10 Small Home Business Ideas for Busy Moms

If you are feeling sorry for yourself because you had to give up a full time job to become a full time mom - Stop right now! Maybe giving up your day job and looking after your family might not have been your ideal dream situation, but guess what it is not the nightmare you imagine either. There are a number of things that you can do at home to earn money. And the pickings can be really good if you set up well.

So what can you do as a Stay At Home Mom to make money? A great number of things. Here is a list of ten small business ideas that have worked really well for at least one person I know in each category given below. So if these ladies could sit at home and start businesses why can't you?

1. Freelance Writer

If you can do some research on the internet and have good language skills you can pick up a number of freelance writing jobs online. There are crowd sourcing sites like Guru.com, Odesk.com, RentACoder.com, GetAFreelancer.com, Elance.com, LimeExchange.com to mention just a few where you have hundreds of jobs available. Most of them allow you to register for the basic membership free. So check it out.

2. Travel Agent

This is a simple job if you have the connections. You can arrange for taxis to and from airports, tickets for trains, buses and planes, even send local guides for tourists and all the work can be done with a few phone calls and the help of the internet. You provide good service and the clients will increase by word of mouth publicity. Start with arranging a friend's vacation plans.

3. Play Group for PreSchoolers

So you have a preschooler at home and need to spend a whole lot of time with him or her. Why not extend the offer to babysit for other preschoolers in a play group? You can do it for a couple of hours each day. Giving the other mothers a chance to catch up on their chores, and giving you a chance to earn some money. Your kid will also enjoy the company and you can make the play group do an educational activity each day.

4. Plant Nursery

DO you love gardening? Have you got green thumbs that bless each plant? Why not start a seasonal plant nursery? Offer flowering saplings for sale from your home. You don't even need very much space to do it. Just get yourself a couple of wooden crates to plant the flower plants and a few plastic bags to transplant them. Even if they all don't sell you will have the best garden in town!

5. Make Chocolates

Home made chocolates can be an easy to sell item. Everyone loves candy and if you can package them well you have a virtual gold mine. Start off by asking if you can provide homemade chocolates for the party favors at a child’s birthday party. As word spreads you will have orders pouring in for your delicious homemade chocolates. You may have to keep your family away from your workspace though, if you don't want all your profits eaten.

6. Multilevel Marketing

There are a number of companies which can help you get into selling quality products from your home. A lady I know just stocks perfumes and lipsticks from one of the more popular multi level marketing brands. Since we all know she has a stock at home we get our stuff from her rather than go all the way to the mall. It is also handy when one needs a gift in a hurry. Just go over and make a hamper with whatever she has.

7. Candle Making

This is again a great option if you are creatively inclined. You can make your home made candles and decorate them whenever you have some free time. There is no pressure on your to be time bound. Then you can tie up with a local knickknacks shop to sell the candles. Give them a percentage of the sales and you are set. You can even sell them on online stores with eBay.com or Amazon.com. You will need to get material to do the shipping and include the postage in your price.

8. Cater for Parties

If everyone is always saying what a great chef you are, you can make some money out of your cooking skills. Pass out the word that you are open for catering food to small parties. You can start with small parties for ten to 12 people. Once you gain experience and a good reputation you can even ask a friend to help you.

9. Dryclean Pickup Service

Again a simple enough business to start. Just charge a standard rate per trip to the clients and make three trips in the week to the dry cleaners. Let the drycleaner know that you will be regularly bringing in clothes and you can wrangle a percentage of the bill amount as well. It will also give you a chance to get out of the house and catch up on your chores as well.

10. Interior Designer

If you have an inkling or some training you can do this sitting at home. Patch up with a couple of local architects and you can design the looks of homes and offices sitting at home. An occasional trip to the site will be all that you need to consider. You can work on your own and sent in the designs to the architect to be implemented.

There are a number of things that you can do sitting at home so don't get disheartened. You have a whole world out there waiting for you to conquer it!