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While raising my four children, I was forever searching for ways to earn extra money. I really wanted to contribute to the family income (we could have used the extra money!) Working for someone else wasn't the answer.
I did a cost/benefit between staying home, raising my children myself and commuting to a job. By the time I paid for babysitters and gas for the car (we lived in the country - 15 miles from the nearest town), the $10+/hour I would have made just wasn't enough. Besides driving to work everyday, I'd also have to drive the children to/or from a sitter.
So I made the choice to stay home.
During those years I tried many different distributor-type businesses (Watkins, Tupperware, and yes, even Amway!), but they all required that you have your own products in stock. Each month I would spend upwards of $150 to replace the few sales I made - cash we couldn't affort to have sitting in a pantry.
Now, if you've ever been a distributor, you know that you only make a buck or two on each item you sell, if it's a seven dollar item. So if you want to make an extra $500/month clear, you would have to sell a lot of seven dollar items to achieve your goal. In a good month, I was lucky if I sold 20 items!
Living in the country definitely had its' disadvantages when it came to delivering orders, especially during the cold winter months when I'd have to bundle up all four children. I spent a lot of money and time doing something that would probably take years just to break even. A no-win situation.
And, don't forget income tax at the end of the year! You also have to put aside a few dollars a month to pay Uncle Sam! I never had to worry about paying!
Please don't misunderstand me. I contact distributors all the time and appreciate their service. Some are even moderately successful. I just didn't happen to be one of them. In fact, I'm still using some of the products from an 'adventure' I tried back in 1989!
One day a friend of mine who runs a small hardware store in town called me up on the phone, desperate for someone to watch her little girl. She lived on a neighboring farm about 2 miles away. Her sitter had an emergency at the last minute and wouldn't be able to watch her little one that day. Of course I said yes.
This was the best thing that could have happened for me and my children. I made $20 that day for doing something I had to do anyway! Stay home and watch children. No additional expenditures, no driving, no wasted time.
To make a long story short, I became her permanent babysitter: $20/day - 6 days/week = $120/week. Not a windfall, but $480 a month in my pocket back in the '80s was infinitely better than $150 in somebody elses! No more driving around making deliveries and mailing parcels; no more orders; no more cash out of hand and product sitting in the closet.
Finally, I could contribute financially to our family coffer.
So if you're a stay at home mom, starting your own daycare is definitely a home business idea worth investigating. It can be profitable and fun. I know it was definitely more profitable for me!
Check out these resources if you're interested in starting your own daycare.
God bless you and good luck with your home business search!
Never give up!
RESOURCE BOX:
Debbie, aka AlbertaRose, Publisher/Webmaster AlbertaRose Home Based Business Opportunities, Working from Home Resources, Information & Ideas: http://www.albertarose.org
** Valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas
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