How to start a business from home as a stay-at-home mum
Are you a stay-at-home mum looking to start your own business? If so, you’re not alone. In the current economy many stay-at-home mums are looking to start a business from home to help out their households.
But where do you begin? Well, that’s what we’re going to discuss in this post — a list of basic steps you should take when thinking about starting a business from home.
So are you ready? Let’s dive in!
Make a list of your passions
To start a business from home as a stay-at-home mum, you first need to list your passions. Think about what you love and what you’re good at.
Are you a baking expert? Do you have a knack for interior design? Make a list of your strengths, and then think about how they could translate into something that would earn money for you.
This is important because if you start a business built around your passion, it will be easy to remain consistent. For example, if you’re good at interior designing, working as a freelance interior designer will be way more fun than opening up something like an online toy store.
Brainstorm ways to turn your passions into a business
Once you’ve made a list of your strengths and passions, look at it and start thinking about how each could translate into a business idea.
Maybe one of them would be easier than another. Maybe two or three of them could go together as one big idea.
If you’re not sure where to start, here are some basic ideas for businesses that can be operated from the comfort of your home:
- Tutoring: Many parents are looking for tutors to help their children with homework or study skills. You could offer your services as an after-school tutor or even operate online out of the comfort of your own home.
- Crafting: Have you ever thought about making crafts from beads, fabric, wood, or other materials? You could sell them on Etsy or at craft fairs.
- Freelancing: You can also use freelancing sites like Fiverr and Upwork to create a portfolio of your skills and get paid by doing projects for others.
- Blogging: Blogging can be done from anywhere with an internet connection, so it’s perfect for mums who want to work from home but don’t necessarily have an office space. However, profitable blogging takes time and considerable effort to establish, so go down this route only if you have the time and (lots of) motivation.
Research and plan your business idea
Once you’ve decided on your business idea, it’s time to do extensive research and business planning. Planning your business is one of the most crucial steps for making it a reality.
You’ll need to research the market, find out what your competitors are doing, and think about how you can offer something unique (which is called your Unique Selling Proposition). You can do this by:
- Searching for similar businesses that are already operating in your area. Find out what they’re doing well and not doing so well, and then think about how you can capitalize on their weaknesses.
- Researching the industry as a whole – what’s happening with supply and demand? Are there any trends that might affect your business idea?
- Doing competitive analysis on yourself – what do you offer that is different from others in your field? How can you leverage those differences to make yourself stand out?
You can take advantage of our free business plan template to simplify the process.
Estimate the startup cost
Now is the time to estimate the startup cost of your business. This is something that you need to do with utmost care and precision because you don’t want your business to fail due to a lack of capital.
If you have all the research on hand, you should be able to estimate the startup cost fairly easily. You can also use online tools such as Quickbooks, which will help you calculate your estimated expenses for the first few months.
The most common startup costs include:
- Leasehold improvements
- Signage, business cards, brochures, and other promotional material
- Professional fees (legal, accounting, tax)
- Supplies (postage stamps, envelopes, paper for printing business cards, any payment equipment such as the Smartpay EFTPOS machine for small business.
It’s important to note that these estimates are not exact amounts but a guideline for how much money you will need at the beginning of each month.
If there are any unexpected expenses during this period, you’ll want extra money on hand so they can be paid off immediately without affecting cash flow or causing problems down the line.
Set up your business bank account and get the necessary licenses and permits
It’s important to set up a business bank account to keep your business-related transactions separate from your personal ones. This will help you easily sort out information when it’s time to file tax returns.
You can open one with any local bank or credit union, or you can use an online service like PayPal, Square, or Stripe.
In addition, you’ll need to get a business license from your city or county government — the exact requirements will vary depending on where you live. In some cases, you’ll also need to pay sales tax on all of your transactions, so it might be a good idea to consult an accountant before starting your business.
Consider risk assessment
Risk assessment is necessary before starting any business. There are many types of business risks that you need to identify and manage. You don’t want to put yourself or your family in danger by attempting to start a business without risk assessment.
In addition to assessing the physical risks, you should consider whether there are legal risks involved in running your business from home.
For example, if you’re planning on selling products online, then it’s essential to check if there are any regulations that apply specifically to the type of products you’re going to sell.
Get involved in social media
Social media is free marketing, something that can prove very useful when starting a business from home.
So it’s a good idea to sign up on Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and other social media platforms as a business. Social media is one of the best ways for your new product to be noticed since most people have social media accounts and 60% of people use social media to make a purchase according to recent statistics.
Put up the link to your website or blog on all of these platforms so people can find you easily. Then start creating social media posts about what you do and why people should buy from you.
The key here is consistency. You want to post regularly and keep your followers interested in what’s happening with your business. The more interesting content you share, the more likely they are to keep coming back for more!
