5 Business Ideas for Aspiring Mom Entrepreneurs

I always knew that I wanted to be a stay at home mom, so when I got pregnant with my daughter, I immediately started planning for my transition. I became more frugal, started saving the majority of my pay check and I searched online to see what kinds of work-at-home opportunities were available. However, my searches only lead to disappointments; scams, internet marketing schemes and so-called business systems were all that I could find.After my daughter arrived, I was so sleep deprived that I didn’t even think about working at home again until she was nine months old. At which time I started my search only to come up with the same old scams and opportunities I had encountered months earlier.One night when talking to a friend about my dilemma, she suggested, “If you can’t find what you’re looking for, why don’t you create it”?This is when I had my light bulb moment. So I created the type of resource that I was looking for; a blog where women and moms could go to easily find legitimate work-at-home ideas, opportunities and information.Finding the perfect home-based business to start is probably one of the biggest challenges that aspiring mom entrepreneurs face. I know that before my light bulb moment, I had thought numerous times about starting my own business, but had no clue where to start or what to do. Finding your niche can be a challenge but by knowing your personality type, skill set and passions you can start to narrow down the search.

Here are 5 ideas to get your started:

Are you professional and organized?

Virtual Assistant: Are you known as the go-to-gal? Offering companies, businesses and solo professionals administrative, technical and social support; Virtual Assistants take over tasks that others don’t have the time to complete. Common tasks that VA’s complete are, sending out correspondence, appointment setting, internet research, data entry, maintaining websites and performing social media outreach. The services that you can provide as a VA are endless and all depend on your background training, skills and experience. If you like to help people, are you organized, have good time management skills, excellent proof-reading, grammar and spelling, a career as a Virtual Assistant may be the perfect home-based opportunity for you.

Do you have a way with words?

Copywriting: Are you convincing? Copywriting is the process of using persuasive words to promote a person, product, business, idea or opinion. Copywriters write the words in TV commercials, radio ads, magazines, newspapers, websites and direct mailings – wherever something is being sold, copywriters are hard at work writing alluring and compelling advertisements to make the consumer take action. If you like to pay attention to detail, enjoy reading, doing research and writing, a freelance career in copywriting may be your calling.We put together a handy reference guide to help you find some great freelance jobs to get you started.

Are you adventurous?

eBay and Craigslist Seller: Do you enjoy the hunt? Can you find the needle in the haystack? Online auction sites, like eBay, can be a great way to make money while working from home. Online auction sites are very similar to garage sales, only with a much larger audience. Sellers are able to make money by selling merchandise, both new and used, and because of the flexibility of price and the large global audience almost anything will sell. If you enjoy rummaging through thrift stores and garage sales tables and have a good eye for specialty items, becoming an online seller may be the way to become your own boss.

Do you have a sense of style?

Personal Stylist: Do you keep up to date on all of the latest fashion trends? Then use your knowledge to help other women discover their own sense of style. Personal Stylists assist clients with new wardrobe shopping, accessorizing, revamping and clearing out the old. If you enjoy helping other women, have a passion for fashion and can be empathetic and warm becoming a Personal Stylist may be your dream work-at-home business.

Are you Artsy and Crafty?

Etsy Seller: Do you make the most adorable knit scarves on the street? Then take this creativity and talent and make some extra money by selling your homemade wares on Etsy. Hosting over a hundred thousand sellers in 31 different categories, Etsy’s mission is to “enable people to make a living making things and to reconnect makers with buyers”. If you have a creative flair and make unique high quality products selling your goods on Esty may be your key to financial freedom and flexibility.Update: Shopify also makes it fast and easy to set up your own online shop on the cheap. You can even start selling directly from Facebook. Knowing that you want to be your own boss is the easy part, its finding and discovering what your perfect niche is that is the tough part. But by clearly defining your personality type, skill set, and passions you can start to uncover the direction that's best for you.Remember that reading business books, taking a business course,  joining entrepreneurial groups, and connecting with like-minded individuals can help to ignite that creative spark and get the ball rolling!