working from home: what kind of work is available?

If you’ve had a baby and decided not to return to work, or have tried to return to work but your employers have not been able to accommodate your request for part-time hours, you may want to consider working from home.

You may choose to set up your own business: anything from cake-decorating, to a franchise for companies like Temple Spa or Body Shop, to writing wills. A bit of research on the internet will provide you with plenty of inspiration and ideas on what training you’ll need or how to get started.
With many such opportunities there are start-up costs, and you’d need to work out whether the likely income you’d receive would make those start-up costs worthwhile. If you went down the franchise route, most franchises come with a package of products for you to demonstrate to your clients, like cookware for a Jamie Oliver party; but you’d need to pay for those items. You may also need to factor in advertising costs if you are doing anything more formal than the odd products-party with friends or family.

If you don’t have any capital with which to start up your own company, you could try looking for jobs where working at home is an accepted practice. For example, there are loads of jobs offered on www.workingmums.co.uk/ from helping with this year’s census to delivering catalogues, to telemarketing and sales jobs where all you need to start is a phone line and a computer with an internet connection.

If you’re a typist, there are transcription services that may want your skills; you may need to invest in audio-typing equipment but those companies can usually supply them at a discount. Or you may consider advertising at your local college or university to type up essays or dissertations at so much per page (check what’s a competitive rate in your area) – adult education centres are a good bet for this as it’s usually the more mature students who need help with this; either because their typing speeds aren’t as fast as they could be or because they’re also working part-time and don’t have time to spare to do the administrative work involved.

Similarly, foreign students with English as a second language may seek help in ensuring that their work is not only typed but written in a way that reads well.

Keep searching and you’ll find what you want. As a starting point, if you sign up to www.workingmums.co.uk/ you can request that they send you details of work that becomes available in different fields that would suit home working.