16+ Best Business Ideas for Women at Home

A smiling woman working from home.

Home Business for Women

Are you looking for business ideas for women at home that really work?

Perfect, because I’m going to show you a list of online business ideas that women are doing today.

There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, you can follow a proven success model, make it your own, and become successful.

I know when I was looking for business ideas I had no idea what I wanted to do and I couldn’t find anything that seemed legitimate online.

Out of frustration, pregnant with my second child and wanting to stay home with my kids, I decided to reach out to successful work from home moms and ask them:

  • What is their business?
  • How could others get started?
  • How much does their business earn?

They were gracious enough to answer so I created this website to share their stories for people like me looking for LEGITIMATE business ideas for women at home that pay well AND with the tools and resources you’ll need to get started.

As women, we have many talents and sometimes need help narrowing down what we really want to do. This is a great list of business ideas for ladies sitting at home as well.

Quick question: Are you on our email list? If you’re a mama like me, you definitely want to be on our list where we send out regular new mom jobs, productivity tips, and inspiration to get through this tough yet awesome journey of motherhood. Click here to subscribe.

I also just interviewed John Flick who is a Notary Loan Signing Agent and this is one of the best business ideas that I have to add to this list because he is earning $5k-$7K per month only working 3-4 days a week!

You can check out the interview on my YouTube channel or read about it here.

How To Find The Best Business Ideas For Women at Home

Use this list! Take a look at each business idea on this list and decide what’s feasible for you and your family.

This basketball quote has stuck with me over time, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”.

It’s important to just get out there and Start. Something.

This list of business ideas is perfect for housewives because they not only pay well but can also provide you with the freedom to spend more time with your family and build an empire.

These business ideas, unfortunately, do not offer health insurance, so if you’re in need of health insurance you’ll want to learn how to get health insurance when you’re self-employed.

Be sure to subscribe to our mailing list for more business ideas I come across.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.

16+ Small Business Ideas for Women at Home

I am passionate about the top online business ideas for women on this list because I’ve used some of them to build my own income from home. Check them out below.

1. Blogging

woman working at a desk

Blogging is the #1 online business idea for women because it’s what I do :-). I was inspired by other moms who enjoy blogging as a business and also have the advantage of staying home to raise their kids at the same time.

Blogging is one of the best stay at home mom jobs because you work completely on your own schedule.

After seeing blog income reports from $2k-$50k a MONTH, I thought, why can’t I do that? And now I am!

Blogging is one of my favorite forms of passive income. I make money just for people reading my articles from ads.

I can assure you, I did not write this article today and yet it’s making me money.

When you get a nice amount of people reading your articles it brings in a nice income. Here’s a screenshot of my earnings from the other day.

Mediavine earnings screenshot

I made $400 in one day just from ads, and I also make a lot of money in Affiliate sales. You can see how I make money blogging.

You DO NOT need to be an excellent writer to become a blogger, you just write like you talk.

I spent a lot of time working on my blog the first year with a full-time job, busy toddler, pregnant with my second child and also “trying” to be a wonderful wife to my wonderful husband.

Now I work VERY part-time and I’m making more money than when I was at my corporate job.

Blogging is such a great business idea because I’ve learned so many skills like how to create a WordPress website, write, learn search engine optimization, social media, and so much more.

I could offer so many of these things I’ve learned as a service and charge a nice fee and so can you once you learn the ins and outs.

But I’m not doing that just YET because I’m remembering my “Why” and focusing on being there for my kids, I make enough money with my blog where I don’t have to look for more work.

It is important to note that blogging does take a while to earn a decent income. It took me a year before I started earning money that really mattered.

If you like to travel you could even start a travel blog, see how you can make money traveling here.

If you want to start a blog, I’ve detailed all the steps in my How to Start a WordPress Blog article from scratch! I also mention the most popular niches that make the most money and get the most traffic.

2. Get Into Real Estate BUT w/o Selling or Buying Anything

A woman smiling at work as a real estate agent

Yes, this really is a thing. I met Boss Mom Danielle Pierce who is doing this earning over $400,000 a year WHILE homeschooling her 3 kids!

It’s called Property Preservation or Repairing Foreclosed Homes. Danielle outsources 100% of the work and only does admin work.

How much you can make varies but Danielle says it’s very feasible to gross $100k+ or more in revenue within 18 months

Check out my interview with Danielle to see how to become a property preservation contractor.

3. Proofreader

woman proofreading on a tablet

Do you find yourself easily catching errors when reading? Do you cringe when you see grammar mistakes? If so, you might make a great Proofreader. This is one of the best businesses for ladies as we tend to have a keen eye for detail.

Proofreaders are NEEDED, I know because I use one myself.

Caitlin Pyle made $43,000 her first year Proofreading PART-TIME! You can see the full interview in my How to Become a Proofreader article. There are many others making between $1,000-$4,000 a month.

If you want to learn the skills needed to start your own freelance proofreading hustle or see if this is the right career for you, check out this FREE introductory workshop.

4. Bookkeeper

woman using calculator and taking notes at a desk

Bookkeepers record financial transactions from the comfort of their home.

I had the pleasure of interviewing two successful stay-at-home moms who work from home as a Bookkeeper and started out with NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE.

This is a MUST read as one of the moms has NINE kids, homeschools six, AND still has time to earn a living Bookkeeping. So I’m convinced anyone can do this. You’ll have to read it in my How to Become a Bookkeeper article.

If you want to start your own Virtual Bookkeeping Business and make $60 per hour, check out this free bookkeeper training to find out if it’s right for you.

5. Make money putting kids to sleep

Did you know you could make $2k to $10k per month helping parents get their kids to sleep through the night? 

That’s what happened to Jayne Havens. She is a stay-at-home mom, always getting asked if she could help others get their kids to sleep through the night since she had early success.

She started charging people, and in her first month in business, she made $2,400! By the end of her first year in business, she was having $10,000 months!!!

Naturally, other women wanted to learn how to do the same thing so she began teaching them and they started having the exact same success! See how she did it and how you can too in our how to become a sleep consultant article.

6. Become a Freelancer

woman reading to her children

Freelance jobs are one of the best business ideas because you work when you want with unlimited earning potential!

Your skillset may be one of the following:

  • Virtual Assistant
  • Social media
  • Design tech
  • Pinterest
  • Copywriting
  • Customer Service, etc.

If you’ve ever had an interest in one of these it’s time to pursue it!

If you don’t know-how, that’s okay because I met BOSS MOM Micala who is helping women start a profitable freelance business from scratch.

She was a teacher working 50-60 hours per week earning $2,300 per month, miserable dropping her baby off at daycare every day. She needed to work. And, wanted to work but on her own terms. So she turned to freelancing.

Within a few months of freelancing, she was working 15-20 hours per week, earning double her old paycheck with her baby beside her every step of the way. Now she teaches moms/women how to do the same.

I had an AMAZING interview with her on how to become a freelancer online. She shares some of her tips and experiences on how to get started freelancing from home.

Micala created a free workshop to show you how she did it and how you can too. Spend some time listening to her experience to see if freelancing is right for you. Click here to check out the free workshop.

7. Freelance Content Creator

This is a different take on Freelancing than what we mentioned above. This form is unlike anything you’ve ever heard before.

I met Shannon Livingston who does this and she’s a stay at home mom, and she makes so much money she was able to retire her husband from his job and now both of them are now home living life on their own terms.

She teaches others how to do the same, so we did some digging to see if this could be duplicated.

We found one of her students and asked how much did she earn and she told us in her first month, she made $4,000! (She just finished her program). We had to interview her to see exactly how and we did! Check out our How to become a content creator article. See how she did it and how you can too!


 

8. Flip Items from Flea Markets and Thrift Shops

A family of five sitting on a wagon and flip items at a flea market

Rob from the Flea Market Flipper is the MASTER flipper (I know he’s not a woman, but he does this with his family). He made over $130,000 flipping items from Flea Markets and thrift stores PART-TIME.

And, you don’t need to have a lot of money to start either. Rob recommends his students to start with a budget of $20-$50 to find items. Based on that, they should be able to make $100-$300 (mostly reselling on eBay) and then take some of the profit and do it again.

Rob created a free workshop to turn your passion for visiting thrift stores, yard sales, & flea markets into a profitable reselling business – in as little as 14 days. They make it easy and fun to follow in their footsteps.

You can click here to sign up for the free workshop.

9. Freelance Writing

woman thinking about what to write for freelance writing

Do you like to write and need a business idea for housewives? You can make a lot of money as a writer, I know because I interviewed Holly Johnson who makes OVER $200,000 a year as a Freelance Writer. I didn’t even know that was possible!

Holly said that she finds it hard NOT to earn $40,000-$50,000 a year writing full-time.

She’s found the secret sauce when it comes to writing and charging the right rate for your work. She created a free introductory training on how to build a six-figure writing career.

I highly recommend taking Holly’s course if you want to work from home writing and follow her path to success.

I also have a number of ways to get writing gigs below my interview with Holly.

10. Create Printables and sell on Etsy

Did you know you could make $500-$1,000 per month in passive income with printables on Etsy? 

You can actually make a lot more than that, I did a video recently showing how this woman is earning $8,000 a MONTH in printables on ETSY! The best part is that it’s all passive income.

You make a printable once and can sell it over and over and over again. 

This is a great way to make money from home and to see how to get started check out my article How To Make Printables to sell on Etsy.

11. Life Coach

woman smiling

Do you love personal development and enjoy helping people? Do you want to build a business of your own? If that’s you, you should consider becoming a Life Coach.

See how Natalie Bacon became a Life Coach making six-figures on her way to seven-figures in my my article on How to Become a Life Coach.

How much you can make really depends on your market. If you are targeting lower-income you can charge $47 per hour, if you’re targeting higher-income you could charge $297 per hour or much more.

It also depends on your model, are you doing 1-to-1 coaching or group coaching. If interested consider taking this Life Coach Certificate Course.

12. Start a Dog Bakery Business

dog eating a treat

Starting a dog bakery is a great business idea for women because the earning potential is great. We interviewed Kristen Larsen and she showed us how she has $4,000 months selling dog treats!

If you have a dog, like to bake this is definitely something to consider.

See how she got started and how you can too in our how to start a dog treat bakery article.

13. Create an Online Store with Drop Shipping

Dropshipping is a method where you can sell third-party products from a Drop Shipping Company without ever seeing or shipping the item. When you make a sale, the product is shipped directly to the customer from the drop shipper.

Your profit is the difference between what you charge your customers and what the drop shipping company charges you.

Here is a great infographic to show how it works:

a chart showing how dropshipping works

Boss Mom Theo McArthur has great success with it and created a dropshipping course on Udemy that teaches you how to launch your first profitable Dropship Website in 14 Days or less and grow your Income to $10,000 per month in profits.

14. Transcribe

woman working on a laptop

This is a great job based on its flexibility and pay. Transcriptionists listen to audio files and record (type) what they hear. Consider a career in Transcription by taking this Free Mini-Course first.

You can make $7-$21 per hour with transcription companies hiring or more if you build your own business.

Learn how to become a transcriptionist here (and see how Kim does it while homeschooling her son).

15. In-home Childcare

kids in an at home daycare smiling

If you love children and have a passion to impact a young life, this is a great opportunity to start an in-home childcare business. You also get the added benefit of playtime and socialization with your kids.

To get started I recommend taking this neat course called How to Start a Home Daycare Business. Ladonna operated her own profitable home daycare and shows you how you can do the same along with all the information you’ll need to get started.

You can also check out Care.com for opportunities to grow your own daycare business.

The amount you can make varies on location but you could charge $30 a day which turns out to $600 a month (assuming its for 8 hours a day) for one kid, while some daycares will charge $900 or more a month.

Feel free to raise your prices to stay competitive with the daycares in your area.

Important to Note: Make sure you add childcare endorsement to your homeowner’s insurance in case someone gets hurt and check your State regulations on the number of children you can care for without a license.

Related: 30+ of the Best Small Business Ideas

16. Photography

woman typing on laptop with camera

If you’re the family photographer and love taking pictures, you should look into becoming a Photographer.

My sister recently purchased the Canon EOS Rebel T6i Body, and she takes AMAZING pictures (she literally has NO experience at ALL), she also purchased the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens which is a KEY component of taking quality photos.

It is an investment that can pay off significantly.

To get started, take pictures of any and everything, take classes and learn photoshop to polish off your photos and add quality finishes.

Related: See the top apps to make money taking pictures from your phone (no previous experience needed).

Post your best work on social media and start your online portfolio on 500px (it’s Free!).

You can also:

  • Contact your local real estate agents and offer your services to take professional pictures of their new listings
  • License your photos through stock photography sites like iStock and Shutterstock
  • Submit images to The Sun Magazine
  • Offer your services for free to friends and family who want to take holiday, newborn, senior, weddings pictures, etc. If you do a good job, those same people could turn into paying customers.

Consider charging:

  • Wedding Photography -$700 – $3,500+
  • Senior Portrait Photography – $100-$300 a session
  • Small local businesses – $25 – $200 per image

17. Sell low content books on Amazon 

This is one of the best business ideas for women because this is something you can do while watching tv and make a great passive income each month.

You create a cover of a book and one interior page (no graphic design experience needed). Post it to Amazon KDP and let your work sell. 

This may not make a lot of sense but we break it down in our article How to make 1000s selling low content books, or you can just watch as we show you how to do this in minutes.

18. Interior Designer

couch and plants

Do you have those creative genes to decorate rooms and arrange furniture? Do you watch HGTV and think, I can do that, I want to do that? See how Boss Mom Julie P. got started and manages to earn a six-figure salary.

To become an Interior Decorator (this is different from Interior Designer) I recommend starting a website, take quality photos of your work, ask friends and family if you can work for them at no charge to help add to your portfolio.

Once you’ve created a polished visualization of your work you can then start to charge for your services.

You can make anywhere from $50-$150 per hour as an Interior Decorator, and as an Interior Designer, you can make six-figures or more.

Find out how to become an Interior Designer.

19. Clean Houses

a mom cleaning a house to earn income

Do you enjoy cleaning or just know it’s something you wouldn’t mind doing to make extra money? If so, you really should consider doing this because you could make a lot of money.

These are great side business ideas for ladies who want to make money on their own terms. Like $1,000 per week working part-time!

Check out my article on How to Start a Cleaning Business and get all the information you need to get started today.

20. Start a Laundry Business

Yes, that’s right, Laundry. You can make up to $500 a WEEK doing it, this is a great business for ladies sitting at home.

Laundry is an ongoing chore that we all do, BUT for some who don’t have the time but do have the money, outsourcing is the new normal. Which opens a door for you.

This is a simple business for ladies and you can see how to start a laundry business here.

For Additional Business Ideas for Women Consider:

  • Graphic Designer
  • Web Designer
  • Real Estate
  • Publicist
  • Wedding Planner
  • Event Planner
  • Fashion Designer
  • Sewing & Alterations
  • Baker
  • Massage Therapist
  • Personal Trainer
  • Pet Business

Bonus Tips to Make Money

Even if you’re not ready to start your own home based business, there are other opportunties to make money online in the meantime.

Sign up for Research Studies – Up to $400 per study

You can make quick easy money by participating in research studies. Below are the best-paid companies to sign up for

Earn $75 or more as an UpVoice Panelist

Get paid for the time you spend on Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, YouTube and more.

I did a full review of UpVoice, and it’s literally one of the easiest ways to make money online. Currently only applicable to candidates in the United States.

Click Here to Sign Up for UpVoice


I do want to caution you. Be aware of taxes when you have a business!

Whether you have a business or you want to start one, please watch this video when you can about how to prevent paying so much in taxes from a Certified Public Accountant. I had to pay WELL over $20,000 because of pure ignorance and I want to save you guys from making the same mistake.

Ready to Start Your Home Business?

Did you find anything that interests you? If not, keep in mind one of the best business ideas I can offer is to learn a skill that others don’t want to do or don’t know how to do and will pay someone like you to do it.

Make sure to join our FREE mompreneur tribe on our exclusive email list. Where we send out new mom jobs, financial tips, and more! Subscribe here.

Know of anyone else wanting to start a business? We created this list of gift ideas for entrepreneurs to help motivate them and support them. There’s nothing like support. 

You Might Also Like:

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How this 31-year-old retired with a million dollar portfolio

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13 thoughts on “Business Ideas for Women”

  1. Providing childcare services can be a fulfilling and reasonably well-paid business (I don’t mean to stick to stereotypes, this is just an example), however there are many possibilities. If you are good at cake decorating, I know a good number of women who enjoy cake decorating, and often do it as a secondary income. One lady I know collects ~$180 for a simple cake. Another lady I know calculates her prices for cakes by taking the cost of ingredients and multiplying by two – her cakes usually come to about $80 each. If you take a more “business-oriented” approach, you can collect upwards of $400 per cake. This does appear to take considerable patience to do, but the profit can be quite substantial.

  2. Almetrice S Jemison

    Thank you so much, this was the best advice that would have never gotten from a person who is even close to me.

  3. Great article! I will definitely be doing some research and figure out which of these options best suits me. 🙂 Thanks for posting!

  4. I wish I had found this blog post earlier! It would have saved me a lot of time and trouble. Great information and some great insights on what to focus on in order to find where real money online can be made.

  5. Thank you so much for sharing this. I just wish I knew this earlier. Will definitely look into the ideas and see what will work for me. I am home all the time and its time to start earning something for the time I spend on the internet. Thanks once again

  6. Thanks so much for sharing this. I have had to do home cleaning services before I became an Early childhood education. Providing childcare services can be a fulfilling and reasonably well-paid business (I don’t mean to stick to stereotypes, this is just an example), however there are many possibilities. If you are good at cake decorating, I know a good number of women who enjoy cake decorating, and often do it as a secondary income. One lady I know collects ~$180 for a simple cake. Even If you have no skills sets at all you can just google spirassp and they will help.

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