How to Go from SAHM to WAHM By Starting Your Own Business

Are you a stay-at-home mom (or SAHM), but miss your inner boss lady? Why not transition to a work-at-home mom (WAHM)? With the prevalence of work-at-home jobs increasing every year, it is possible to make good money working from the privacy of your own home.

For many women, making the transition from SAHM to WAHM, in theory, seems like the perfect compromise to get the best from both worlds. You love being at home with your children during the day since the cost of daycare can be a financial burden, but at the same time you miss working with peers and having a career of your own.

Here are a few ways to go from a SAHM to a WAHM successfully, along with some great WAHM job ideas to get you started.

Dedicate a Space in Your Home

Where in your home can you set up camp to use as your workspace/office? Can you dedicate a room for your home office? Do you have a corner of an existing living space that you can dedicate as a workspace by putting a desk and everything you need to operate your home business? Maybe the basement or attic is the only option?

The great part about having a home office is that you can write off that portion of your home and the related expenses on your taxes. Speak to a CPA or qualified accountant to get more insight into everything you need to do in order to take a home office deduction.

What Do You Want to Do?

If you want to transition from a SAHM to a WAHM, you need to look at your strengths. What are you good at? What skills do you possess? Where is your passion? What do you actually want to do?

These are all questions you need to be asking yourself before you start your journey as a work-at-home mom. To help you think about some possible businesses you can start at home, here's a list of viable work-at-home businesses you can start TODAY.

WAHM Business Ideas

Blogger

Do you have a topic you are extremely passionate about and want to share with the world? Then blog about it! There are plenty of women who transition to a WAHM and are completely fulfilled thanks to being able to spend the day with their kids and then hustle on their home business of blogging in the evening once everyone goes to bed. Some even say it’s therapeutic.

If you have something you want to talk about and want to center your blog around, you can start with a free website using something like WordPress or have a website hosted with your own custom URL.

Author

Some people are born with the ability to be creative and allow their mind to take them to unimaginable places — and it’s that type of creativity that makes for a perfect WAHM business being an author.

If you have a laptop (or even just a smartphone), you can start typing away at your very own fiction or non-fiction book. You can work with a publisher or self-publish if you wish. The nice thing about writing and publishing a book as a work-at-home mom is that once you create the book, marketing is the next step and from there you can have a passive income source from sales each month.

Artist

Staying along the lines of creativity, painting or drawing can be extremely lucrative if people enjoy your work. You can create something and then sell your work online. Or, if you have a gallery around that accepts artist submissions for sale, you can work with them to get your art out there in front of people.

YouTuber/Podcaster

How people engage with content these days is changing and evolving. Television consumers are slowly moving into YouTube content. People who listened to the radio are transitioning into podcasts. And as a WAHM, you have the ability to record a video or podcast fairly easily during your child’s nap time or when they go to sleep at night.

And what makes things even more appealing is that you can do EVERYTHING from your smartphone when you’re just starting out. Record the audio or video content and upload it to media channels where listeners and viewers can tune in and engage with your content. And doing this is free to start! No fancy equipment needed until you’re ready to make that investment.

Amazon FBA Seller

Another great business idea for the WAHM is becoming an Amazon FBA Seller. What does this mean? It means you have the ability to sell products online through Amazon, with Amazon doing all the fulfillment for you.

No inventory to have on hand, no warehouse needed — it takes the “headache” out of selling physical products online. Simply source out where you’re going to buy your products from and have them sent directly to the Amazon warehouses to be fulfilled when someone places an order.

Consultant

Are you considered one of the best in your industry? You can be a WAHM and get into consulting.

For instance, if you were in digital marketing before having a family, you could “sell” your knowledge by advising companies on what they can improve on and things they should be implementing from a digital marketing perspective.

Businesses look to hire people all the time for an outside opinion and consulting role. Why not have it be you if you possess the skills and knowledge necessary to help businesses in your given industry?

Copywriter

Do you enjoy persuasive writing? Are you able to communicate through words and get people to act? You have a very special gift and can make a good living in the field of copywriting.

Businesses will hire you to write email copy, product page copy, label copy or any piece of copy where they want customers to take action (for example, buy their product). You get to make your own schedule and charge whatever fee you want for your expertise.

Sales/Broker

Before having kids, were you in sales? Do you miss picking up the phone and reaching out to customers and accounts via email? If so, you can very easily become a work-at-home mom by being a broker. You are essentially the middle man between a business and its customers. It’s your job to go out and sell the products or services of a business.

Communication skills via phone are extremely important, so it is best to make such calls when your kids are asleep. You don't want the person you are speaking with to get an earful of screaming kids in the background — not exactly the most professional engagement with a prospect or account. Make sure it’s quiet when you pick up and dial the phone.

Online Personal Trainer

Personal training is perfect for the WAHM. More and more trainers are going the route of working with clients online. This can be accomplished through email, phone and even Skype calls if you wanted to check in on the physique progress of a client through video.

Why limit yourself to working out of a gym with clients when you can provide online assistance to help them see results?

Tutor

Thinking about making some money in the afternoons or evenings? Maybe you want to bring in extra money by putting aside some time on the weekends? If you have a certain skill set, such as math, speaking Spanish or a background in education, you can tutor kids.

Figure out what area of expertise you have or what subject you are proficient in and create your at-home business and become a WAHM. You set the hours. You set the fees.

The Time to Become a WAHM Has Never Been Better

Honestly, the sky is the limit and these are only a few of the options that are possible. You simply need to evaluate all of your choices and figure out which business you would be happy starting and could see yourself doing (and enjoying) in the long-term.

If you need more help laying the groundwork for what you need to do in order to start your at-home business, Bizee's free DIY Business Course can navigate you through the process with ease.