How to Work From Home as a Stay-at-Home Mother

Be a work-at-home mom to spend more time with your kids.

Being a stay-at-home mother can be a very fulfilling job. Unfortunately, it doesn't always pay well, and you don't always get the appreciation you deserve. If you want to make a little money and hear the words "thank you" without prompting, it may be time to go from a stay-at-home mother to a work-at-home mother.

Instructions

1. Define your goal for becoming a work-at-home mother, called a WAHM. There are a number of reasons to become a WAHM. Among them are the wish to do something professionally fulfilling, to bring in a little extra money for your family or to fill some of the free time you suddenly have when your youngest child begins school. It's not important what your reason is, just that you can give voice to it.

2. Take a close look at your schedule to see how much time you have available to put into a job. It's very overwhelming to try to fit a full-time job into part-time work hours. Map out your hours before you begin to look for work-at-home opportunities, as one will directly impact the other -- no sense accepting a full-time WAH opportunity if you can only work part-time.

3. Decide whether you want to go back to doing the kind of work you may have done before you became a mother. If so, start making some phones calls to your old contacts to scope out whether they know of any consulting opportunities in your field. Start sending out inquiry letters at the same time, explaining to local companies why it would be to their benefit to have you as a consultant.

4. Examine your hobbies, passions and talents for something that can be the basis for a home business. Never underestimate the talents in the things you do daily. You may be able to do it well, but there are probably hundreds of people out there who can't. Maybe you're a wonderful cook and can begin a "home-cooking" catering business, or maybe you can transform your passion for scrap booking or web design into an Internet business.

5. Consider one of the more traditional jobs for work-at-home mothers. It may seem a little 1950s to you, but being an Avon or Mary Kay representative can pay very well once you build up your clientele. Not only that, but you'll also get a chance to meet new people and work in the evenings when dad is home to watch the kids.

6. Find a niche product and open an online store. Some sellers do extremely well on eBay, Amazon or specialized marketplace websites provided the product they sell is unique and is in demand. Do some research to see what's selling well and start slowly. Once you see how you're product will sell, you can find a regular supplier and build up your business.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid scams that try to take advantage of work-at-home mothers. There are thousands of them out there and they are advertised both on the Internet and in print publications. It's unlikely that a legitimate business would require you to pay to access the information or to buy the equipment necessary to perform a job. Be leery of such opportunities.

References

• Bankrate.com: 5 Work-at-Home Jobs for Stay-at-Home Moms
• CNN Living: Stay-at-Home Moms Turning into WAHMs