To ask those SAHM who are self-employed to tell us what they do?

[Dryjuice25]

I have seen posts of mums who work for themselves from home and always wondered just being nosey what they do and how they get their money.

I expected no posts so come on here and tell us if you don't mind.

I have to say that I'm looking for something to do at the moment as I have 3dcs, single and find it hard to get child-friendly jobs that don't involve travelling to London(1 and half hours drive!) Preferably something that only requires a small capital outlay.

Thanks in advance

[sheeplikessleep]

Market research consultant.

[Dryjuice25]

I'm in awe of all of you guys and I'm inspired by all these posts to want to do something with my life and not have intrusive feelings of being a complete failure. Thanks

[Kewcumber]

Dryjuice - there is a big market for saelf assesment or bookkeeping (depending on your bookkeeping skills) - contact a few firm of local accountants and ask them to consider you for clients that are too small for them. You'd be surprised how it adds up - you need to start now though as forms came out this week and will remind people. Get the word out at school. Thats another good source.

[GashlycrumbZillah]

Children grow up Dryjuice ... just because you have been concentrating on bringing them up doesn't make you a failure ... anything but. Especially as you are a single mum.

There is a time for everything, planning and thinking are half the battle with anything like this. You won't know yourself in a couple of years .... and you can look back at what a great job you made with the DCs before that.

[Skybore]

TweetinatMon 22-Apr-13 14:05:15
I'm self employed with two jobs:

I work two mornings (3hrs) a week teaching baby signing....

I also work as a Pampered Chef Consultant...

I don't know what either of those jobs actually are! Wondered for a mo if you meant 'baby singing' but thought nah, surely not

[twirlyagogo]

DramaAndCrisis - that sounds like a perfect job! What sort of projects do you work on?

Dryjuice25 - if you write anyway, is there anything you have that you could force yourself to complete? Actually, all you need to complete is the proposal then if it gets taken up, the promise of cash might push you into doing the whole thing .

[Chattymummyhere]

I deal with holiday rental.. SAHM however I can be answering messages till 2am then get up and of still had some at 3/4/5am

[Kewcumber]

bookkeepers can earn upwards of £15 per hour (depending on where you live) and you can charge at least £100 for a self assessment.

I don;t really network - have a deal with 2 local accountants and considering contacting a local business coach - in fatc might do that now as you've reminded me!

[mumblechum1]

Will Writer (PT). It's great, because my clients are all over the country, everything's done by phone/email so I can work in my pjs . It's a world away from wearing suits in an office all day.

I have a paid for ad over on Classifieds at the moment and am running a special offer for Mumsnetters.

[Kewcumber]

Oh and I'm also single - have after school care two days a week, manage within school hours/after school club rest of the week. Holidays need more planning but combination of holidays clubs and Mum works for me.

[Kewcumber]

mumblechum - may contact you re wills - may as well keep the money within the family so to speak!

[motherinferior]

I am not a SAHM. I am self-employed and work from home.

[Mominatrix]

I purchase and resell principally photography, but sometimes sculpture. Takes very little time (auction periods are principally 2 times a year), and can be quite profitable. This is far from what I studied and was trained in (medicine), but much more portable and flexible.

[GashlycrumbZillah]

Something tells me you have also had the coffee-mums come calling motherinferior

[lljkk]

Blog-type articles with income from Google adsense.
Trying to get a real job, though!

[ChocsAwayInMyGob]

OP- you need to work on your self esteem. In your post on page one you said "I'm rubbish" three times!

I bet you're not. Work on that and the world is your oyster!

[Fairylea]

Why do people feel the need to categorically state they are not a sahm? It really doesn't matter in terms of the thread.

[AprilFoolishness]

Another one who thinks of herself as a WAHM rather than SAHM.

I was a magazine journalist, went freelance before kids, took on quite a lot of event reporting work as well as editing work I can do from home and some writing.
Since getting pregnant I shifted the emphasis away from event work as travelling is off the cards, lots of editing and some pr/copywriting, 90 % of which is done from home.

I work office hours whenever possible, have childcare for my work days, and make up extra tiem in the evenings. It is not easy, but I think it is better for all of us than me going to work in an office 3-5 days a week.

You definitely can't have any kind of 'job' at home with small children at home. Forget it. Never. gonna. happen.

[AprilFoolishness]

Fairy I think it matters because it conjures up an image of mothers making Cath Kidston millions whilst airily looking after a brood of babies and toddlers at the same time.
It doesnt' work that way, you need to be organised about your work time just as you would be if you went out to work. You have some additional flexibility, but you need to either limit your work to school days/middle of the night, or have childcare in place.

[Kewcumber]

Because Fairylea the implication by saying you are a SAHM is that your day-job is unimportant, a hobby, just a little pin money... etc.

I am single and I support a family on my wage - to call me a SAHM is misleading. I work at home. If I am asked what my job is I say I'm an accountant, previously I would have said I look after my child full time.

[twirlyagogo]

Fairylea - it matters to me. I know women who preface things they say in a work environment with their status as mothers. They choose to do that. I choose to not categorise myself that way. I'm not a mother who stays at home and earns pin money, I'm a self-employed writer who works from home who also has school-age children (but I don't mention the latter in a work context).

[motherinferior]

I'm not a SAHM in that I've paid for childcare - not any more, but when my children were small they went to a childminder four days a week; I am not available for 'social' stuff in the day; and most of all I am not 'fitting a bit of work around the children'.

It's hard enough being a journalist anyway especially on MN where you are considered the moral equivalent of pond scum without everyone thinking you're just pottering about with a little bit of work to keep yourself busy.

[wordfactory]

I'm a writer and I also own several online businesses (websites, blogs etc) but I am not a SAHM.

I think people who work from home and make a living from it are not in the same siuation as a SAHM. You can't just drop your work for your DC.
It's not a hobby.

[motherinferior]

Interesting how it's all the people who put words on the page for pay who're getting irate . There's nothing like doing a job that everyone thinks they could do to get one that way, I find.