Can a home buisness really make that much money?

[lilah]

I had this response written out in regards to something a Non thinking housewife posted but I realized it was enough to start its own thread

Here's the quote

Even in the case of single mothers, there are choices. If there are relatives nearby that can assist, this is better than daycare and Head Start. When I was a “working woman,†I worked at a nursing home as a certified nursing assistant. I would say that over 80 percent of the women working there were young, white, single mothers. They were on welfare; they all received daycare assistance from the County offices so that they could put their children in daycare and then HeadStart when they were old enough, so that they could work about 30 hours per week at less than $10 per hour. Most of them loved their children, they were just “stuck†in their perception of what their options were. There are many Christian sites on the internet which minister to single mothers – but they minister to CHASTE and moral single mothers who have repented of the sinful behaviors which often put them where they are. These ministries will often take donations and pay the living expenses of these women while training them on how to have a sustainable home business, as well as homeschool their children. Douglas W. Phillips with Family Renewal Audio Library has excellent teaching (Protestant) on how the Body of Christ can help single mothers. These women have to be willing to sacrifice their continuing immoral lifestyles in order to be helped by the Church, though, and this is quite the obstacle sometimes. Additionally, they must be willing to let go of government benefits and trust God. Gleaning the Harvest is another good resource; again, the women may be widowed or divorced or may have always been single mothers. They must have a letter of recommendation from their pastor, but if accepted, their needs are seen by millions of internet users who may donate accordingly toward their support, so they are not supported by the government, but by God’s people, until they are self-sufficiently at home with their children.

okay there are a lot of problematic statements in this quote but the one that started to drive me batty was the idea that a single mother was only worthy of help as long as she was homeschooling and running her own home business so she could be at home with her kids all the time. It is just so unrealistic a solution.

I've noticed many fundies claim that you cant start a home buisness and that will make you the same kind of income as if you were working part time or full time. . I really have to ask if anyone believes that bit of baloney. For one thing starting a buisness and homeschooling cost money, often a lot of money for the start up costs to both of those kinds of endevors. If you have terrible credit it wouldn't be easy to get a business loan.

Another thing is that can you really make a good profit? Sure etsy has made it possible for more crafty types to sell things over the internet but at the same time you get a really supply glut if you have hundreds of people trying to sell their handmade cloth diapers or foofy flower headbands. Not to mention you can't predict the income that you'll get. One month you might make 500 dollars, and the next month make 50. That's fine if you have someone else's income to depend on to keep the lights on and food on your table but it's bad news if you're counting on that money.

Also what do non-crafty people fit in to the home business mold? It seems like most of these home business ideas are geared towards women who are good at sewing, knitting or crafting. The one exception I can think of is Meredith's bushogging business but she did that as a SAHD and not a mother, and probably the only reason why she got into the business in the first place was to help her brother. And bushogging would be a difficult business to do while pregnant or with small children.

Finally the other issue is where do these single mothers find the time to run a business if they are busy homeschooling their kids , you'd have to do either when they kids are asleep or parked in front of the tv or something. It would be very difficult to do anything.

I really want to ask if you can make enough of a salary off of a home business to support a family. I have always admired people with the entrepreneurial spirit but I have to guess that like blogging, for every big name blogger who can make a serious income from it, there's about 1,000 other wannabes who can make a nice bit of cash to augment a salary but not enough to live off of.

[GenerationCedarchip]

I think it depends on the type of home business. I tend to doubt that selling cutesy things on Etsy would bring in enough to support a family for a year. However, I know people who have done medical coding or paralegal work from home and they make anywhere from $30-45K per year on it. Some of the people who teach music lessons from home also seem to do all right. They won't get rich, but they're not in the poorhouse either.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

I have relatives who make a living by making and selling soap - they began making a living this way after both being laid off from factory jobs (the factory was offshored). It had started as a hobby, so they had some knowledge to start with, but it was a BIG change and a lot of work to refine the recipes and essentially build a factory onto their house (in the basement) to make the soap at big enough scale to work out, to store the vats of ingredients needed in the proper environment, etc. Also, they can't get by only selling on the internet - they travel the country selling at events (fairs, music shows, farmer's markets...), also making connections and contracts at events. It is a LOT of work, and they do not have any kids still living at home. And, it was definitely a reduction in income.

There was some interesting (and heated!) discussion about home businesses in the wake of various new legislation about safety standards for various products, the discussion bled out onto some homeschooling and fundie blogs I was reading at the time. A lot of people were very upset about the idea that they would not be able to to essentially do their work right from the kitchen table in an off-hand way anymore, they'd need to probably have a separate room or buy some more standard equipment, etc. Slightly larger also home-business types came in and were upset at all the "whining," pointing out that yeah, if you want to be serious and not only be squeezing by on your reputation for being a "nice Mom" or whatever it is, you have to get the quality of your goods up, you have to standardize, and often that means getting some professional-grade equipment, even if you're just making the "factory" in the spare bedroom. If you're sewing, you need strong straight seams, etc, and you need to be able to put out quite a bit of items per unit time if you hope to make any money at all on the open market. Ditto anything kitchen (food or chemical!), you need big equipment, proper sterilization and easy to clean, etc. It takes some investment to get started.

[lilah]

I think it depends on the type of home business. I tend to doubt that selling cutesy things on Etsy would bring in enough to support a family for a year. However, I know people who have done medical coding or paralegal work from home and they make anywhere from $30-45K per year on it. Some of the people who teach music lessons from home also seem to do all right. They won't get rich, but they're not in the poorhouse either.

Sure but that requires some education and training beyond what you'd get the SODRT/high school education.

[dormouse]

My mother was a seamstress from home (and still is), but my dad always paid child-support on time. She had started with one or two customers when I was a baby and she was still with my dad, and by the time I was 10 and my dad left her, she already had an established, full-time clientele. But I still don't think we could have lived without the child support, it made a big difference for her when I turned 18 and left home so my dad was giving that money to me instead, for college. She was living in poverty.

[The Archivist]

I dunno...

[luckylibrarian]

My husband runs his own business (I refuse to call it a home business) but he has a college degree, a talent that is unique, and years of professional experience working for other people. He didn't strike out on his own until he was about 37 or 38. He can't work at the kitchen table and start and stop working when he feels like it. He has to have an office and a studio/workshop, and he spends at least forty hours a week at it. He also travels to various shows and conventions (we're headed to one in Omaha tomorrow.) If we wanted to cut back, we could live on his income, but I like working and I like having the freedom to buy fun things and take vacations.

I can't imagine that single moms using the Doug Philips church-will-provide system could last very long. I suspect that the church sustains them while they hunt for a husband, and then they marry as quickly as possible and change the kids' last names to that of the new husband. I don't think the church would provide for a woman and her kids for ten years. I'd bet she is expected to do her part by finding a husband.

[Kitten]

Artsy-craftsy type stuff - Hard, hard work to make a living this way. Like someone else said, it usually requires way more than Internet sales. I do some photography as a hobby, and I occasionally exhibit at small outdoor festivals, coffee shop displays, etc. Some of the folks I encounter are on the road EVERY weekend going to another fair or festival, plus they sell over the Internet and on consignment at local shops. But you can do it, and if you're already on welfare, what have you got to lose?

Medical/legal transcription, medical billing, data entry - Yeah, you probably have to go to community or technical college to get the certifications/training you need, but once you do, and start developing a clientele, it can be quite lucrative, plus you can do the work whenever it suits you, as long as you meet deadlines. Added bonus - with wifi, you can do the work from almost anywhere now. Of course, you have to be good at it, so if you're not into finicky details and accuracy, don't bother.

Real estate - hey, if JimBob and Mich can get licenses, you know it can't be THAT hard. Real estate is a field where it takes a couple of years to really get going, but if you can make it through that period, you can make boatloads of money. Of course, you have to be full-time (a lot of agents just do it part-time), and you have to be willing/able to give up your weekends and evenings a lot of the time. But I've known single moms who brought their kids along on showings, and had them sit in the car (imagine how well a "blanket-trained" child would take to this), so it's definitely doable.

Home parties - Mary Kay, Tupperware, and all that sort of thing. Again, more suited for part-time income, but can be turned into a full time job if you're determined. Some of them require an initial investment, but there are small business loans (if you're not so fundie that you refuse this sort of thing), or maybe assistance from your church.

Catering - if you can cook, maybe you can start a catering business. There are as many ways to set this up as you can think of - supplying desserts to local restaurants, ready-made foods to local supermarkets, catering parties, etc. This requires a licensed kitchen in most states, but if they belong to a church, they may be able to rent the kitchen facilities. Or in larger towns/cities, there are often commercial kitchens that rent out time, especailly during the night.

It is certainly possible to make a decent living from a home-based business, but 99% of them involve sales of some kind, either of your products or of yourself as a service provider, so if you're not good at/intimidated by cold calls and constant selling/promotion, you will probably either not be very good at it or you will hate your job.

[demgirl]

But you can do it, and if you're already on welfare, what have you got to lose?

Your steady welfare benefits. If you make too much money for a month or two, your welfare/disability/whatever benefits get cut off and you have to reapply if you don't make that much money in later months.

[dawn]

I used to work from home & I made a decent living but I missed working with a team. The thing is, I don't see how someone can make an actual living working from home without putting in the hours. It's like any other job, except no commute and no interaction with other adults. There's no way I could work and look after kids, let alone homeschool, at the same time.

[GolightlyGrrl]

You can make money, and possibly a good living from a home business, but it takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. It takes time, skill and talent, not to mention patience and perseverance.

My friend Kristine works at a freelance writer. It took her quite a while to get to the point where she's actually solvent. Before she went full-time, she worked regular bread and butter jobs to support herself.

And it can be feast or famine. There are times when she has loads of writing gigs. And there are times where she has very little. Furthermore, with the way journalism is they days, it can be very difficult to get gigs, even for the most talented and experienced writers. Kristine often spends more time hustling for gigs than actual writing. This is not for the faint of heart.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Custom curtains & drapes--YES

Custom wedding dresses--depends

Most high-level consulting--YES

Multi-level marketing--a few

Home Day Care--if the parents all pay every week

Call center--maybe as a 2nd wage

Hair salon--possibly

Accountant--sure

Others? Depends on if you really find your niche.

[Kitten]

demgirl - what I meant about welfare was that if you're already receiving it, you're not working, so you can invest that time in developing a home business or acquiring the skills/training you need. I understand when you start making "real" money, you'll have to decide at some point how far you're going to take it. That tipping point is where a lot of folks back off, because it's going to be touch and go for a while, and you're right, that's really scary. As someone else said, self-employment is not for the faint of heart.

[browngrl]

I think you can make substantial money using a home based business but only if you treat your business like a job.. Just like those women who have non home based jobs.

[YPestis]

I think the biggest flaw in the Thinking Housewife's post is the assumption that one can treat the home business as a side gig or hobby done between naps and home schooling lessons. As others pointed out, the successful ones who can sustain a household had to treat it LIKE A JOB. You know, 40 hour work weeks, long periods of productive work time, money invested in equipment and upstart cost. And there's always the instability of these home businesses early in its inception. Almost no one starts their home business with a steady salary. It's feast or famine until the thing gets off the ground (and it may never get to that point).

The reality is most single mothers HAVE TO WORK if they want to support their children. Barring a generous, working husband, a insurance policy, or a trust fund, most women cannot stay home with their kids and provide for them without outside assistance. I think fundies would like women to believe otherwise because they fear females may want to----gasp----go to college, earn job experience for fear of being bereft of a provider. This reasoning is so insidious as it is training women and children to be vulnerable and helpless, at the mercy of their church/pastor or whomever is providing the "charity".

[BlackHawk]

Artsy-craftsy type stuff - Hard, hard work to make a living this way. Like someone else said, it usually requires way more than Internet sales. I do some photography as a hobby, and I occasionally exhibit at small outdoor festivals, coffee shop displays, etc. Some of the folks I encounter are on the road EVERY weekend going to another fair or festival, plus they sell over the Internet and on consignment at local shops. But you can do it, and if you're already on welfare, what have you got to lose?

Medical/legal transcription, medical billing, data entry - Yeah, you probably have to go to community or technical college to get the certifications/training you need, but once you do, and start developing a clientele, it can be quite lucrative, plus you can do the work whenever it suits you, as long as you meet deadlines. Added bonus - with wifi, you can do the work from almost anywhere now. Of course, you have to be good at it, so if you're not into finicky details and accuracy, don't bother.

Real estate - hey, if JimBob and Mich can get licenses, you know it can't be THAT hard. Real estate is a field where it takes a couple of years to really get going, but if you can make it through that period, you can make boatloads of money. Of course, you have to be full-time (a lot of agents just do it part-time), and you have to be willing/able to give up your weekends and evenings a lot of the time. But I've known single moms who brought their kids along on showings, and had them sit in the car (imagine how well a "blanket-trained" child would take to this), so it's definitely doable.

Home parties - Mary Kay, Tupperware, and all that sort of thing. Again, more suited for part-time income, but can be turned into a full time job if you're determined. Some of them require an initial investment, but there are small business loans (if you're not so fundie that you refuse this sort of thing), or maybe assistance from your church.

Catering - if you can cook, maybe you can start a catering business. There are as many ways to set this up as you can think of - supplying desserts to local restaurants, ready-made foods to local supermarkets, catering parties, etc. This requires a licensed kitchen in most states, but if they belong to a church, they may be able to rent the kitchen facilities. Or in larger towns/cities, there are often commercial kitchens that rent out time, especailly during the night.

It is certainly possible to make a decent living from a home-based business, but 99% of them involve sales of some kind, either of your products or of yourself as a service provider, so if you're not good at/intimidated by cold calls and constant selling/promotion, you will probably either not be very good at it or you will hate your job.

Medical billing can now be an at home class. I know someone who just completed the courses and he isn't making money YET, but he has the options. The course did cost a decent chunk of money, but he estimates he'll make that back within a year once he gets going.

I run a home daycare business and another business geared towards children out of my home right now. I'm not making bank, but I'm making enough that if my partner left tomorrow I could keep the house and pay the bills. For something like what I do it's all in how you set it up and if you keep reliable parents. So it's possible but you have to have a certain mindset and be willing to put in the start up hours. Plus it takes money to make money.

[higgledypiggledy]

It depends on the business. I know someone with a home business that started VERY small after she left her husband for cheating on her. He never paid child support or alimony as ordered. She grew her business to more than 2 mil in sales over the course of about 5 years. Then she went international and grew her sales even more. Her snake ex husband then sued for palimony as his salary was less than her business was making. So can you be successful? Her story tells me yes, but she isn't selling soap, or quilts or other homemade crafty things. She has a niche market with few competitors and a clientele willing to pay for quality. By the way, the judge laughed at snake ex husband when he sued for the palimony. After 10 years of paying nothing for his children, cheating on his taxes and hiding assets to get out of child support then getting caught the judge rightly said, "You idiot, you think I'm going to order her to pay you?"

[gardenvarietycitizen]

It really does take money to make money, at least at the outset. Because if you're making a product that will survive in the mass market, you really do need to be able to mass produce at a certain level of quality - you will need professional grade equipment, a dedicated space, etc., so that you CAN treat it like a normal job.

...which reminds me of the other issue that has me wondering about so much of the mommy-blog or Christian based "you can just work from home!" rosy schemes - they're so incestuous. Basically they all want to sell to EACH OTHER, and somehow get "points" or a forgiving mulligan because, well, they're nice Christian moms and they're making it with love! But at the same time, they all want to be frugalistas in their own household purchasing, so you have a bunch of people all making rather poorly made (or uniquely uneven, to be forgiving about it) cloth diapers or whatever it is and then hoping to sell them for far more than they themselves would ever be willing to pay. It's just not sustainable.

This was at the root of a lot of the wangst that went on. Yeah, you can make pocket change at home in your regular kitchen in between helping a kid with homework, but if you want to aim at the open market (which you have to do if you want to really live off making a product) you really need to invest more and up your game. You have to get to a point where people will buy your product for what IT is, not because of who YOU are or as any sort of political statement. Plus you will need to put in office time too, to manage all the buying of your supplies and tracking orders and the rest of it.

[GolightlyGrrl]

Good point about it takes money to make money. My bellydancing teacher owns her own dance studio, but she's hardly swimming in the bucks. A majority of the money goes back into the studio, and my teacher takes on odd jobs to support herself. She expressed interest in selling some of my soap but with money being tight, I just can't spare any to buy extra supplies. I'm hoping once I start working again, and I'm back on my feet I can buy the supplies to make more soap and sell it at her studio. I can't imagine making bank but the extra will help.

And you mentioned the incestuous vibe amongst the fundie mommy blogger/entrepreneur types. This is so true. I've noticed a lot of support for other home businesses, but only if they are fellow fundies. But at the same time fundies seem to loathe supporting local entrepreneurs in their own communities.

Plus, a lot of the products these fundie at home businesses seem so half-assed, Kelly Crawford's e-books for example.

[EmmieJ]

I was and am a single mom, from the get go. Before I became a single mom, I had over 15 years experience in my field as a legal assistant, office manager, and all around dogsbody in the office/business world. After having my son and returning to my full time office job when he was ten weeks old (that's when SDI runs out unless your infant has health problems), I was miserable being away from my son so much. I was lucky in that when I decided to take a risk and try to work from home, searching for one or two clients who would need my services, I found someone who did need me, pretty much full time - 30 to 35 hours per week. This was a man who had his own business in a small cottage he rented, he specifically did not want someone working there with him but rather an assistant who had her own home office. I made an hourly wage that was good and it paid the bills. I was self-employed, so I had to pay double Medicare and SS taxes. I didn't have sick leave or vacation pay. And I found that I still needed to have my son in at least part time daycare in order to get all my work done in a timely and professional fashion. (Nice as the guy was, he wouldn't have appreciated hearing a baby crying or fussing in the background every time he called, or to be told I couldn't get a project out by a deadline because my son wouldn't go down for his nap.)

So in my favor: I had a college education; I had over 15 years experience in my field, not to mention the contacts I had developed over those years; I had experience in the business world and knew the level of professionalism demanded of my work; AND I accepted that my son still needed to be in daycare part-time. I found a wonderful SAHM who provided daycare from her home for two children (mine and one other), plus her two boys. It was a great situation and my son loved being there. I worked until 2:00 or 2:30,picked him up, and we spent the afternoons together. If he was sick, I kept him home.

It was hard in many ways (isolation from others was a biggie), but I was able to make a decent living for 3 years until he started preschool. However, I was glad to return to the workforce at that time, because the taxes were tough to pay, and it was also hard not having any paid sick or vacation time.

I don't think daycare is the supreme evil that most fundies think. There are some very dedicated and loving daycare providers out there. I completely disagree that this means someone else is raising your children.

[lilwriter85]

That part that the OP posted from the unthinking housewife's blog bothered me mainly because like others have mentioned home based businesses may or may not do well and hours of work need to be put in. I work mostly from home as a technical writer. I have a bachelor's degree in English and Communications and a couple of other people I'm working with have similar jobs and they work from home. I work for a medical supply company and when I'm working on major projects, I have to put in a lot of work daily. Some days I work 12 hours. Right now I'm working on small scale projects that allow me to takes breaks often. I don't have kids, but If I did, I likely would need someone to come over help me at times.

A family friend of mine has ran a floral business out of her home for 16 years. She actually runs the business in a small apartment behind her house which she and her husband turned into a small shop. Someday she works on things inside the house before taking them over to the shop. She makes a decent living and has several loyal customers but her and husband are mostly supported by his income. My friend's children are now in their early 20's. They were already in school when she started the business and she had stayed home with them as infants and toddlers. Before she married, she was working at her aunt's floral shop and she was supposed to take over and even planned to buy the business. But a couple of life changing events wiped out those plans. After all three of her kids were in school when she started her business. I don't think she could have homeschooled her kids while running a floral business, it wouldn't worked out at all for her or the kids.

I agree with YPestis' post about the flaw in that blog about assuming that a home business could be treated as a side gig. I know a stay-at-home that makes crafts at home when she isn't busy with her kids and she does sell stuff online or at fairs but overall she like my family friend are more dependent on her husband's income. When you are business owner you have to treat it as a job.

There are two blogs that I read, one blog is by a Mormon husband and the other blog is by his wife. The husband is a quadriplegic and he makes his living as a motivational speaker. The wife designs rubber stamps and her stamps are sold nationwide. The wife said on her blog that she loves working at home but she has to put the hours in. She said that some days she goes out with friends for lunch or shopping, but when she comes she often stays up until midnight doing work. This couple has a toddler and the wife she is able to get a lot of work done when he is sleeping or she watches him while she works. I don't think this couple plans to homeschool their son, so the wife will probably continue to work a lot of hours in the future. I think this woman has the right approach.

[doggie]

Where are these churches that are going to start these woman in their businesses? and to make them conform to some persons idea of a mother is slightly against Jesus.

[lilah]

I think the biggest flaw in the Thinking Housewife's post is the assumption that one can treat the home business as a side gig or hobby done between naps and home schooling lessons. As others pointed out, the successful ones who can sustain a household had to treat it LIKE A JOB. You know, 40 hour work weeks, long periods of productive work time, money invested in equipment and upstart cost. And there's always the instability of these home businesses early in its inception. Almost no one starts their home business with a steady salary. It's feast or famine until the thing gets off the ground (and it may never get to that point).

The reality is most single mothers HAVE TO WORK if they want to support their children. Barring a generous, working husband, a insurance policy, or a trust fund, most women cannot stay home with their kids and provide for them without outside assistance. I think fundies would like women to believe otherwise because they fear females may want to----gasp----go to college, earn job experience for fear of being bereft of a provider. This reasoning is so insidious as it is training women and children to be vulnerable and helpless, at the mercy of their church/pastor or whomever is providing the "charity".

Yeah pretty much x 1,000. this so called ministry wants to turn those slutty single moms into proper christian fundie wives like Kelly C (generation cedar). Drink that koolaid! Whenver you have some sanctimonious blogger telling working women they could just work from home you know they don't really have a clue how to make some side project into an actual job that could support a family.

Catering - if you can cook, maybe you can start a catering business. There are as many ways to set this up as you can think of - supplying desserts to local restaurants, ready-made foods to local supermarkets, catering parties, etc. This requires a licensed kitchen in most states, but if they belong to a church, they may be able to rent the kitchen facilities. Or in larger towns/cities, there are often commercial kitchens that rent out time, especailly during the night.

I don't know any super markets that don't make thier own ready made food in house, it's cheaper that way. My sister worked in a deli one summer and said it's all mass produced in a factory somewhere you just open up a plastic bag or something. Anyway I worked as a caterer with my father in law and while it was a lot of fun the hours were not very good if you had small kids. And you had to be on your feet for 4-8 hours straight, depending on the gig. Throw in the whole professional kitchen and it would not be a real home business for fundies. I wouldn't be completely opposed to some kind of desert making gig that Meredith used to have but I'd probably want to vary it up and make different flavors of cheesecake.

[Kitten]

Lilah - when I mentioned catering, I was thinking more along the lines of a couple local businesses I know, where the caterer has clients they prepare meals for on a regular basis. Like they'll cook and deliver a week's worth of meals to families that want "home-cooked" meals, but don't have the time/interest/talent to put it all together. Or they'll prepare and deliver hors d'oeuvres for a party. Once you build a sufficient clientele, you can make decent money, although you'll probably never get rich.

I agree catering parties on site isn't really practical for most single moms, and it is exhausting. Plus it's heavily tilted towards nights and weekends.

As for selling prepared food to supermarkets - we have quite a few locally owned stores in our neck of the woods that do try to source locally, even if costs a bit more. The desserts are most common, but I've seen sandwiches, salads, side dishes - things like that - from local suppliers.

One thing about catering or any food preparation - because you do need a licensed kitchen, if you have to rent space/time, you may find yourself working some crazy hours, because you have to take what's available/affordable. Your time share might be 2-6am.

[Deleted12]

I work from home and between food, dogs, household chores, and other distractions I really can't get more than 6 hours of work done in a day.

I cannot imagine what it would be like to work from home and have kids. Unless your kids were really quiet and self-disciplined, there's almost no way it's going to be anything close to 8 hours.