Side business ideas for stay-at-home parents

Start with the hours you really have

Most parents overestimate their free time. Write down a normal week — school runs, meals, activities, the hour after bedtime when you are too tired to think — and count what is left. For many people it is a few short blocks: a nap, an early morning, one evening, part of a weekend. That is enough for a side business, as long as you choose one that can be done in pieces.

Then sort your blocks into two kinds. Fixed blocks happen at the same time every week and can be promised to a client. Loose blocks come and go. Work that needs a customer at a set time only fits in fixed blocks. Work you can do whenever you are free fits in both.

Ten side business ideas that fit around kids

1. 1Bookkeeping or admin for small businessesLocal shops and contractors often need a few hours a month of invoicing and receipts. Mostly done at a laptop, on your schedule.
2. 2Virtual assistant workEmail, scheduling, research and customer messages for one or two clients. Flexible hours, but some clients want quick replies.
3. 3TutoringIf you were good at a subject or speak a second language, tutor online or after school. Fixed hours, but short ones.
4. 4Writing, editing and designBlog posts, menus, résumés, social graphics. Deadlines, not set hours.
5. 5Selling what you makeBaked goods, crafts or prints at markets and online. Check your local rules for food sold from home before you start.
6. 6ResellingBuying secondhand clothes, toys and furniture and selling them online. Easy to start small; it does take space and trips.
7. 7Pet sitting and dog walkingKids can often come along on walks. Fixed hours, local customers.
8. 8Teaching a classMusic, fitness, cooking or a language, online or at a community space, once or twice a week.
9. 9Owning a phone charging stationA station placed in a busy venue — more on this below. It does not need your hours to run, but it needs money up front, so read that section before you decide.
10. 10Social media help for local businessesMany owners know they should post and never do. A few hours a week, done from home.

Selling your time vs. owning something

Most of the ideas above are ways of selling your hours. That is a good way to start: there is little to lose, you can stop any time, and you learn how to find customers. The limit is that the income stops when you stop — and for a parent, the weeks you stop are rarely your choice. A sick child, a school holiday or a new baby can wipe out a month.

The other kind of side business is owning something that works while you are busy with the family: equipment, an online product, a small rental. These usually need money up front and some patience, and they carry real risk — what you bought may earn less than you hoped, or nothing at all. In exchange, they do not need you there every hour they run. Some parents do both: a small service business for steady work, and one thing they own on the side.

Owning a phone charging station

Ampz supplies countertop power bank rental stations. A station sits in a place where people spend time — a bar, a gym, a café — and plugs into a standard outlet. When someone’s phone is dying, they scan the code on the machine or use the app, take a charged power bank, and keep using their phone. They can return it at any station in the network, not only the one they took it from.

As the owner, you own the hardware. The station arrives with its power banks loaded, already set up and registered, so installing it means putting it in place and plugging it in. The venue agrees to host it; you own it and it runs on the Ampz platform. There is no long-term contract, and you can sell the station on later.

If you want to see how the costs and the variables fit together, the calculator lays them out with its assumptions, and what owning a station involves covers the hardware and the platform.

Who it suits: a parent with some savings, or a partner or relative to go in with, who wants one thing that keeps running in the weeks family life takes over — and who is comfortable with the risk of owning equipment.

How to choose

1. 1No money to put in?Start with bookkeeping, admin, tutoring, writing or pet sitting. Your cost is your time.
2. 2Unpredictable weeks?Pick deadline work you can do at night, not jobs that need you at a fixed hour.
3. 3Want something that keeps going through a sick week?Look at the ideas where you own something — and only with money you can afford to have tied up.
4. 4Try it small firstRun it for a month before you commit. One side business you are still running in six months beats three you dropped when the school year started.
5. 5Talk it through at homeBefore you spend money, talk it over with your partner or family. A side business works best when the people at home know what it needs from them.

Taxes, licenses and keeping it legal

Income from a side business is taxable, and once you earn above a small threshold you will usually need to report it. Keep a simple record of what comes in and what you spend from day one, in a separate account if you can. Some ideas need a local permit — food made at home, childcare and pet care especially — so check your city and state rules before you take your first customer. If you have a partner on the same tax return, decide together how you will track the business.

Looking for ideas that fit a different stage of life? See side business ideas for college students or browse all earn-on-the-side guides.

Related guides

• Phone charging stations for bars & restaurants
• Phone charging stations for gyms
• Phone charging stations for hotels

Curious about owning a station?

See what owning one involves — the hardware, the platform and the questions to ask before you buy.