One of the reasons I’m a huge advocate of working from home is that it helps women achieve financial independence without sacrificing work-life balance. And this applies to both men and women.
I’ve been working from home since my child was born (19 years ago) and love it. I have many women asking me, “How do I start working from home?” and I wish I had easy answers for each of them.
The truth is there is a multitude of work from home options available today and each of us has to figure out which one is best for us.
Some women just want a simple work from home job that doesn’t involve too much effort, skill, or experience, while others are willing to challenge themselves, learn new skills and even start a business.
Today, I’m going to outline a number of different work from home options, from jobs to home businesses you can start.
1. Get a work from home job
If you don’t mind reporting to a boss, you’ll find a lot of work from home jobs that you can do with just a computer and Wifi connection. Some of them are:
- Data entry operator
- Freelance writer
- Virtual assistant (VA)
- Graphic or web designer
- Social media manager
- Digital Marketer
- Online tutoring
In fact, I’ve listed over 30 work from home jobs in my free eBook, as well as a huge list of job boards where you can find a work from home job. Click here to download it free if all you want is a work from home job.
2. Start a home business
If you have skills or are a creative person and are willing to challenge yourself a bit, then a home business might be right for you. Here are some home business options that you can start, based on your talents.
- Catering
If you’re a good cook, you can make food and deliver it to homes nearby. Products such as chapattis, meal tiffins, chocolates, or baked goods. You can even specialize in vegan or Bengali or diabetic meals if you have the clientele.
Right now one of my neighbours has started making baked goods at home and I love ordering her products because they’re so delicious.
People who live alone – like bachelors and students – or busy people like working moms, all need regular home-cooked meals. They can all be your target audience.
- Art and Craft
If you’re a creative person and love creating art or crafts, you can promote your creations to shops nearby or to people in your neighbourhood.
You can become a tattoo artist or offer tattoo painting services for kids birthday parties. You can design wedding souvenirs or gifts.
- Interior design
If you want to take your creative skills up a notch, perhaps do a course in interior decoration and offer a service designing homes in your neighbourhood. That way you can use your creative talents and aesthetic sense to earn more money too.
- Fashion
If you’re good at designing clothes, you can start a home business designing clothes for a select clientele.
You don’t even need to stitch them yourself – just find a good tailor in your neighbourhood to partner with.
Find some aspect of fashion you can specialize in, so you can set yourself apart from the other designers out there.
- Beautician
To become a beautician, it’s probably a good idea to do a beauty therapist course and specialize.
Starting a beauty parlour at home may require some investment in terms of equipment, but you can actually work from an extra room in your home or a garage space.
- Tuition classes
There’s no investment required to start teaching school kids in your home. So many moms are starting to take tuitions because the bar is so low and it’s easy to get clients in your neighbourhood if you promote your classes well.
Disadvantages of work from home jobs or home businesses
The disadvantage of a work from home job or home business is that you’re exchanging time for money, so your earnings are limited by how much time you can put into your job or business.
Also, the freelance or gig economy is extremely competitive and your earnings might be much lower than you hoped. In both the options above – jobs and home business – you’ll be competing with others, many who already have a head start as freelancers or business owners.
Now, if all you want to do is earn an extra $1000 a month, then go ahead and get a work from home job or start a home business, like the ones above.
But if you want to learn how to really leverage your time and effort to build multiple streams of income (MSI), read on.
3. Start an Online Business
Starting an online business is one of the best ways of leveraging your time and effort. It can also give you a great deal of freedom and flexibility.
When you start an online business (or an anywhere business, as I like to call it), you become a location-independent entrepreneur.
As long as all aspects of your business are online, you can work from home, from a coworking setup, or from anywhere in the world where you can access an electrical and Wifi connection.
However, like most other businesses, an online business does require some investment of capital. And, in the beginning, you’ll have to spend a significant amount of time learning new skills.
Some of them include blogging, email marketing, video marketing, affiliate marketing, how to set up funnels, lead magnets, tripwires and all sorts of concepts that may be completely new.
If you already have some experience in social media or digital marketing, you’ll find this easier to do. If not, don’t worry. Click here to take the Success Challenge for Affiliate Marketers. It will take you step-by-step through the process of starting your own online business.
The post 3 Work From Home Options: Which One Is Right For You? appeared first on Naaree.com - Women At Work | Indian Woman's Magazine.