Business Ideas for Stay at Home Moms (SAHM)

Business Ideas for Stay at Home Moms

Being a stay at home mom is such a blessing. It’s rewarding in more ways than I can even explain, but if you’re a stay at home mom, you already know all of that! One thing that is tough when it comes to staying home is figuring out how to bring in some extra income. Even if it’s just to support your coffee habit or to pay for a summer camp for the kids, it’s a great feeling to be able to help out financially.

Blogger

Obviously I’m a blogger, and I’ve even written about how to make money with a blog before, but one thing I want to point out is that blogging is a lot of work. It’s not something that you can start and get paid hourly, or even by the post, until you’ve laid some groundwork and established a following.

The reason I mention blogging first is because you can start a blog right now, while you’re working on some of these other ideas. Start building your blog as a side hustle, and eventually it can become your full-time income. Blogging is something that can be done while the kids are sleeping, or even while you’re on the go. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve sat at Chick-Fil-A so the littles could play while I finished up a post or two.

Other than blogging, there are several ways to make money from home on your computer. You can be a freelance writer, transcriptionist, and more. There’s a book that’s FREE on Kindle Unlimited, called Turn Your Computer Into a Money Machine, and it’s definitely worth a read. It’s got 200+ reviews, and is rated nearly 5 stars. Because you can read it for free, there’s nothing to lose.

Mystery Shopper

Mystery shopping isn’t necessarily a full-time income, because it only pays a few bucks here and there (and many times you can’t bring kids). However, it’s a great way to support your shopping habit, and earn enough for coffee in the meantime. 😉

Sign up to be a mystery shopper through a reputable company. How do you know which companies are legit? Search “COMPANY NAME + scam”. If there have been numerous reports, they’ll pop up right away. Every company will have good and bad written about them, so take each review with a grain of salt but do your research before signing up.

One company I love and recommend is Amusement Advantage. They do shops with amusement parks, golf courses, skating rinks, and more. You usually get paid what you spent, plus a little extra. For example, one of my friends just did a mystery shop for a birthday party at an amusement park. It would have cost $300+ if she paid for it herself, but that was her “pay” for the mystery shop. It’s a lot of work, though, just like blogging! You have to pay great attention to detail, and be very organized. My friend had to fill out 8 pages of questions and take lots of notes to get that “free” $300 birthday party, but of course her kids couldn’t be happier!

Baker or Chef

Do people ask you to bring dessert to every party, to every family gathering? Does everyone ask for seconds? Do your friends and family talk about your food year round, not just around the holidays? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you can most likely make money as a baker or a chef!

Ingredients to make cupcakes are very inexpensive, but you can sell a dozen for a nice chunk of change depending on where you live. Do custom orders for birthday parties, baptisms, and more. If you’ve got some decorating skills, you can even do cakes. Start small by getting a few supplies on Amazon, or by using coupons at Michael’s. Skip the cake decorating classes, and scour YouTube instead.

Desserts not your thing? Bread is another item that sells very well in most areas. Even if you’re not into baking, you could be a personal chef. Think about it: what’s one thing you wish you had while you were recovering from childbirth? Besides a maid, of course, you probably wanted some hot food! The first few weeks after giving birth usually include lots of cold sandwiches, leftovers, and depending on if you have other kids, maybe a few bites of goldfish crackers. Preparing meals for new moms is a need that really should be filled! Whether you create one-of-a-kind gourmet meals, or casserole dishes Mom can just pop in the oven, the need is there.

It’s important to check into the health department codes and laws in your state and in your city or county before embarking on this adventure, but it sure can be a fun – and profitable – one!

Teacher

What are you good at? No matter what it is, you can probably teach it – and get paid for it! A few ideas include:

Music Lessons: piano, guitar, violin, clarinet, flute… anything you can think of!
Math Tutoring: basic elementary all the way up to Trig, Calculus, Statistics, and more.
General Tutoring: if you’re great with kids, you can even tutor elementary students without holding a degree
Small Business Mentoring: this is the same as teaching, but calling it mentoring makes it a bit more prestigious. Do you have an eye for design, copy, or something else involved in small business? Teach it to others!

The possibilities on what you could teach are endless. Do you have a green thumb? Teach gardening classes at the local community college! There are courses, usually called “continuing education” or “adult education” courses in which you can teach (sometimes without a degree) and get paid for it.

Looking for even more ideas? My friend has an ebook (FREE on Kindle Unlimited) with 100 ideas for working from home.

Have you considered supplementing your income as a stay at home mom? Let me know in the comments!