Top Side Hustles For Mothers

by Dr. Shanthi Thomas

There are many women out there who would like to earn an income but would not want to work full time in a structured manner, preferring to be a stay-at-home mother. For such people, there are many side hustles to choose from. Read on to find top ten side hustles for mothers.

1. Rent out your House

If you live in a prime location and if you have space to spare in your house, this is the easiest way for a side income. It is pretty easy: set up a profile online, and communicate with those who enquire about rental houses. If it is not against your local laws, you can list a room in your home on sites such as Airbnb.

2. Tutoring

If you are a mum with school going kids, this is a great option. You can teach your own kids at the same time as you teach other kids, and make money too. This works if you are particularly good at a subject and you have at least an hour to spare in a day. Usually a room with a table and a few chairs is all the physical facilities you need. You can also consider tutoring online using sites such as Wyzant.

3. Freelance Writing

Do you have a flair for words? Are you creative and imaginative? Do you like working on flexible timings? If your answer is a ‘yes’ to these questions, freelance writing could be your cup of tea. You can create a profile on freelancing platforms such as ‘Fiverr’.  There are lots of freelancing opportunities available on sites such as Upwork, Problogger and Craigslist. 

4. Sell Unwanted Stuff Online

If you want to get rid of stuff that is still in good condition but you don’t need any more, it is high time to sell it.  You can sell such stuff on sites such as Ebay, Craigslist, Poshmark or GumTree. If not, you can also try to sell in your local Facebook buy and sell groups. You need to create an account and add your bank details. Most of these platforms offer excellent security for online payments. 

5. Sell Etsy Printables

If you are creative and good at designing printables, your side hustle could be selling them at Etsy. Etsy is a huge market, and there is tough competition, but once you have established your name and people start loving your work, it will be a great income-generative side hustle. You can design printables using Canva or Adobe.

6. Become a Virtual Assistant

Being a virtual assistant or VA means that you will be entrusted with doing administrative and technical tasks for either an individual or a business. Typically, the tasks are emailing, following up with clients, bookkeeping, travel bookings, calls, reminders and such stuff. If you search online you will find many opportunities for becoming a virtual assistant. For example, pinterest offers great opportunities for people to become virtual assistants for them.

7. Freelance Consulting

Consulting is a great side hustle because it offers flexibility and high earning potential. As a consultant, you are sharing your expertise in a particular area in exchange for a fee. This expertise would have been gained by your either through formal education or experience. You can use a website such as Acuity which allows customers to schedule an appointment with you, based on your availability and area of expertise.

8. Start a Baking Business

Are you an expert at baking? If yes, you can consider starting a business in baking from home. It will be a very fulfilling side hustle because you are making money out of something you love to do anyway. You can even include your kids in the baking, getting them to do different minor tasks. Often you will increase your business by means of word of mouth advertisement, but it is good to create a Facebook advertisement for your baking specialties.

9. Create and Sell Lesson Plans Online

If you have a teaching qualification and experience, you can create lesson plans and sell them online. Many teachers look for pre-made lesson plans to save time spent on lesson planning. Your lesson plans can be sold at TeachersPayTeachers.com. It is a good way to build a consistent and relatively passive income stream because once you create a lesson plan, you can sell it hundreds of times.

10. Online Surveys

Taking paid online surveys is another great way to earn additional income. It may not make you rich, but it is a good way to make some extra income without investing much time or energy. There are several legitimate sites you can check out online to take online surveys such as InboxDollars, LifePoints, Toluna, Branded surveys, Life Points, OnePoll and Swagbucks.