I want to work from home! Ideas?

[3boysnpregnant]

I would love to not feel rushed back to work after this baby.

So do any of you have any ideas of what I can do from home?

I am on Mat leave atm but with how it worked out I went on leave really early (had to rest) and would have to go back early.

Money wise after ds3 i had to go back at 6 weeks and he was 8 weeks early so I wasnt even at my due date yet!

I am (on mat leave) the manager of a weight loss company.. But I cant do that from home and wouldnt know how to start a business out of what I do know.. As im not qualified I learnt everything on the job..

And my jobs prior to this where all customer service/hospitality sort of jobs..

So do you have any ideass.. I dont need to be on an awesome wage but will need to be bringing in money!

[chickenandfrog]

Sorry i can't help, but i would love to hear some ideas!

[MissSteph]

There's the usual things like Avon and Tupperware. I tried Avon and it wasn't worth it IMO so gave that up. Have you got any special talents? A lady I know made a breastfeeding "blanket" that can do certain things that no one has thought of before. She is now selling them and have organised brochures to be put into all the bounty bags so that's obviously bringing in some money.
I discovered recently that I can make fancy cakes that people are willing to pay for so that's something I now do from home.

Sorry, that's all I've really got. Hope you find something!!

[Beck13]

Do you have a particular talent for making something that you could sell on ebay??

MissSteph can I ask how your started out doing this?? I make alot of kids birthday cakes (for all the mums at playgroup) and they all keep telling me that I should go into business doing it, but I have no idea where to start with it. I only live in a small country town so I'm not expecting it to be a huge income earner, just a little something on the side. Any advice you could give would be great!

[Boobycino]

I think the top winners for home businesses is services. Baby sitting, house cleaning, gardening, ironing etc - zero set up cost and you are paid for your time.

I baby sit, take Jasper with me or do it from home. Though I was a childcarer before having him. I absolutely love doing it and it's so good for him to have little friends.

The other things would be things you can make to sell - which is what I'm attempting next. I'm knitting baby items. It's extremely time consuming but I enjoy knitting, its relaxing and I love creating beautiful things.

Next would be seek employment from home. For a while I did paid data entry for a friends business. They sold some health/wellness product and went to mind body spirit type events and did the whole 'win this product' and on their entry form is a 'please tick if you do not want to be contacted' so my job was to turn literally a thousand little bits of paper into a usable database of potential clients for their telemarketers to call.

Brain... Ouch.... Jasper.... Neglected.... Money, was good, I logged my hours and was paid $20 an hour to work from my home study, while baby Jasper was in a bouncer unattended watching wiggles as I had deadlines I had to meet and so I had to try to pretty much do it like doing an 8 hour day.... Hmmm needless to say I don't recommend it...

Ummmmmmmmmmm

Not Internet scams ;)

Not much else.

I think a successful wahm job that makes reSonanle money and you can fit it around children is the holy Grail.

For me - baby sitting is that.

[Widget]

SleeplessBeauty, do they still need someone to do that???

I'd be more than happy to do that! I used to do data entry for 12 hours a day, and due to specific delays my kids are in care, just having a lot of $$ issues right now and can't get a job due to being 9 weeks pregnant...

[Boobycino]

Nope. Well, their business crashed. ;) perils of an at home business ;)

But a lot of people hate data entry I wonder what kind of small businesses might need data entry person that you could like drop 'business card' to/email. Just put it out there and see if anyone needs someone?

[Widget]

Hmmm will have to scour the WAH site again if I can find it, can't remember the name of it...

[Pinkzy]

I don't know if this will be helpful but will suggest it anyway.

Have you considered being a home medical typist? I am seriously considering it. There are quite a few medical typist jobs that come up quite often (which you can do from home) for a very reasonable salary. Usually, the job requires having a certificate (usually cert III in medical terminology) - I am planning on studying to obtain it, also from home. Not sure if it's something you'd be interested in but thought I'd suggest it anyway.

There is also ebay as an option. Not just selling stuff you don't want but actually doing it as a job. I used to go op shopping a lot seeking out designer stuff when I lived on my own and was struggling. I'd buy about $60-70 worth of brand name clothing every fortnight and list it all on ebay. Some weeks I'd only make a $50 profit or less but other weeks I'd make hundreds of dollars! It was a lot of work (shopping around, photographing items in ways that made them look amazing, listing items, descriptions, packing, posting etc) but it was fun too. An example was buying an Alannah Hill camisole for $7.95 from Vinnies and selling it for $90. I also found a few pairs of designer jeans and made a lot of money on those. If you know what to look for you can make some nice profits :D

I also used to bake really original cookies and sell them online, didn't make that much cash but it was nice.

[Boobycino]

I've gone door to door knocking and basically offering myself up for any cleaning needs. This is when I was at uni. I washed cars and windows mainly :yes:

[MissSteph]

Do you have a particular talent for making something that you could sell on ebay??

MissSteph can I ask how your started out doing this?? I make alot of kids birthday cakes (for all the mums at playgroup) and they all keep telling me that I should go into business doing it, but I have no idea where to start with it. I only live in a small country town so I'm not expecting it to be a huge income earner, just a little something on the side. Any advice you could give would be great!

Word of mouth really. People kept telling me to sell them so I told everyone I knew that if they wanted a fondant cake at a cheaper rate than the shops then to let mr know. They told people they knew etc. I'm not overly serious about a home business just yet, but once I am I will do up flyers and put them in mail boxes and do up a website etc.

Good luck!! Hopefully it all works out nicely :)

[3boysnpregnant]

I dont have any special talents tbh..

I like baking but it is not really sellable iykwim..

I might look into the medical typist thing though..

[Pussyfoot]

Bear in mind that if you run a food business from home then you must have a commercial kitchen on your premises (or have access to one) with the required insurances or risk huge fines and other legal issues. The law does make allowances for fetes etc but not businesses. Do your research before you start farming out the cakes because all it takes is for one person to complain or get sick......

One good home business is nail enhancements which you can set up for under $500. You don't have to have a licence or a certificate. You can do the course at TAFE which is a heck of a lot cheaper than doing it via a private college. If you're diligent, it takes a few weeks to master the skill but the money can be very good, particularly if you're good with people.

Another option is quilting. People will pay good money for quilts that are well made and of good fabric. Quilting itself is not a hard skill to master although you do have to have a bit of patience.

[Benji]

I did it for a while, but it's seriously not easy to get into. I was only able to do a bit of it when I was a SAHM through one of the unions that I was affiliated with. Just entering data onto their sites. Was good, but there's no way I would've been able to do it without knowing the bosses there.

My DP runs his own web design business from home - he's very successful, but he's really business-focussed and has a way with marketing.

A friend of mine has a very successful cloth nappy business, but she's an excellent sewer.

Could you study from home for a while to get some quals? Bookkeeping or something like that in the meantime?

Bookkeeping is pretty common to do from home.

[Bundleoflove]

Have you thought about temp agency. You could log your name down there, or just ring to ask them if they have many at home data entry type jobs come up. There are heaps of agencies around, just need to look. All they usually require is a meeting/interview where they'll check typing speed etc.

I don't know if temp agencies usually deal with this kind of work but it's worth a try and money through them is usually pretty good.

[Kadorite]

I know a SAHM who buys and sells vintage clothes on Facebook. She used to use eBay but found she'd get too many fake bids or negative feedback from people without trying to contact her. A lot of the people I buy things off from FB say they much prefer it to eBay. Just a suggestion...

[JJAZ]

Something that i am just getting into and that is selling second hand clothes/goods at the local market once a week - I have been raiding op shops and other market stalls getting really really cheap stuff and then reselling it at the market on a sunday - I haven't done it every week probably 6 times this year but each time we have taken home about $250.00 - which is not bad for a days work!

All the best and hope you find something that will work for you!

[Nikkie87]

I own my own business, I get hardly anything moneywise from it atm but its still in the early stages i started off my doing handmade invitations, greeting cards and birth announcements but have since branched out to a lot more handmade goodies as i just love to create things no matter what!
Hopefully thats given you an idea or 2 and good luck! Working from home is hard i wont say its not but being home with your babies is amazing!

[Ulysses]

Do a bookeeping course at TAFE & then just work from home managing peoples books.


Here is a link for the Australian Bookkeeping assoc who run a course for "starting your own bookkeeping business".

http://www.biau.com.au/Bookkeeping_SYOBB.asp

I think it costs about 5k but you can pay it over a 12 month period & there will always be a need for this type of service. we use a bookkeeper for our business.

Not only will you be able to run your own business, but you will learn the art of finances in the process.

[meatpopsicle]

Do a bookeeping course at TAFE & then just work from home managing peoples books.


Here is a link for the Australian Bookkeeping assoc who run a course for "starting your own bookkeeping business".

http://www.biau.com.au/Bookkeeping_SYOBB.asp

I think it costs about 5k but you can pay it over a 12 month period & there will always be a need for this type of service. we use a bookkeeper for our business.

Not only will you be able to run your own business, but you will learn the art of finances in the process.

Be careful with this one. New laws came into effect this year that make running your own accounting/bookkeeping business much more difficult and more expensive. You need specific qualifications now. I don't know all the details but my friend actually had to shut the doors on her home bookkeeping business because she didn't have formal quals (despite having 10 years' experience). There might be some useful info here (http://www.smartcompany.com.au/tax/20100301-bookkeeping-costs-set-to-rise-as-new-laws-come-into-effect.html).

[meatpopsicle]

Oh, and OP - check out this website: http://www.supportawahp.com/ - it might give you a few ideas of the kind of business WAHPs set up. Good luck :)

[Ulysses]

Be careful with this one. New laws came into effect this year that make running your own accounting/bookkeeping business much more difficult and more expensive. You need specific qualifications now. I don't know all the details but my friend actually had to shut the doors on her home bookkeeping business because she didn't have formal quals (despite having 10 years' experience). There might be some useful info here (http://www.smartcompany.com.au/tax/20100301-bookkeeping-costs-set-to-rise-as-new-laws-come-into-effect.html).

yep, the new guidelines you need to follow are part of the course link I attached.

[Pussyfoot]

I know a SAHM who buys and sells vintage clothes on Facebook. She used to use eBay but found she'd get too many fake bids or negative feedback from people without trying to contact her. A lot of the people I buy things off from FB say they much prefer it to eBay. Just a suggestion...

I did not know you could sell off Facebook.
Which is great because eBay charges big time for listings.

Any further information on this would be helpful.

[step21with1intheoven]

What about family daycare, I stay home and work 5 days a week whatever hours I want and choose clients, if the children or families are not fitting in or woking well I just let the families know it is not working out. if you already have children you'll have plenty of toys, a safe environment and a background in caring for kids. it might take a little bit to set up but def worthwhile then you can always be home, pick your own kids up from school and even cook your dinner and hang out the washing while they sleep and still get paid.

I will admit some days are busy but those days we go for a run out to our local park lol and it's worth it.. the tax benifits are fab too.

[sammyplus3]

Facebook selling is a good idea i live in WA and my suburb has a selling items page people are listing items on there at least every 5 mins i have sold heaps of stuff of mine using the local selling items page on facebook. Gumtree is another great way to sell items its free u can add pics etc