If you’re a busy mom that’s trying to find a way to bring in extra cash while taking care of the littles, start looking into a side hustle!
Full-time moms struggle with finding the time and flexibility to work. Many moms that I know personally love being a stay-at-home mom, but they also want to have the opportunity to indulge in some form of work that’ll help with the finances. So, here are some of the most effective and easiest side hustles to start up now!
Why Choose a Side Hustle?
The main reason you’d choose a job classified as a side hustle is the characteristics that it possesses.
Side hustles:
- Are flexible
- It can be done from the comfort of your own home
- Offer a variety in terms of what you choose.
- Offer good income once established.
Beyond that, establishing a side hustle has become easier than ever thanks primarily to the wealth of tools, tips, and resources available. This includes gig-work platforms such as Upwork, tax tools such as Taxcaster, Google Sheets for invoicing, and everything in between.
Best Side Hustles for Moms
- Sell Things You Don’t Want Online
This side hustle is great for moms who’ve been looking to get rid of some old things around the house. Doesn’t cleaning suddenly become more appealing when you can make a little money as a result?
Yes, and yes!
Declutter your house over the weekend and get rid of everything that you don’t need or want.
You can sell these unwanted items on different platforms like:
Just create an account and add your banking details. You’ll have your own page with ads for the stuff you want to sell. You can make a lot of money by selling old things, and you don’t have to invest any money to start this business up!
- Start a Blog and Monetize It
This is a flexible side hustle that you can pick up quickly. The beauty of blogging is that you can write about ANYTHING! Do you love to cook, and want to have a good blog where you share recipes, talk about disasters in the kitchen, give pointers to those wanting to learn how to cook? That’s an excellent idea for a blog that can be done on your schedule.
Steps to start a profitable blog:
- Identify what you want to write about (What’s your niche?)
- Choose a good domain name and purchase it (Namecheap is an excellent option because it’s, well, cheap)
- Set up your blog (Lyrical Host is a good option)
- Get a fast and reliable theme.
Lastly, you’ll just want to write as much as you can so that you can start monetizing with ads like Adsense (very basic for beginners) and affiliate marketing (like Amazon).
That’s it!
- Become a Freelance Writer
This hustle is similar to the one above in that it involves writing, but it’s different because it’s not so specific. Becoming a Freelance Writer means that you can choose to take specific writing jobs about a wide variety of topics. One huge difference, though, is that you do get paid instantly, unlike with blogging.
This is another excellent option for moms who are busy but who stay at home.
Here are a few examples of what type of writing you can do as a freelancer:
- Copywriting
- Content writing
- Editing and Proofreading
- Tech writing
- Resume writing
You can find a ton of freelancing jobs on websites like People Per Hour, Upwork, and Fiverr. Joining is completely free!
The pay does fluctuate, but you can charge higher rates per project as you gain more experience.
- Start an ECommerce Store
A flexible option for stay at home moms (SAHM) to make cash is to start an online business, an ECommerce store.
You may have to do a little research to learn about dropshipping, and then you’ll be able to create a store and promote your brand on Shopify. You don’t have to sell products that you created, and you can purchase from the manufacturer and sell the items yourself.
This type of selling is private labeling. This basically means that you consult with the manufacturer and request that they produce the product, and you can change and adjust what you want. As the retailer, you can dictate the specifics like what goes into a package, how it’s packed, how the label will look, etc. The next step is to pay for production, and the product will be shipped to you.
Another form of production is white labeling; this is when you, as the retailer, can’t alter the product. The manufacturer’s logo will be removed and replaced with yours.
- Work as a Virtual Assistant
At a time like this, there’s a huge demand for virtual assistants. Business owners need a lot of services, from scheduling to reserving, making phone calls, sending emails, and more on their behalf.
Earn up to $32 an hour (or more!) depending on which services you offer and your client’s needs. It’s super flexible as you can complete many of the tasks on your own time if they’re relatively simple.
Mom’s from all walks of life can take a shot at this side hustle whether they’re looking for full-time work or part-time.
You’ll pretty much just be doing technical and administrative tasks for an individual or a business.
Here are a few other tasks you can expect to have as a virtual assistant:
- Travel bookings
- Follow-up with clients
- Reminders for appointments, meetings, etc.
- Bookkeeping
- Making purchases online for the business
Pinterest is a huge platform that seeks VA’s; check them out ASAP if you’re interested in learning more or finding a position! There are lots of opportunities for virtual assistant positions that you can find online. Pinterest is a great marketplace!
- Start a Catering Business
Are you a great cook? Why not make it into your own business?
If you’re a busy mom, you may want to start small and see what it becomes. Offering catering services for small events is a great way to spread the word about your company and gain more clients. There are a lot of working families that miss out on home-cooked meals and would pay handsomely for someone to help them out.
From the comfort of your own kitchen, you can begin something great! Figure out your specialty and go from there.
There are some considerations for this side hustle, though, as it is a little less flexible than the other suggestions.
You have to be on time to deliver the food.
You’ll likely need a permit and a license from your stage to operate this business.
Food can get pretty expensive, so be careful in the beginning stages when you’re still trying to establish yourself.
- Fill Out Surveys Online
This is amongst the most straightforward and most flexible side hustles that a mom can get to earn a little extra money. And I really do mean a little extra. This is more of something you can do if you’re trying to find your Starbucks addiction.
Joining survey sites offers you the ability to answer questions for companies typically looking for consumer feedback and interests. You may get around 0.50 to $5 for a few minutes of work, but you won’t have hundreds of surveys available daily.
Join as many sites as you can to give yourself the best opportunity to revive survey invitations and make as much cash as you can, with the payout usually being on a monthly basis.
Here are some of the best survey sites to join:
- Start a Photography Service
Photography is a booming business for many, and SAHMs are beginning to join the party! If you’re an outstanding photographer that wants to showcase her skills, especially if you have the experience, you should definitely market your services.
If you don’t have much experience, a good starting spot is to begin taking photos of friends and family for a meager fee or maybe even throw in some freebies just to get the exposure. School functions, birthday parties, graduations, they’re all significant events to capture and post to your website as they’re popular occasions that call for a photographer.
Go for it!
- Organize Parties
I feel like moms are just great at organizing parties. I could be wrong, but I’m probably not!
Event planning is enjoyable and profitable and allows you to show off your creativity. You have the freedom to do things as you want. Again, the services are flexible because you can choose what you offer based on how much spare time you have and your availability to have meetings with the client.
You can expect to be the developer of the decorations, invitations, food, specialty pieces, and more. It all depends on how involved you want to be as the party planner. Create a website or use your social media account to get the word out about your skills.
- Become a Social Media Manager
If you enjoy surfing social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc., you may really enjoy becoming a Social Media Manager. You already know the platforms’ ins and outs, so it won’t be so much different from what you’re already accustomed to.
Earn some extra cash by managing someone else’s account! You would plan and monitor the content, calendar, and strategy on someone else’s media account.
Here are the duties:
- Be the overseer of the company’s social media accounts.
- Design and implement their marketing strategies
- Consistent upload content
- Be prompt to respond with and engage with prospects.
If you have good organization skills and you like social media, you should definitely give this side hustle a try.
Wrap Up
There are literally tons of side hustles that you can choose from as a stay-at-home mom. These are just some of the options that we think are really interesting, have the capacity to make good money, and have really flexible hours.
One really fun and exciting side hustle is to become a YouTube personality, showcasing your skills like this mamma does here. You can even bring the kiddos in on this one!
Finding the right side hustle to suit your lifestyle may be a bit of trial and error, but there’s so much available I have no doubt that you’ll find the perfect fit. Good luck!
