Stay at Home Mom Starting Her Own Business: Obstacle #1

For some stay at home moms, myself included, lack of money can be a constant challenge that you face. Maybe that’s why you have decided to start your own business. For me… it helped to nudge me in that direction.

The first thing that a stay at home mom realizes when she sets her mind to starting her own business is that “they” really do know what they are talking about when “they” say… it takes money to make money. So what is a stay at home mom supposed to do to get the money it takes to make money?

Thought I was going to have an answer? Wrong. I am currently going through this situation as we speak. I was fortunate enough to be interested in a business idea that doesn’t take all that much money to start up. But when you are dealing with little to no extra money… it’s a challenge.

Although I don’t have any specific answers to how someone could start up their business on a budget, I can tell you what I have done so far.

Logo

Everyone needs a logo. You need it for your website, your business cards, fliers, and signs. Because your logo is usually the way that your company is remembered… it can cost a lot of money to have someone design your logo for you.

I was fortunate enough to have a husband that is excellent at graphic design. I worked with him and he was able to create a perfectly simple logo for my business. The best part? It didn’t cost me a thing. Well… it didn’t cost me any money anyway.

My suggestion to you is to find someone that you know (you must know someone) that is into graphic arts or web design that would be able to design your logo for you at little to no cost. As you go along in your business and you are a little better off cash wise, you can always have your logo enhanced and perfected.

Web Design

For the time being my website will be used to provide information about my company as well as provide ways for potential clients to contact me. Because of this I was able to, once again, ask for help from my husband in creating my site.

To make this process easier, I had everything ready to go for when he was able to sit down with me to do the actual creation of the site. Prior to this time I had come up with my color scheme, come up with every word of content that would be put on the site and I had my logo (thanks to my husband).

If you are fortunate enough to know someone that can create a website for you (this is very common these days) it would be a good idea if you were COMPLETELY prepared when the time comes for you to actually sit down with this person.

Start simple and add features as you get along in your business. Check out my site Body Art by Erin to see a very simple, yet very stylish body art site.

Advertising

As of right now I cannot afford any money for advertising. What? How then, do you expect people to know that you are out there? Well, for now I am trying to book a spot for myself at local festivals, craft fairs and things of that nature.

Does this cost money? Most of the time, yes. But to me, these festivals and fairs are not only just a way to make money, they are also a way of getting my name out there and showing people what I can do.

So for now, this is how I will do most of my advertising. As I begin to gain popularity and hopefully bring in more money, I can look at other more effective ways of advertising my business.

Materials

Here is the part that there really is no cutting corners on. For me, I have to use quality materials that are FDA approved for use on the skin. There is no way around that, I want to be as safe as possible.

What I have been doing is buying the bare minimum that I can get by on. Some people in my industry have every shade of every color paint there is. Me? I have primary colors that I have learned to mix into various shades.

Some people in my industry have brushes of all sizes that are used for large areas or used for intricate outlining. Me? I’ve had to learn how to use my small number of brushes to create every size line possible.

So for me, starting out with the bare minimum in supplies has actually helped me improve my fundamental skills. As my business begins to take in more and more money I will be able to invest in some supplies that will make my art easier (I can’t wait!).

So you see, a stay at home mom is able to start her own business using a small budget. Sure it may take longer and require a little more begging, but it can be done.