to ask you for advice?

[homeiswherehoneyis]

I am posting here for traffic, so not really AIBU, more a "please tell me what you think".
I have NC.
We are considering moving out of London to a fairly rural area as have a second DC coming soon and really need more space.
This however means I would have to give up my job as commute to London would be impossible and full time nursery for 2 kids under 4 is close to what I earn anyway.
So I’m trying to figure out if and how I could make some money working from home whilst being a SAHM.
Could you please help me with this.

Here are things that I could do:
-I’m pretty good with Excel, Access, SQL, VBA (no idea what to do with this)
-I have made a few websites, so I can do that on a fairly basic level.
-cupcakes (fairly good – have taken classes and made my own for our wedding, can do sugar flowers)
-personalised party/wedding accessories: chocolate wrappers, labels, bunting etc (have done for my own and for friends parties)

After writing it down it really doesn’t look like much..
So please be honest with me – is there any way to make an income with any of these skills (in a small town/village), and what do you think would have the most potential?
Or something different?

[Yangsun]

In my village the cupcake market is pretty saturated (judging by the local farmers' market cupcakes are one of the most iintensively farmed thngs in the area) so I'm not sure how much success you'd have there, but it's probably worth putting a card up in the local shop or pub saying what you can do. With regards to the computing skills, could you teach a class? Mil did a course called something like "computing for the terrified" which had sessions on word, the internet and email in the first bit and then optional add one for all sorts, e.g. using iPads, dealing with photos from digital cameras, social media etc, she loved it and it was all in her local library, perhaps see if there's scope to start something if no one else is already doing it. Good luck

[DoJo]

What is your current job? Could you do that as a freelancer?

[Mama1980]

I agree in my village the cupcake market is just everywhere, we have three stalls in the market in the next town and I never see many people buy. However a friend who sells wedding/birthday cakes simply cannot keep up with demand at the moment so this is a potential way to make a decent living. Her stuff is very detailed and ornate.
Bunting/decorations have rather gone the way of cupcakes as well.
Computing seems a better idea, off tutorials/classes, ads to local businesses to set up things/help with accounts maybe?

[Icimoi]

A lot of businesses use outsourced typing these days. I think a company called Dictate Now uses typists based in the UK working from their respective homes. No idea how it works, but it might be worth contacting them.

[homeiswherehoneyis]

Yangsun, thank you for taking time to reply.
This class is an interesting idea, and I am pretty sure I would be competent enough technically, but i'm not very certain of my teaching/people skills

[Flissity83]

Have you looked into a virtual PA type of role? The rest of the stuff could be used as a side line.

[Stickerrocks]

It's going to be tough to find customers in a new area for any of these enterprises if you were simply relying on local trade, because so much depends upon word of mouth.

Your IT skills could be used for freelance project work. Will you have contacts from your old job which you could use to generate work which you could do from home?

The risk with building websites is your ability to provide ongoing maintenance. For example, as you skilled enough to take the initial website & upgrade it for the latest mobile technology or add a shopping facility to what was previously an information based site? How strong are your security skills?

Cupcakes is a popular idea. You would need to work out the costs involved in the ingredients, the packaging, the electricity etc as well as your own time in order to price them competitively. Advertising is easy through FB, but you need to work out how to target local customers. Would you be able to get the necessary food hygiene certificates to be able to offer them as a marketing tool to local businesses? eg. When the musical Wicked came to our local theatre, they provided Wicked cupcakes for anyone buying tickets on the initial sale day.

Bunting etc is feasible to sell online giving you a wider target market. have you looked at products currently available on Not on the High Street, Etsy etc to see how yours would compete on both quality & price? Again, don't underestimate the time taken to make each product and the changes that a Bridezilla could expect you to incorporate which would eat into your income.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Think through a logical business plan for each, based upon the income level you need to maintain. Is there any scope to commute part time whilst you build up your own business? Also, don't overlook the difficulty of juggling your own business with being a SAHM. You may still need childcare available to enable you to meet deadlines etc. For example, a bride would still expect her cupcakes to be available at the given time, even if it clashes with feeds/naps etc. Not everything can be done when the children are in bed.

On the other hand, I know someone who runs an extremely successful china hire business in a small(ish) community. Are you any good at washing up glasses and ironing table linen?

[homeiswherehoneyis]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

DoJo I am an analyst, not too sure that I could do that as a contractor, generally in our company the contractors that we use are still required to come in the office.

Mama1980 I did suspect that cupcakes probably wouldn't work.
I think with a help of another short course I could potentially make wedding cakes (I have made one, but didn't list that as it was major pain in the ass and I felt that it wasn't worth the effort, even though turned out ok).

[homeiswherehoneyis]

Stickerrocks
Thank you for the great response!
There is certainly a lot to think about.
Does china hire business mean initially buying a huge amount of china?
Washing up and ironing i can do too, and also own a dishwasher and a medium size vintage teacup collection.

Flissity83
No, i haven't, but will have a look now.

[pinkdelight]

You probably know this, but the fact that the nursery fees would wipe out your salary isn't in itself a reason to give up work. It's just how it is for the first few years and is usually worth the 'loss' for the gain of keeping a career. But if that's only one of many factors and you mainly want to move and be a SAHM with a sideline then that's a different thing. All depends how much you need to earn. I don't think the craft/cupcake side of things is going to make you much of a profit, but maybe a birthday/wedding cake business would if you really put the work in promoting your services. Would take a while though so hopefully wherever you moved to your DP could cover the mortgage. My friend did a similar move and has found bits of work but it's mainly back to pre-graduate levels like bar, restaurant and shop work. The freelance admin type work she's managed to get is terribly paid, but you may be more fortunate. First of all I'd look to your existing expertise and network and see if there's any twist you can bring to that, as that's where your earning power lies. Good luck!

[Stickerrocks]

They do vintage mix & match tea sets for small weddings using stuff picked up at car boots, but they also do huge Asian weddings for anywhere between 300 - 600 guests with the full white china range. It depends what your local community is going to want really.