13 Business Ideas for Housewives
The life of a housewife is not what it used to be. Women are ambitious and want to do more than take care of a home and family to feel a sense of value and accomplishment. Entrepreneurship offers housewives a way to contribute outside the home while still having the flexibility they need to manage their domain.
Here you’ll find 13 business ideas that may spark your interest and put you on an entrepreneurial path.
1. Freelancing
If you have a particular skill, such as writing, you could become a freelancer and join the 70 million people in the U.S. who also freelance. There are several websites, such as Upwork, where you can find all sorts of freelance gigs. Freelancers, depending on the skill, can make between $20 and $50 an hour or more, so you could make decent money without ever leaving your home.
2. Bakery
If you’re a housewife looking for business ideas, look no further than your own kitchen. A home bakery can be a great business, whether you sell locally or online. Online bakeries have in fact become more popular, so you could sell your baked goods all across the country. You could even offer a subscription service where people pay a monthly fee to get treats of the week or month delivered to their door.
3. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is an inexpensive way to get in on the e-commerce action. Dropshipping means that when a customer orders a product from your website, you place the order with the manufacturer who then ships it directly to the customer. That means that you don’t have to purchase and ship products, so you can start a dropshipping business for just a little money. You can choose nearly any product or products that you’re interested in selling, enter into a contract with the manufacturer, and set up a website or an Amazon store.
4. Event Planning
If you’re one of those people who loves to plan parties, weddings, or other events, you could put your skills to work by starting an event planning business. Event planning is a $3 billion industry in the U.S., so there’s money to be made. Event planners typically charge either 15% to 20% of the total cost of the event or by the hour at rates of $100 to $150. To get started, you just need to create a website so that people can find you and then invest in a little marketing.
5. Candles
Nothing creates ambiance in a home like candles, and they’re surprisingly easy to make at home. If you’re creative, you could start making candles at home and sell them online on Etsy or Amazon. You could experiment with different shapes, sizes, and scents to create candles that are unique and appealing. You just need some candle making equipment and supplies, plus some packaging materials, but all in all, you could start for less than $1,000.
6. Flea Market Booth
A flea market booth could be a great weekend gig. You could go to garage or estate sales to find used items, whether antiques, clothing, or household items, and sell them at your booth at a markup. Flea markets are popular places for many people looking for bargains or unique treasures. In fact the flea market industry as a whole has been growing rapidly and is worth more than $36 billion. That’s a huge number!
7. Blog
If you have some writing skills, you could choose a niche and start a blog. It takes some time and effort to gain a large enough following to monetize your blog, but when you do, you can start earning a good monthly income. You can make money from ads on your site, or by making partnerships with companies who will pay you a commission if someone makes a purchase from a link on your site.
8. Gardening
If you’re the person in your neighborhood that has the garden that everyone envies, you could put your green thumb to work with a gardening business. You could design and plant flower beds, or design and create entire landscapes. You could even plant vegetable gardens so that families can eat fresh. Your target market could be your neighbors, and you could distribute flyers to let them know about your new business.
9. Upcycled Furniture
If you’re creative and have some handy skills, you could buy old furniture pieces at garage sales or flea markets and make them like new. Upcycled furniture is growing in popularity as people seek to reduce their environmental footprint, so it’s a great time to start. You could work on your pieces in your garage or basement and offer them on Facebook Marketplace for local pickup.
10. Handmade Jewelry
A jewelry business is another way to put your creative skills to work without needed much money to get started. Handmade jewelry is one of the best-selling crafts on sites like Etsy, so if you can make unique pieces that stand out, your items could sell very well. Alternatively, you could offer your jewelry at a flea market booth, or even take it to local shops who could display and sell it for you for a commission.
11. Gift Baskets
Gift baskets are always popular with last minute shoppers, or for people who want to send gifts to someone out of town. If you have a knack for selecting gifts, you could put together creative gift baskets with snacks, candles, or even wine and sell them online. You could even set up a kiosk in a mall to offer your baskets to target those last minute shoppers.
12. Social Media Management
If you enjoy social media and understand how it’s used for business, you could start a social media management company. Social media management means designing and implementing social media strategies for businesses. More than 90% of companies worldwide use social media for marketing, and many of them outsource their social media management needs, so the market is huge.
13. Interior Design
If you have a tastefully designed home, you could help others make their homes more aesthetically pleasing by starting your own interior design business. You don’t need much money to get started and you could run the business from home, setting appointments to consult with clients in their homes. The interior design industry is experiencing strong growth, so it could be the perfect time to get started.
