I AM A HOMESCHOOL MOM WHO HAS BEEN WORKING FROM HOME FOR A WHILE AND HAVE LEARNED A FEW THINGS
Are you a homeschool mom who would like to work from home?
Lots of homeschool moms would like to work from home for one reason or the other.
For some, it may be out of necessity or maybe to improve their finances, pay off debt, add to their savings or maybe they want to be able to do more for their kids.
Whatever your reason for wanting to become a work from home homeschool mom, let me reassure you that you’re not alone.
In this post, I want to share some practical steps you can take to turn your dream into reality.
I want to share how other homeschool moms can start working from home so they can contribute to their family’s finances.
Before I continue, let me say what this post isn’t about.
This post isn’t about work at home job opportunities or business ideas (though I may include links to such posts).
This isn’t a list of work at home jobs.
This post is about all the things you should consider if you’re thinking about becoming a work from home mom.
It’s basically a guide to help you go from homeschool mom to work from home mom.
The web is chock-full of books and websites about work at home jobs and business ideas for moms, so if that’s what you are looking for, please refer to them for some help!
Now we have gotten that out of the way, let me address some frequently asked questions about working from home as a homeschool mom.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT WORKING FROM HOME AND HOMESCHOOLING
1. Can you work from home and homeschool?
It’s possible to work from home and homeschool. Now, whether you can work from home and homeschool will depend on a few factors like:
Are you disciplined? Are you good at planning and multi-tasking? Can you balance homeschooling, work and housekeeping?
Do you have good time management skills?
The answers to these questions will determine if you can homeschool and work from home successfully.
2. HOW CAN A HOMESCHOOL MOM MAKE MONEY?
There are lots of ways a homeschool mom can earn an income from home.
You can become a small business owner, offer your services to people who need them, sell physical or digital products, freelance, coach, tutor, start a money-making blog, sell on Etsy, eBay or Amazon.
There are unlimited ways for a homeschool mom to make money from home.
It all depends on the effort you put into it and choosing the right money-making idea.
3. WHAT TYPES OF WORK AT HOME JOBS CAN HOMESCHOOL MOMS DO?
Homeschool moms can do any job they are qualified for. I know this may not be the most helpful answer but it’s true nevertheless.
Another thing to consider is how much income you’re looking to earn. Do you want to earn a “full time” income or do want to earn some extra couple of hundred dollars or something like that?
Knowing how much you’d like to earn is a factor in deciding what kind of job to do or business to start.
Something else you need to keep in mind.
As a busy homeschooling mom, you want a job or work that’s big on flexibility.
I recommend work where you can control and choose your hours. It’s going to be pretty hard to juggle homeschooling with jobs that have set/regular hours, so keep that in mind before you sign up for anything.
One rule of thumb: avoid jobs that sound too good to be true or jobs that require you to make payments or bank transfers.
There are lots of scams out there and it can be pretty difficult to separate legitimate jobs from the scams.
So you have to be vigilant and run far away from anything that makes you uncomfortable or anything that doesn’t sound right.
Having said that, here are some common work at home jobs/businesses for moms:
- Freelance writing or blogging
- Virtual assistant
- Proofreading
- Social media management
- Editing
- Tutoring
- Coaching
- Become a shop owner (sell on Etsy, Amazon etc)
And the list goes on…
Check out the post below for a huge list of work from home jobs for moms.
50+ Best Flexible Stay at Home Mom Jobs
As a homeschool mom who works from home out of necessity, this topic is very important to me.
I read a lot of posts about this topic and I noticed most posts don’t really talk about the basics of working from home, that’s why I decided to add my voice to the other voices out there.
Without further ado, let’s jump right into the steps you should take to start working from home as a homeschool mom.
This post may contain affiliate links.If you buy anything using my links, I may receive a small commission.
HOW TO BECOME A WORK FROM HOME HOMESCHOOL MOM
1. CHOOSE A BUSINESS IDEA OR TYPE OF JOB
The first step to working from home is to choose a business idea or figure out the type of job you’d like to do.
If you want to start your own business (my preference) instead of looking for a job as an employee, here is what you need to do:
Start by doing some research. Find a problem that you can solve. Make sure there’s a real need and that people are looking for a solution to their problem.
Your solution doesn’t have to be unique but you will need a competitive advantage (meaning you need to have a way to differentiate yourself so you can stand out from your competitors).
Once you hit on an idea, be sure you can execute your business idea. Which means you have the skills, time, resources, passion, motivation and education to carry it out (or be willing to learn and/or invest in learning).
2. CHOOSE A NICHE OR TARGET AUDIENCE
Once you have an idea, it’s time to choose your target audience or customers.
Who do you want to help?
For example, maybe you want to help other homeschool moms who struggle with staying organized. Or maybe your audience is homeschool moms who need help with the college admission process.
When you narrow down the people or group of people you want to serve, it’s easier to customize what you’re offering and sell your products or services to them.
Everyone can’t be your customer so don’t even try to appeal to everyone.
I know some people don’t like to bother with this step because they think it’s a waste of time.
But as a busy mom with limited time, it’s very important to be laser focused so you can be more productive with the time you have.
3. RESEARCH LEGAL AND LICENSING REQUIREMENTS
If you’re thinking of starting a business (or doing some type of work), you may need some licenses for your business.
Make sure you check what your state’s law is regarding working from home or starting a business.
You may also need to think about your business structure, and insurance needs. Don’t forget about taxes and keeping adequate business records.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the legal aspect of working from home/starting a home business, but this will help you to get the ball rolling.
4. DETERMINE HOW MUCH TIME YOU HAVE TO WORK
Homeschooling in itself is a full time job. When you throw in housekeeping and other responsibilities you find you don’t really have a lot of time left.
It’s easy to think you can make things work and carve out all the time you need to work from home, but the reality is completely different.
That’s why you should take the time to estimate how much time (daily, weekly, monthly ) you can invest into working from home.
Another reason this is important is that it can help you narrow down the types of jobs/businesses you can do.
How much time you have will depend on the number of kids you have (and their ages), your other commitments and how much help and support you have.
This is gong to be different for everyone.
I have two kids, and now they are older and more independent, I can spend more time working if I wanted.
It’s very important to be realistic about how much time you can carve out based on your present circumstances.
Related: Work From Home for Homeschooling Moms: 4 Sneaky Traps to Watch out For
5. WORK OUT HOW MUCH YOU NEED TO INVEST
Working from home as a homeschool mom shouldn’t be an expensive undertaking, but you may have some expenses depending on the type of work you want to do.
You may need to buy some supplies, invest in a course or training, pay for licensing or if you’re starting an online business your expenses may include paying for a domain name, web hosting and other fees.
I strongly advice that you take the time to figure out what your expenses are, and how much you need to invest so you can plan,save or budget for them.
As someone who’s wasted a truck load of money on stuff, I know how easy it is to invest in things you end up not using.
However, when you create a budget and have a list of your business or work from home essentials, it’s easier to stay on track and not overspend or waste money.
Some of your work at home office supplies or essentials may include:
- Blogging and business books like How to Blog for Profit, Work at Home: The No-Nonsense Guide to Avoiding Scams and Generating Income Anywhere, Freelance Business Bootcamp, The Step-by-Step Guide to Freelance Writing Success
- Planners and Calendars
- Laptop and reliable internet
- Desk and Desk organizer
- Phone and headsets
- Online courses or workshops
6. IDENTIFY YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
What are your skills and talents? What are you good at and what do you enjoy doing?
Make a list of your skills and talents and see if can you can turn one or two into a business idea or a work from home job.
If you’re tech challenged you probably don’t want to take on job that would require you to work with advanced technology.
Another reason to assess your strengths and weaknesses is so you know which areas you can work on improving or where to invest some time and money.
I know there’s a tendency for some of us to downplay our abilities or think we don’t have marketable skills. But nothing could be further from the truth!
You have something that someone else needs, your job is to figure out what that is!
7. CREATE BUSINESS OR WORK GOALS
Once you have decided what you want to do, take the time to set some business or work goals.
It doesn’t have to be anything too complicated or unrealistic.
All you need is to make a list of what you’d like to achieve and when you’d like to achieve them.
This is especially important if you struggle with procrastination. This is a way for you to hold yourself accountable, and see at a glance whether you’re making progress or not.
Some of your goals may include: looking for a set number of work-at-home jobs every day or week, researching business ideas, setting a time frame for launching your blog or business, sending out proposals to prospective clients etc.
Just make sure your goals and action are in alignment and they are realistic.
8. CREATE A SIMPLE BUSINESS PLAN
This is for you if you’re thinking of starting an online business or any kind of business.
Many aspiring entrepreneurs run for the hills when they hear they need a business plan.
A one-page business plan is really all that is required when you’re just starting out.
The most important things to include in your business plan are: your business name, type of business, how you plan to make money, your start up costs and what you need to invest in to get your business up and running.
You can always include other things whenever you want. Your business plan is just a road map and is a useful tool for making decisions for your business.
Putting it all together.
HOW TO BECOME A WORK FROM HOME HOMESCHOOL MOM
It possible to work from home and homeschool if that’s what you really want to do.
It requires some planning and willingness to make some sacrifices to achieve your goal.
The steps you need to become a work from home homeschool mom are:
- Choose a business idea
- Choose a niche or target audience
- Research legal and licensing requirements
- Determine how much time you have to work
- Work out how much you need to invest
- Identify your strengths and weaknesses
- Create business or work goals
- Create a simple business plan
Are you a homeschooling mom who works from home or outside the home? What’s been your experience?
