The Stay-at-Home Parent’s Guide to Launching a Small Business

If you’re staying home with your children, you might be interested in making some extra income to boost your household savings. You’re not limited in terms of potential business models, either - you don’t necessarily need to start an ecommerce business! An organization like Behind the Leaf can assist you no matter what products or services you plan to offer. These tips will help you launch and grow your home-based business.

Business Ideas

Every business starts with a great idea. If you’re not interested in running an e-commerce company, you have plenty of options. For example, you could become a personal trainer, offer art lessons, or work as a transcriptionist or translator. Typically Topical also recommends looking into starting a custom baking business, selling print-on-demand merchandise, making your own jewelry, or pet sitting. Think about where your interests lie, which professional skills you want to develop, and which ideas would require minimal startup capital to keep your initial costs low.

Set Up Your Workspace

As you set up your workspace, consider your needs as a business owner. You may need lots of storage space for materials and supplies, or you might just need a desk and an ergonomic office chair. Homes & Gardens also recommends setting up adequate lighting and choosing a few accessories that reflect your personality. If you’re the parent of an infant, you’ll need a space in your office where they can sleep. If your children are older and more independent, make sure they understand when they can and cannot enter your office.

Establish Your Invoicing System

A complicated, disorganized invoicing system can cost you time and money. To simplify your system and make it easier to manage payments, you can implement software that verifies whether your customers have adequate funds available to make a purchase before they buy any products or services through your website. With an API to retrieve bank account balance, you can ensure that your customers don’t incur overdraft fees, and you can rest assured that you’ll get paid.

Consider Cybersecurity

Even if your business operations are largely offline, almost every business today has a digital presence and conducts essential functions online. Therefore, it’s important to think about cybersecurity when you launch your business.

You don’t need to be a tech expert to protect your company’s data and finances! You can get in touch with an IT service consultant to set up a recovery plan in case your company is ever affected by a cyberattack. That way, you can get right back to business if something goes wrong. Your recovery plan should cover which applications would have to be addressed first, the individuals involved, and any important time objectives.

Create a Routine

As a stay-at-home parent, you’ve already got your hands full - and starting a business will inevitably lengthen your to-do list! That’s why creating a consistent daily schedule will help you effectively manage your time and get everything done. Consider what you need to do each day, how your children fit into this schedule, and whether or not you’ll need to delegate certain responsibilities to your partner or a close relative. Running a business while raising children is a lot of work, and it’s okay to ask for help, outsource certain business tasks, or give yourself longer deadlines to ensure that you can tackle everything.

Stay-at-home parents have endless entrepreneurial opportunities. Running a business allows you to keep your skills sharp, meet new people in your community, and increase your household income. With these tips, you’ll be prepared to reach your entrepreneurial goals!

Need help as you start your entrepreneurial journey? Behind the Leaf is here for you! Check out our website to find networking opportunities, educational resources, and more.

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Written by Derek Goodman; info@inbizability.com