December 1999   

You've left the business world and want to stay home with the kids – but you think that a second paycheck would sure be nice. You've heard there is money to be made in cyberspace, but you have no idea how to start your own business and set up a Web site. Relax, there's a lot of help out there. Preparation is the key, and you've made a start by looking at this article.

If you've only toyed with the idea so far, maybe these statistics will boost your interest.

According to the National Association of Home-Based Businesses, 18.5 million Americans have started their own business, and that number increases by 10 percent every year.

A recent study by the National Foundation of Women Business Owners indicates that home-based businesses owned by women provide employment to 14 million people.

In 1998, the Internet generated $301 billion in revenue and created 1.2 million jobs. 

Making the Best Business Choice

For starters, research the home-business market and think about your own interests. What activities do you enjoy? In what areas do you possess some expertise? Here’s a look at what some other moms have been able to do. 

Extend a previous job or job experience into the home arena. 

Lara Pullen was an environmental health scientist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before her daughter was born two years ago. She now runs Environmental Health Consulting from her home Web site. Her consulting clients include the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and numerous physicians’ associations. She is also a freelance science writer.

Donna Snow, a single mother of six, worked in several high-tech offices before she decided to take what she learned from those jobs and sell it to others. She started Absolutely Anything Office to assist other small businesses with things like employee handbooks, business-card design, bookkeeping, and software programs.      

Make a career out of a hobby.

Sue Shutz and her husband David have a true family business. It sprung out of the love she and her daughter had for collecting Breyer toy horses. Sue had been searching for a home business because she was tired of working for other people. The Horse Collector was born when a little light went off in her head one day. "Bingo-" she said, "I think I found it!" David is the computer pro and manages the finances, Sue answers the phone and handles the orders, and their sixteen-year-old daughter Jessica packs the horses. 

Try something completely different.   

As a means of staying home with her newborn daughter, Debra Cohen launched. Home Remedies of NY, Inc. The four-year-old company is a referral network where homeowners can check out pre-screened home-improvement contractors. In her "previous life," Debra was the Vice President of a Manhattan-based Spanish-language aviation magazine. She says, "While the two may seem unrelated, the skills I used on a day-to-day basis are very much the same."

Minerva Chiu Martinez runs Casa Automation, selling packaged technology to create "smart homes." Currently, most of her customers are "gadget-loving guys," but she's hoping that by packaging her home-security systems, light dimmers, and security cameras into mom-friendly gift baskets, she'll increase her female clientele. Minerva had been a probation officer and was accustomed to working out of her home, just not as an entrepreneur. 

The Work-At-Home Moms' Confessional

Why they do it.  

They deal with donuts in the disk drive, frogs in the fax machine -- not to mention diaper changes, tantrums, boo-boos, and no-nap days. They have desks littered with damp towelettes, cookie crumbs, doll heads, and trading cards. Are they nuts? Why would anyone in her right mind want to do this?

Lesley Spencer, Founder and Director of Home-Based Working Moms (HBWM) Web site explains, "I started my home business after the birth of my first child when I discovered I could not bear to leave her in day care all day long."

Lara Pullen observes, "I can carry on a professional 'conversation' over the Internet while my toddler is singing at my feet." 

"I tried working outside the home," says Donna Snow, "but found that child-care costs made it impossible to survive."

How they do it.

Most moms who run businesses from home work whenever they can fit it in. It may be 4 a.m. or 10 p.m. A lot depends on the age of their children. Moms with infants and toddlers, for example, usually have to take what they can get. 

Freelance writer Jill Byington’s essay, "Writing With Baby," is slanted to mothers who write, but it speaks to all women who work at home with kids. Her survival tips include the following:

• Expect to write nothing for six months after the birth of a baby.
• Expect to write nothing thereafter.
• Get some sleep.
• Make sure your children get some sleep.
• Set aside one day a week to do the dirty work.
• Hold that last thought.
• Keep a sense of perspective and a sense of humor.

The balance of Jill's article can be found on the Work at Home Mom Web site.

Consider hiring a babysitter to come into your home for a few hours a couple times a week. You'll still be there if your child really needs you but you'll be able to get some work done that you couldn't do otherwise.  

Once the kids are in school or in a mother’s-day-out program, it's easier to schedule your time. But you still need to get organized and stay organized. Hold that last thought…. 

Finding a Niche in Cyberspace

Can you do it without a Web site?

Sure. But why would you?

Your Web site can be an ongoing marketing tool; with a Web site, your message goes out to customers around the world, not just ones in your neighborhood. You can network and network . . . and network. Your copy can change as often as your inventory or service offerings change. Your paper printing costs can plummet and your advertising dollars will stretch farther. You can conduct email interviews and attend virtual meetings, thus saving time and more money. Besides, your competition is already on the Internet and your (potential) customers are waiting for you to catch up. 

Donna Snow says she tried to run her office-assistant business without a Web site for about a year, but she found it difficult to get the kind of work she wanted. Now that she has the Web site, she finds that there are other, entirely Web-based office services she can provide.

Minerva Martinez also started without a Web site. But she says that since she has been up and running, the earnings from her automation business have doubled every quarter.  

Lara Pullen, the science writer, puts it more poetically: "I joke that I am like the Great Oz, with the Internet as my curtain. To paraphrase: Never mind that small woman behind the curtain working the levers. I am the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz." 

Can you design your own Web site?  

Sure. But again, why would you?

Consider the valuable time it takes to learn the needed skills. Wouldn't you rather spend your time working on your business plan, than figuring out HTML?

Lynie Arden, author of several books on work-at-home moms and their businesses, believes there are many advantages to hiring a professional. She says, "A good Web site can help your business and bad Web site can kill it. Content is king. An experienced Web site designer can pull together content in a hurry, get the information to your clients quickly, and organize it for ease of use."  

Lynie's newest book, 101 Best Businesses to Start, will be out in the fall of 2000. 

Taking Off from Here 

Use the following tips for success as you work toward self-employment and Internet presence.

• Evaluate whether or not you really like working alone.
• Prepare a mission statement.
• Prepare a business and marketing plan. Know where you're going.
• Keep your goals simple at first and stick to them.
• Sign up with email lists and online support groups related to your business.

At the same time, avoid these typical pitfalls.

• Don't put all your eggs in one basket: Keep your options open and don't depend on one product or service to carry your business. 
• Don't waste your advertising money: Choose your advertising venues carefully.
• Don’t let your guard down: Be careful of scams targeted at parents who want to work at home. If it sounds too good to be true -- it is.