Most of the businesses that we engage in something might make it nearly impossible to stay home, but most people dream of having a business they can actually run from home.

If you are interested in a business you can run from your home as a parent, then pay full attention to the following points to be discussed.

• Advantages of running your Business from Home
• Disadvantages of running your Business from Home
• Freelance Writing
• Sewing Business
• Crafts and arts businesses
• Gardening Business
• Graphic Design
• Home Health-Care Agency
• Daycare
• Financial Aid Planning Consulting Business
• Gift Basket-Making Business
• Consignment Shop

Just like every other endeavor you engage in, running your business from home also has its own advantages and disadvantages. We are now going to consider some of them.

Read Also: Secrets to Home Business success

Advantages of running your Business from Home

• Risk. Starting a business involves a certain level of risk and requires a certain level of capital, so anything that can reduce these stresses is positive. Starting a business from home can help start-up capital as you do not have to spend precious funds on office space, storage space, parking, office furniture, utilities such as power and water and everything else that comes with having commercial premises.
• Personal freedom. The home-based businessperson chooses their own hours, manages their own workload and sets their own goal. The business can be as big or as small as you decide.
• Improved work/life balance. One of the biggest benefits of working from home is the chance to enjoy better family life. If you need to get the kids ready for school or want to have lunch with your partner, you simply adjust your schedule.
• Better productivity. Some people work better at home, away from the distractions and politics of an office. Proving you set your home workspace up correctly, you may find your focus on your work far more effectively.
• Tax advantages. Working from home can allow you to claim tax deductions for things like rent and home-loan interest, utilities, telecommunications, and insurance. Consult your tax adviser for more information.

Disadvantages of running your Business from Home

• Work-life encroaching on home life. While being able to move between the office and the lounge-room in the blink of an eye has some enormous benefits, the problem with a home-based business is that you are always at work. It’s crucial to set boundaries between your work life and home life and stick to them.
• Isolation. Avoiding office politics is great, but some home-based entrepreneurs can come to miss the camaraderie of an office environment, particularly when work gets tough. A strong support system is crucial in overcoming this.
• Procrastination. The temptation to spend 10 more minutes on the couch or working in the garden can lead to the great enemy of the home-based entrepreneur – procrastination. Strong discipline and time management is crucial if you want to overcome this.
• Distractions. Friends popping over, the television or even your family members can distract the home-based businessperson. The secret is being able to let people know that work time really means it’s time to work.
• Space. As your business expands, you might find that you are quickly outgrowing your home office. Keep in mind that you may need to abandon the comforts of home eventually, and be prepared for this.

Now that we have seen the advantages and disadvantages of running your business from home, we will now look at some great business ideas you can execute from the comfort of your home if you are a parent.

10 Business Ideas for Stay-at-Home Parents

Freelance Writing

Freelance writers can write articles on any topic, from horse training to buying an RV. A good way to start is by writing about subjects in which you are already an expert. The Writer’s Market lists guidelines for thousands of publications.

Ghost writing is a good pursuit for freelancers looking for money and willing to forgo a byline. Websites are always on the lookout for quality freelancers, too. Create a website to promote your freelance writing business.

Note: Your initial queries are likely to get rejected many times. Cultivate a stoic resilience to rejection.

Sewing Business

Custom curtain making is a profitable business if you have an interest in interior design. You can specialize in designing, sewing and installing window treatments. By providing multiple services, you can charge a great deal more than if you just stitch together basic curtains for customers.

If you enjoy embroidery and hand sewing, a quilt designing business is for you. Monogrammed baby quilts are particularly popular since they make wonderful gifts.

Doll dress designing is trendy. Ask as many little girls as you can what kinds of doll clothes they like. If you are not in touch with what the kids like, your clothes won’t sell. Offering such accessories as doll hair ribbons, hats, socks, tights, and slippers can be good for your business.

Note: Making custom bridal veils is a great way to make money using your sewing skills. It is also a good way to enter the lucrative bridal market. Provide a distinctive service by crafting one-of-a-kind veils and headpieces. The ability to choose a headpiece that is most flattering to a particular bride’s facial structure is important. You can branch out by making First Communion veils.

Crafts and arts businesses

Almost every type of artist can sell their creations online through their own website or through sites such as eBay and Etsy and you may be able to sell from your own home studio as well. Giving classes on your specialty is also possible.

Many people are interested in learning how to paint, create objects out of stained glass, or make jewelry, for example. And then there are the host of artisanal businesses that require talent and a well-equipped shop, such as welding, furniture making, woodworking and cabinet making.

Gardening Business

Herb farms are one of the fastest-growing industries. Medicinal herbs, herbal teas, culinary herbs, and herbs for candles and aromatherapy are just the tip of the iceberg. Solid working knowledge of growing herbs is essential.

Flowers used to scent potpourri, soap, candles and fragrant concoctions require just a few square feet of growing space. Most of your product preparation can easily take place in an average-size kitchen equipped with no more than a shelf, stove and counter workspace.

Becoming a gardening teacher is a creative way to make money from your green thumb. Offer gardening seminars in your backyard, community colleges, recreation centers and local nurseries. Offer a class each month on a different aspect of gardening, including planning flower beds, learning about perennials, preparing the soil, creating an English garden, bulb planting, and the like.

Growing orchids can be a lucrative business if you are willing to spend time and considerable effort. Although they are typically grown in tropical areas, orchids can also be grown as houseplants or in greenhouses.

Note: Through gardening, you can branch-off to floral arrangements and market your products to local inns, hotels, wedding planners, churches, roadside flower sales, and florists.

Graphic Design

Duties of a graphic designer include designing flyers, informational pamphlets, product catalogs and advertisements. Graphic designers also consult with printers or publishers to identify the best choice of paper, cover stocks and printing processes for any given assignment.

Market your services to ad agencies, publishing companies, small magazines, corporations, product manufacturers and individual entrepreneurs.

Note: Good listening skills are essential to running a successful graphic designing business. You need to understand completely what your clients want.

Home Health-Care Agency

An 80-year-old wants to live in his own home but has trouble bathing, fixing meals and cleaning the house. As a home health-care business, your responsibility is to send an employee to assist with the daily tasks of living.

Home health care is a rapidly growing business with today’s skyrocketing costs of assisted living facilities and live-in nurses. Find out the legal requirements to run a home health-care agency in your area. Always be up to date on the laws for administering any kind of medication. Advertise your services at local community centers, rehabilitation centers, doctors’ offices and hospitals.

Note: You need top-notch people skills and an instinct for determining which caregiver to pair with which client. Most importantly, you must have a knack for hiring employees with monumental patience.

Daycare

Running a daycare can be a great way for stay at home moms and dads to continue to be with their child, while also taking care and watching other people’s children and making money while doing it.

In many countries and cities, there are certain regulations and rules you’ll need to follow, but if you can meet those requirements, running a daycare can be a very lucrative business to run.

To start this business, you’d first want to look into a safe place where you can have these kids for the entire day. Then, you’ll want to get any licensing (if required in your area) and begin marketing the business. A great way to reach potential customers is through networking with the parents in elementary schools.

Financial Aid Planning Consulting Business

A financial aid planner helps parents get the lowest possible price for their child’s college education, thus saving them money.

Tapping into financial aid resources is not just about being smart. It is about being aware of the resources that are available.

This business involves advising parents and high school students on selecting a college, filling out the application and financial aid forms, providing tips for writing the college essay, advising parents about tax implications on college savings plans, and negotiating the best possible financial aid package when a college offer is received.

A sound knowledge about higher education institutions and a thorough understanding of financial aid options are important. Market your services in high schools, libraries, private tutorial centers and universities.

Note: Have a good understanding of different financial programs like Byrd Scholarships, Stafford Loans, private and federal grants, and PLUS Loans. Also be current with college savings plans including 529 plans, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, the Uniform Gift to Minors Act, and Charitable Remainder Unitrusts

Gift Basket-Making Business

From corporate parties to baby showers, holidays and birthdays, gift baskets can be tailored to suit the taste of anyone.

Gift basket entrepreneurs need a flair for the creative and the design ability to buy gifts and tuck them into baskets, decorative tins, boxes or bags.

Attractive packaging is an important part of the gift basket business. You can’t just throw some objects together and stick on a bow.

Market your gift baskets by taking photos of them. Prepare a brochure listing the contents of each basket and its price. You can sell your baskets online, to corporate offices, through mail order and in local shops.

Note: There is a large, untapped market for merchandise with university and sports team logos on them. You will first need to get approval from the university’s licensing department to make gift baskets that have merchandise with their logo.

Consignment Shop

Talking about wearing “pre-owned” clothing has never been a popular coffee table discussion. Times may be changing, though. Recycled clothes are back.

The recession has led consumers to save their bucks by buying “gently used” items. Consignment items also work will as an online business.

As a consignment shop owner, you don’t pay anything for your inventory until it is sold, which makes this business ideal for the startup entrepreneur.

Take clean, well-cared-for items and display and merchandise them online or at a physical location for the owners, splitting the profits when you make a sale. Many times, the profit split is either 50/50 or 60/40, with the higher percentage going to the consignment shops.

Note: The key to a successful consignment shop is a pleasant atmosphere. Make it clean, fresh and fashionable.

Read Also: How to create a Business Plan

When you’re choosing a home-based business of any kind, make sure you research all the rules and regulations that may apply to your idea.

For instance, there are no human food-based businesses on this list, because such businesses require a government inspected kitchen, which is not possible in many homes.

Your business idea also has to conform to the municipal laws such as zoning, which may prohibit home businesses entirely or of some types, such as those that would involve customers or clients visiting you in your home. And, like any other business, your new business will need to be properly set up and licensed.

Ready to work at home? Pick one of the home based business ideas above and get started.