Kathleen Desmarais

Below is a list of home-based businesses that would be convenient for those who homeschool or otherwise have family priorities. There are a lot of home business idea lists available. This one is unique because the criteria for making this list focused on being able to put family first. The businesses on this list do not require set hours, a store front, customers dropping by, or setting appointments. These business ideas allow you to set your own schedule. In fact, with most of these, you could be working in your PJs at 2 AM and no one would be the wiser. There are a lot of home-based business scams out there (especially on the internet). I read one statistic that indicated less than 5% of the home-based business offers found online are legitimate. So, beware! Never pay for training from a company that is also promising you customers after the training. If you need training, get it from a separate school, one that is not related to business start-up. I recommend that if you are considering a home-based business that you start your own, building your business from the ground up, slowly developing a name for yourself and building clientèle. I think this is a much safer and sustainable route. Many of the ideas on this list are more “passive income” ideas rather than businesses. I decided not to separate these because these are all ideas for making money. Many people diversify by starting multiple businesses and passive income pursuits. This is a good idea as long as you don’t stretch yourself too thin. (I have been guilty of this. One time my husband and I had seven different adventures going at once.) Diversifying is smart for a couple of reasons. You could start two or three business/passive income pursuits and see which one takes off, then drop the others. Also diversifying allows you to better weather hard times and market changes. (With the current real estate slump, we have been thankful we have other income streams to fall back on.) Without further ado, The List (in no particular order):

• Publisher (of course)
• Writer, includes:
  • fiction
  • nonfiction
  • educational
  • song writer
  • journalist
  • speech writer
  • screenplay writer
  • T.V. writer
  • grant writer

• Online Retailer - Either selling your own product (crafts, food items, crafted jewelry, furniture, etc.) or buy products wholesale and bundle them in a unique way (gift baskets, educational items, baby items, gifts, etc.). Also, selling through an account (affiliations) with established online retailers (like Amazon).
• Medical Transcription/Billing/Coding - (beware of online scams)
• Graphic Artist
• Web Design
• Freelance Editor/Proofreader/Indexer
• Inventor
• Real Estate Investor - either for resale, flipping, or passive use of the property. Examples of passive uses:
  • Rental properties (commercial and residential)
  • Storage (mini storage, boat storage)
  • Automatic ice machine
  • Automatic car wash
  • Laundromat
  • Lease space for billboards
  • Lease space for cell tower or fire tower
  • Lease for cattle grazing
• Silent Partner/Investor in a Business (either put up money, property, or expertise/ideas)
• Wholesale Plant/Tree Nursery
• Gardener - sell garden produce to farmer’s markets
• Breeder (dog, reptiles, birds, horse stud services)
• Artist (sell online, art studios, commissioned work)
• Book Illustrator
• Blogger - professional blogging is a business! Revenues can be earned from your own blog (through advertising) or companies hire good bloggers to promote their businesses through blogs
• Day Trader (iron stomach required!)
• Freelance Nature Photographer (because you don’t need an appointment with nature)
• Small Engine/Appliance Repair
• Watch and Clock Repair
• Computer repair/IT services
• Web Site Service/Online Service - either selling a service or the service is free and sell advertising on the site, or both
  • Bartering service (site that connects people in your community that want to trade materials and/or services)
  • “For Sale” site (customers buy ads to sell or space to advertise items or services for sale)
  • Dating/connections site (people matching)
  • Legal adviser/consultant
  • Tutoring or online course instructor
  • Electric download of a product you created (PDFs) or software
  • Travel agent (commissioned-based sales of cruises, airlines, hotel, etc.)
  • Online coach/adviser
    • life coach
    • spiritual coach
    • financial adviser
    • health and nutrition coach
• Secret Shopper (let me know if you land this one)
• Seamstress/Fashion Designer
• Upholstery
• Professional Scrapbooker (for others)
• Freelance Architect/Engineer/ Home design
• Book/Print Translator
• Pollster/Statistician
• Professional eBayer (purchase at garage sales and resale on eBay)
• Knife/Scissor/Saw Blade/Lawnmower Sharpener (yes, this is a skill and it requires training and equipment. Most chefs and tailors have their instruments professionally sharpened.)
• Typing/Key Boarding/Data Entry (many, many online scams for this one)
• Private Investigator (online-based)
• Agent/Publicist
• Food/Restaurant Critic (my dream!)
• Textbook Contributor/Author/Technical editor
• Accounting/Tax preparation

Know of any others? Please comment if you do.