Starting a small business is one of the best ways for mothers to earn extra income. It allows you to set your own schedule and still put your kids first, while creating a profitable career. Here are a few low-cost small business opportunities you can try that cost less than $300 to get started:
Freelancer
Sign up on websites such as Elance.com, oDesk.com or Guru.com. Browse through the sites and get a sense for the kind of client base each site has and how their system works. Pick one skill to start with; for example, writing. Take the tests necessary on the system and create a few samples if you don’t have them already. Then, start bidding on projects. In the beginning, you probably won’t earn more than $15 an hour. In time, however, you will build a solid reputation and client base and steadily be able to command more earning power. Getting started as a freelancer should cost you no more than $50.
SEO Affiliate Marketer
As a search engine optimization (SEO) affiliate marketer, your job is to create websites that get ranked in search engines. Then, you will earn money by selling other people’s products. The wonder of this approach is that you never have to create any products of your own. You just bring in the traffic and let other people do the hard work. Getting started as an SEO affiliate marketer will cost about $50 to $100, depending on what tactics you are using. Primarily this will be costs in domain and hosting, and possibly a few other small expenses.
Drop Shipping
Drop shipping allows you to create a store on eBay, or an all-inclusive service such as Yahoo Store and ship products all without having to hold any inventory yourself. This means you can launch a full-fledged ecommerce business while putting up very little money. Your primary expenses will come from needing to incorporate your business into an LLC and getting a Federal Tax ID number in order to work with wholesalers. The whole process should cost you less than $200 if you do it on your own.
Tutoring
If you are good with English, math or any other major academic subject, or you have other marketable skills such as playing a musical instrument or graphic design, you can earn fairly good money by tutoring. Browse Craigslist to see what other tutors are charging for similar services. Then, set up your own ad with a bit of detail about you and your background. Set a rate that’s at or slightly below market rate. For most skills, you should be able to earn $20 to $40 an hour tutoring.
These are four completely different small businesses that you can launch from your home for less than $300. Some will see immediate revenue quickly (freelancing, tutoring) while others have higher earning potential, but take longer to realize (SEO affiliate marketing, drop shipping).
