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As a stay-at-home parent, you could need more money for any number of reasons. Maybe you need to buy clothes or school supplies for your kid. Perhaps you want to save for a family vacation or a few extra entertainment options for the household. Or, maybe your family is struggling to make ends meet on a single income.

Whatever the case, there are countless ways to supplement your income while keeping the kids at home. Some parents launch a company or become virtual assistants. Others take up freelance writing or tutoring. Some sell unwanted household items online. Below, Nicasio Design discusses these money-making opportunities and more!

Why Do You Need More Money?

No one would argue that there are perks to having extra money. But perhaps the most significant benefit is that it helps you to save for unexpected expenses.

Say, for example, your dishwasher breaks. If you have money in your emergency fund, you can replace the dishwasher without having to take out a line of credit or borrow from a friend or family member. Medical bills, car repairs, and many other unexpected occurrences can add up and cause financial stress for your family if you are unprepared.

Many stay-at-home moms and dads are choosing to find work they can do without leaving the house. The good news is that there are tons of options as more innovative technology emerges and more businesses are offering remote opportunities. And you don’t have to compromise your parenting philosophies or abilities because you can create your own schedule that works around your family’s needs.

Starting a Business

If you have a mind for business, starting a home-based company can be right up your alley. You can start and run a business in many industries these days without stepping foot from your home. Of course, going this route will require you to spend more hours each day than you would on a little side gig. But if you have enough free hours or your children are relatively self-sufficient, starting a business could be the best path for you.

One of the first things you would need to do is confirm that your business idea can make you money, meaning you research the market and your potential competitors. Then, you would need to put your business idea into a business plan that will serve as a blueprint for your company going forward. Here are a few components of a solid business plan:

Executive summary
Company mission and values
Product or service description
Target audience
Marketing strategies
Funding requirements
Financial forecasts

Moreover, you will need to handle other administrative tasks like selecting a legal structure, finding the technologies that can help you work more efficiently, and creating a schedule that accommodates your work and home life.

Virtual Assistance

If you don’t want to start a company, or you do but are not yet ready, consider becoming a virtual assistant. Many businesses are offering remote virtual assistant positions, and a quick job search will reveal many opportunities.

You may even be able to find professionals and companies who are willing to work with your schedule and provide flexible hours so that you can tend to your kids and other responsibilities. If you are highly organized and like to work on the computer, virtual assistance can be the job for you. Depending on your specific job, you could handle a range of tasks—from responding to emails and phone calls to invoicing customers, from scheduling meetings to entering data.

Writing

If you love to write and have the skills necessary, you could make money from your passion. Moms, in particular, often have valuable tips and information to offer other parents.

As such, you could start a blog where you help parents navigate the challenges and joys of raising kids in everyday life. As you establish a reputation and build traffic to your blog, you can start monetizing your content with affiliate marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) ads, and pay-per-impression (PPI) ads.

Another way to make money writing is to become a freelance writer. For example, you could write blog content for businesses in specific industries or brand yourself as a jack-of-all-trades where you cover a wide range of topics. You may not make a lot when you first start, but consistently turning in well-written and well-researched articles can help you land higher-paying clients.

If you don’t want or have the time for extensive research, you might be better off editing and proofreading. There are many work-from-jobs available in these fields, and as long as you have excellent attention to detail and grammar skills you could thrive by editing and proofreading.

Tutoring

If you love to teach children, consider becoming an online tutor. There are many international jobs available because parents of children often look for English-speaking teachers to help them sharpen their communication and interaction skills. And working with international clients in different time zones can work in your favor because you might be able to work while your kids are sleeping.

Teaching English as a second language is not your only option for earning a part- or full-time income from home. Parents everywhere are seeking online tutors in math, science, history, and more. And if you have a creative streak and are skilled in music or art, you could teach students how to play an instrument, draw, or paint.

Direct Sales

If you know how to deliver a sales pitch, you could land a direct sales job in something you are passionate about. For instance, you could sell organic food or eco-conscious personal care products. You could sell software tools to businesses or become a direct sales event planner for local and national businesses. These are just a few ideas; take time to research the job opportunities available for direct sale.

Getting Paid

If you’re earning money from home and need to bill customers and clients, invoicing software is well worth the investment, for a number of reasons. First of all, it’s much more efficient than paper invoices or Excel spreadsheets. With invoicing software, you can generate an invoice in just a few seconds. And because it’s all digital, you can easily track payments and keep track of which invoices have been paid and which haven’t. In addition, when you select the best invoicing software, it’s easy to bill your clients on a recurring basis. So if you have clients who always pay their invoices on time, you can set up automatic billing and never have to worry about chasing down payments again.

If you need or want to earn extra money for your family, you have plenty of options in front of you. The ideas above will get you off to a strong start, but keep researching the web for other job ideas, and sign up for job boards that cater to your needs. And if you choose to start a company, remember to establish a schedule and routine that will provide balance in your everyday life.

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