10 Home-Based Business Ideas for Moms

If you're a mom who's always wanted a work-at-home opportunity, you may have found it frustrating when searching for work from home jobs. More than one work-at-home mom wannabe has contacted me and voiced her frustrations about finding legitimate work from home job opportunities.

If you have the time and a little bit of money, these home business ideas may provide you with an alternative for trying to find a work from home job - by making your own work at home position operating your own home business.

While both men and women can and do take advantage of these home-based business opportunities, I put together this collection of ten home business idea that I felt are especially suitable for moms and moms-to-be who want to spend more time at home. If you don't see anything that spurs your interest in this list but are still searching for ideas, you'll want to browse my full collection of home business ideas.

NOTE: Neither your guide to Home Business nor About.com endorse any specific business opportunities that may be featured on this site. The businesses profiled are only intended to stimulate thinking and give readers ideas of possible businesses they might like to operate.

Licensed Day Care Center Operator

You'll need to deal with local day care licensing home business regulations, but if you can meet the requirements and this is a field you've already had experience with or were hoping to get in to, this home-based business opportunity could be the right one for you.

Making Gift Baskets

If you've got a flair for creativity, an eye for design and can work well with customers, this could be a great home-based business.

Mary Moppins Distributor or Affiliate
Mary Findley is a veteran cleaning expert and President of Mary Moppins Co. Mary’s expertise and experience led her to create a home business opportunity in distributing her line of environmentally-friendly cleaning products called the Mary Moppins Cleaning System that is steadily growing in popularity nationwide.

Pet Services Business

Moms who love animals should know there's a growing demand for pet services - everything from pet sitting while owners are on vacation to doggy day care, pet grooming, dog walking and other pet-related services. 

Scrapbooking Business

There's a market for scrapbooking because many people want a means of preserving their memories, but are just too busy to do it themselves or don't know how. My wife recently received a scrapbook from one of her daughters that was a collection of candid shots and memorabilia that were masterfully collected and displayed by her daughter and one of her daughter's friends. Needless to say, it was a very touching and treasured gift.

 

Selling Homemade Baked Goods

If you're a mom with a culinary flair here's a story to give you ideas on selling your own homemade baked goods. Yummy! In line with that, you might also consider offering your services as a personal chef - much as Giada De Laurentiis of Food Network did before she became a TV sensation. 

Image Consultant

An image consulting business could be the perfect home based business for those who have a knack for balance, color and psychological impact and a strong desire to help others achieve a positive image with their targeted audience.

Nanny Service

One nanny service I read about grew from a shoestring operation to employing 20 Nannies over a period of two years.

Independent Wine Consultant

If you're into entertaining and like to be the toast of a party, find out how becoming an independent wine consultant may be a vintage home-based business opportunity for you.

Online Home Business

In her 10 Reasons for Women to Start an Internet Business (And One Reason Not To) my guest Kathy Wilson says starting an Internet home-based business is one of the fastest and smartest ways women today can make money. 

Inspiration and Motivation for Moms

I hope you've found this list of home-based business opportunities especially for moms at least thought provoking if you're thinking of hanging out your shingle and making a go of it. And, of course, no feature article for moms would be complete without mentioning my interview with Kathy Ireland - an inspiration for millions of working moms around the globe.

Stimulating Home Business Ideas for Mom - A Woman's Perspective

Since this article was first published, I had a lot of feedback that wasn't all positive on how my home business ideas for moms seemed rather archaic, to put it nicely. Because of that, I asked Misty Cryer-Davidson to do a follow up piece from a woman's point of view.