to learn to take the driver’s seat from time to time, woman!
It doesn’t matter whether you’ve never worked a day in your life or you’re going to leave a long-term post, opportunities exist that just about anyone can take advantage of. Working at home and being successful at it doesn’t mean you have to have a four-year degree, a ton of specialized skills or a bank full of money. What you do need is a good idea and the drive to pull it off.
There are a variety of opportunities for unskilled or slightly skilled workers. Some of the options include such things as:
Sales Jobs
There are a variety of sales-related businesses you can explore that will enable you to base operations out of your home. Many companies that rely on at home moms to sell their products will provide the training you need to succeed. It’s also possible to buy into a franchise territory for certain products. Just make sure you can get behind a product before you try to jump into selling it. If you aren’t sold, clients won’t be either.
Online sales
Many an at-home mom has made a successful living selling items through online storefronts or through virtual auction sites. Whether you create items personally or do a lot of garage and estate sale purchasing, this option is fairly easy to explore. It can pay off with a lucrative part or full-time income, too.
Data entry
If you can use a computer and type with any degree of accuracy, you will find a bevy of opportunities available for the skills you do have. Even if you’re not the world’s greatest typist, there are ways to hone the skill enough to make this freelance opportunity pay off. As more companies outsource functions, such as data entry, many work at home moms are finding this niche suits them perfectly.
Telemarketing
It is often possible to land freelance and even on-staff positions with telemarketing firms that rely on at-home workers. This type of job won’t require a highly specialized skill set. If you can talk on the phone clearly, get your message across and be pleasant in the process, you should be set.
Personal product/service development
Many work at home mothers stumble into their own niche based on their own personal hobbies. Some businesses that are home based and have sprung out of unique ideas or products include such things as crafting, online sales, customized clothing production with online storefronts, soap and candle making and more. The options are limited only by imagination.
Personal assistants
Some work at home moms run errands for others, work in a virtual setting to take the load off office staffers and more. The personal assistant field can be very interesting to explore in either the local or online arenas. The potential here is growing as more businesses outsource and more employees fear taking time off to get personal projects accomplished.
Childcare
In-home daycares are a popular choice for mothers who want their children in homey, nurturing environments. This option can be an excellent one for an in-home business. As a mother, you have many of the skills already required for the job.
Writing
If you can string sentences together with ease, there are opportunities available for freelance writers. While you may lack some of the skills for certain jobs, there are projects out there that can be had by beginners. Many blogging jobs, for example, require “everyday” people to do the writing. This means only a good writing voice and basic skills will be required.
Online tutoring
You may need a degree or specialized training for this, but this field does present some unique opportunities. Reaching out to tutor students online can be an excellent way to earn a living and gain the benefits of at-home work at the same time.
Customer service
Some companies are turning to virtual call centers to handle their customer service. In many cases, these call centers will hire home-based workers to handle shifts of incoming calls. While this type of job will require set hours, it can still provide the scheduling flexibility parents often require. Plus, some call centers might offer true full-time work with benefits to telecommuters. This can be a bonus if you don’t want to launch your own business to work at home.
Real estate
While short-term training and licensing are required for this field, many who enter this arena find they are able to work at home much of the time.
Transcription
For those who do have a knack for the keyboard, this can be an incredible field to enter. With only a basic amount of training, standard transcription jobs can be tackled at home. With a more in-depth course of study, higher paying medical transcription contracts can be obtained, as well.
Conclusion
The opportunities for working at home are virtually endless. With jobs that range from those that never require you to leave the house to those that might have you out and about making sales calls on your own schedule, your choices are not limited even if your basic skill set happens to be so.
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