Back in the day, if you wanted to start a new business, you would have to rent a place, make a plan, take risks, and invest more than just hopes and skills.
Today, starting a new business requires mainly one thing – an idea. The rest can be done during the kids’ nap time, after they go to sleep or once you drop them off at school.
And because I am a mom with a business, I decided to create a list of business ideas you can start from home that require little to no financial investment, give you room to grow and can also pay the bills.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you sign up or make a purchase I might get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my business. See full disclosure.
1. Sell Printables on Etsy
This is one of the easiest business ideas for moms. If you are organised enough to niche down, create something genuinely useful and pretty to look at, you can make a decent side income with it. I have three Etsy shops, one of them is for printables and let me tell you – I have done very minimal work on it, but it makes sales every week. If you are curious about what else you can do on Etsy, here are some craft hobbies that sell well there.
2. Virtual Personal Assistant
A virtual assistant does a wide range of tasks for their clients. Anything from booking their flight tickets, making dinner reservations, organising their schedule or birthday party to updating their website or managing their social media. How wide the range is depends on your skills and willingness to involve yourself with the work. Most of the time you would communicate with your clients via email or messages, so there aren’t as many awkward phone calls as you might think.
3. Freelance Writing or Blogging
Despite the AI revolution, people still read blogs and blogs still need human writers, so there are a lot of opportunities out there for you to start that type of career. If you love writing and are curious enough to learn about many different topics, freelance writing is for you. You can start by writing for smaller websites, create a nice portfolio and then scale up with bigger websites. If you work on your writing skills, this job could only offer you higher pay.
4. Start Your Own Blog
I am a blogger so this section could get very long… Many people have given up on blogging and I admit – it is harder to make it work now than it was 10 years ago when I started. But it isn’t impossible. It requires passion from your side, skills to write and market, and willingness to keep pushing through until it happens. A while ago I wrote a post about the 10 reasons never to start a blog, so if you are considering starting a blog, click here.
5. Social Media Manager
Small businesses, local shops, and personal brands all need a social media presence — but most owners don’t have time to run it themselves. If you spend time on Instagram, TikTok, or Pinterest anyway, you can turn that knowledge into a paid service. You’d create and schedule posts, respond to comments, and help grow their following. It’s a skill you can build quickly, and many clients are happy to start small.
6. Online Tutoring
If you are good at a subject and know that you can teach others, consider online tutoring. This is the shortest path to having your own small business or side hustle because you have no new skills to learn – you are already an expert on the subject. All you need to decide is whether you will join an online tutoring platform (such as Skillshare) or create your own online space and market yourself through ads and social media.
7. Handmade Products on Etsy
If you can knit, sew, make candles, create jewellery, or have any other craft skill, Etsy is a ready-made marketplace for you. People there search for unique, handmade, personalised, and lovingly crafted items, and you can offer your creations too. Anything can be sold there – from small bookmarks to kitchen tables, teapots and vintage clothes. If you’ve not browsed Etsy in a while, I advise you to take a look around its sections.
8. Bookkeeping Services
If numbers don’t scare you and you have some background in finance or administration, bookkeeping is a surprisingly easy business to set up. Small businesses need someone to track their income and expenses, manage invoices, and keep their accounts in order — but they can’t always afford a full-time accountant. You can do all of this remotely using tools like QuickBooks or Xero, and charge a monthly retainer once you have regular clients.
9. Sell on Amazon or Facebook Marketplace
Reselling is the simplest and easiest business you can start, it requires little investment, your home garage can be your storage for a while, and you only need your phone to take photos and upload them to a platform. Flipping furniture, reselling something you’ve bought cheaper than expected, and shipping products to Amazon for resale are just a few options you have here.
10. Photography Editing
If you know your way around Lightroom or Photoshop, photo editing is a service in high demand. Photographers, real estate agents, and online shop owners all need their images edited but don’t always have the time or skill to do it themselves. You can offer batch editing, colour correction, or background removal as a service — all done from your computer at home.
11. Online Coaching
If you’ve been through something others might still be struggling with – weight loss, sleep training your baby, building a productive cleaning routine, you might already have the knowledge for creating an online course and offering coaching services. You will need to find a way to market yourself (social media?) but once you find your people, money will start flowing.
12. Transcription
Transcription means listening to audio or video files and typing out what’s being said. It sounds simple, and it kind of is. Podcasters, researchers, legal firms, and content creators all use transcription services. The pay per audio minute isn’t huge, but it’s steady work, requires no startup cost, and can be done in short bursts whenever you have a quiet moment. Rev and GoTranscript are popular platforms to get started.
13. Pinterest Manager
Pinterest is a powerful traffic tool for bloggers and businesses, but many of us don’t have the time or knowledge to use it properly. If you understand how Pinterest works — how to write keyword-rich descriptions, design pins, and build a consistent posting schedule — you can manage Pinterest accounts for clients. This is a particularly good niche because most Pinterest managers work with bloggers, which is a community where referrals happen quickly.
14. Sell Digital Templates
This one is similar to selling printables, but it is more B2B-focused (Business-to-Business). Creating templates and selling them could mean absolutely anything, so let me give you some examples:
- Pinterest pin templates;
- Social media post templates;
- Ebook templates;
- Invoice templates;
- Media kits;
- Contract templates (if you have the legal background, of course).
15. Childcare or Babysitting
If you’re already at home with children, offering childcare to one or two other families is a natural extension. Many parents would rather have their child in a home setting than a nursery, and a home-based childminding setup is often cheaper for them too. Requirements vary by location, so check your local regulations, but this can be a significant income stream if you are brave enough to handle a few more feral little cutie pies.
16. Cake or Food Business
Do you love baking? One of my neighbours recently opened a home bakery stall on her driveway. She is only open twice a month but sells out before noon. She also takes orders for parties, birthdays and just those cheeky little treats whenever wants one. She even got a spot in a local coffee shop to sell her cookies. It sounds like a fun way to promote your baking skills and attract more buyers if they get to sample your treats a few times a month.
17. Freelance Graphic Design
If you have an eye for design and know your way around tools like Canva, Adobe Illustrator, or even just Photoshop, businesses will pay for your help. Logos, flyers, social media graphics, brand kits — there’s constant demand. And honestly, you don’t need a design degree to get started, especially for smaller clients. Build a portfolio of your best work and start pitching to local small businesses or online communities.
18. Pet Sitting or Dog Walking
A few years ago we had to use a pet sitter for our dog Bella, and let me tell you, this business is booming and will keep thriving because people love it when their pets are in a home environment and get all the cuddles a traditional dog kennel could never offer. Therefore, if you love animals and are willing to open your home to them, you could be making some pretty good extra cash with pet sitting.
How to Choose the Right Idea for You
Here’s a simple way to narrow down your options and choose the perfect small business idea for you.
- Think about what you already have: Skills, tools, or experience you’ve built up over your life are your starting point. A banking background makes bookkeeping or financial coaching a natural fit. Years of managing a household have given you organisational skills that make virtual assistance easy.
- Think about your schedule: What can you fit into your day-to-day life so your usual routine and the people in your household don’t really suffer. Rearranging a few appointments and getting help from your partner is great, but your new small business needs to feel like a natural addition to the life you’ve already built.
- Start before you feel ready: You don’t need to know it all to start. That’s the best thing about starting a business from home – all you need is a willingness to try and occasionally a some small investment. Choosing one option now doesn’t mean you have to make it work, you are simply trying things, and if it works out – great.
Blogger, dreamer, procrastinator, and lover of everything soul-touching. My mission is to make you laugh, provoke your thoughts, light up your day and inspire you to fall in love with life and yourself.
