Work from Home Sewing Business

Is sewing something that is second nature for you? Do you enjoy sewing clothes for yourself or your children? Our friends and relatives always asking you to make sewing repairs? If so, then you have the perfect beginnings for a work-at-home sewing business.

Sewing is a skill that is coming back into fashion as more people seek to reduce their clothing costs and make the clothes that they have last longer. Many WAHMS (Work at home moms) find profitable businesses in offering their sewing skills to people who don’t have the time, or the skill, to make repairs and alterations on their own clothes. There are even several profitable sewing niches, like cloth diapers and slings, which have found interest online.

Getting started with your sewing business starts with deciding what you want to do. You can specialize in one type of sewing (bridal party gowns) or you can take a wide variety of jobs. Since it is your business, it is totally up to you how to run it. Some people specialize in children’s clothing, alterations/repairs, women’s clothing, or formal wear. Although sewing clothing is the most profitable field, many Wahms enjoy offering home décor services and make curtains, slipcovers, and other home accents.

Before you start advertising, make sure that you have the supplies that you’ll need. If you have an older sewing machine that has “bad days” when it doesn’t work right, you might want to consider having your sewing machine professionally tuned, or getting a new machine, so you can work more efficiently. The cost of a new sewing machine is worth it compared to the time that you’ll save. Plus, the new sewing machine is a tax write-off. You probably already have the sewing notions that you’ll need to get started. If you need something for a specific project, you’ll just buy it at the time.

You’ll also need to decide on set prices before you begin advertising your services. If you are doing repairs, you can charge a certain price per task. If you are custom sewing clothing, you can either charge a flat fee or charge by the hour. For larger projects, like wedding dresses, charging by the hour can work out to be a better deal for both you and the client.

Start your business off on the right foot by getting a business license. You’ll want to make sure that everything is legal and that you keep accurate records of your expenses and income. There are also several tax deductions that you can take as a business owner, and you’ll have access to wholesale sewing supplies.

Make some business cards to distribute to people you know. Also, leave them at places around town depending on what type of sewing you intend to specialize in. For example, if you sew children’s clothing, you can arrange to have your cards available at local daycare centers. One of the most powerful ways to advertise your business is through word of mouth. Your friends, family, and acquaintances will surely send clients your way once they know your sewing business, is open for business.

Having a sewing business is a great way to do something that you love, help other people and make some money all at the same time. If you love to sew then a business doing what you love to do will be a great way to work from home.

 

Get Paid to Shop

Mystery shopping is a great way to get paid to work from home and to go shopping as well. The concept of mystery shopping or secret shopping is simple. You get assignments to visit a business place, make a purchase and then fill out a form to evaluate your customer service experience, quality of your purchase and other things about your shopping experience.

Secret shopping is done by ordinary people who provide a company with feedback about their service. Companies hire mystery shoppers for a wide variety of reasons. Some want to investigate the quality of their employees. Others may want to find out how their locations do with stocking items. There are many different reasons that a company looks to hire mystery shoppers.

Although companies can hire mystery shoppers directly, most of your mystery shopping jobs as a work at home entrepreneur will come through a secret shopping company. As a mystery shopper, you’ll be asked to visit a wide variety of stores and businesses in your area. Sometimes you’ll be assigned to purchase clothing from a store in your local mall. Other times you’ll have to visit a coffee shop and rate the friendliness of the wait staff. After you gain experience with mystery shopping, you can receive assignments to eat at restaurants and stay at hotels.

As a secret shopper, you will not only get the chance to try out products and services for free, but you will also get paid. You can get paid in several different ways depending on the mystery shopping company. You can get paid a flat fee for completing the job, or sometimes you are just paid with the free product or service. Obviously, the jobs that are paid a flat fee are more desirable. But when you are first starting out, you may need to take some of the other types of job just for the experience.

Most mystery shopping companies pay by check on a monthly or biweekly basis. You’ll get paid for a shopping assignment when you complete the necessary paperwork on your shopping experience. Your paperwork can normally be filed electronically, although some companies require you to mail in your reviews. This can slow down the payment process.

To get started with mystery shopping, you’ll need to find a mystery shopping company to work for. Unfortunately, many of the companies that offer mystery shoppers assignments are frauds. Many will ask you to pay them for a list of mystery shopping opportunities. You should never, ever have to pay for someone to hire you and this is no different for mystery shopping. Becoming a mystery shopper is totally free when you find a reputable company.

When you start doing assignments, you will be asked to pay for the services or products that you will be trying. Although this may sound like a bad deal, the mystery shopping company will reimburse you for your purchase. The reason that they require you to pay upfront for your purchase is that because the mystery shopping company doesn’t want to take the chance of your getting a product for free and then not turning in a review.

Although being a secret shopper can be rewarding, it’s not something that can be relied on for consistent monthly income. You’ll never make enough money as a mystery shopper to live on each month. However, you may get enough to pay your phone bill or electricity bill. Mystery shopping is not going to make you rich but you can make enough to help out with the household budget.

What Work at Home Business is right for you?

So you think you might like to try actually working at home, that makes the first thing you need to do is first decide whether or not working at home is right for you. Is there space for any kind of inventory? Can you find enough workspace at home to conduct your work at home business? Next, you need to consider what type of work at home job, you will be doing. There are many opportunities for work-at-homer these days both online and off. Having a successful work-at-home career starts with evaluating your own skills and requirements in a job and then finding the right match.

Sometimes the best place to start with your work at home career is where your out of the home career ended. Many women find that they can become independent contractors in the field that they previously worked in. You can use your previous work experience as a launching pad for your work-at-home career. Some of the ways to use your experience to your advantage are: finding a company that hires people in your field to work from home, using your previous experience to become an “expert” writer in your field or starting a business related to your previous field.

However, some women look at their work at home careers as a way to break out of their old job. If you’d like to try something completely different, there are plenty of opportunities for entry-level work as an independent contractor. Many of these jobs deal with telephone or online customer service. When you work as a customer service agent from your home, you just need a reliable Internet connection and a working phone. Companies also hire medical transcriptionists, data entry professionals and virtual personal assistants to telecommute.

If you want to start your own business, opportunities are plentiful. You can start with a direct sales company and sell products from an established brand to friends and neighbors. You’ll make commissions through your sales and also off of recruiting other people to sell the products. There are hundreds of direct sales companies that offer everything from aromatherapy products to candles to cooking supplies.

Another option for starting your own business is offering a service in your community. Daycare center operators, florists, professional organizers and hairdressers all have the option of working at home, among many other professions. Of course, starting a business in your community normally means that you’ve had some experience in that field. However, there are some small business ideas that can be started without much experience at all.

Many women turn to the Internet for a source of work-at-home income. The World Wide Web offers plenty of online job opportunities. You can offer your services online as a freelance web designer, writer or virtual assistant. You can also start an online store that sells products that you make yourself or have the rights to resell. Many work-at-homers establish their businesses online by using one of the popular auction sites, like eBay. Others find a home in Internet marketing, by directing web traffic to a website and then recommending certain products and services.

Decide first what type of job you’d like to do and then work from there. If you are truly a people person and need to get out each day, direct sales or a local service business might be right for you. If you are the type of mom who lives online and is comfortable with the Internet, try finding a job or starting your own business on the web. If you like the comfort of having a weekly paycheck, look into telecommuting positions.

Once you’ve decided what category of job you’d like, do some research on what it takes to be successful at that type of business. If you feel like you are drawn to one particular business or company, then sit on your decision for a week and see how it feels. Imagine what your life will be like as you take on the duties of that job. Most importantly, be realistic with yourself about how much time you can devote to your business. Make sure you are passionate about whatever you do.

The next best thing you can do to help in your make money working at home job search is to check this blog out often so that you won't miss any job opportunities related news or articles to help you unlock the secrets to making money working online.

Do you need a Website or a Blog?

Which one is the best for you a website, or a blog? If that is a question you have let me share some experiences with you that might help. Let’s start with a website. Personal websites are a great way to present your talents, skills, and training to the internet world; kind of like a personal electronic resume interested people can read 24-7 and interact with, if you have setup your website for that purpose. Whether you’re a carpenter, mechanic, technician, or in between job nurse, a personal website is one of the posting your job skill qualifications to more employers. A lot of my friends are musicians and their personal websites have not only helped them get gigs, but also helped them promote their other musical skills, like song writing, or musicianship.

There are places on the internet like LinkedIn that can be helpful if you’re job shopping, but even places like LinkedIn offer you the link space to show your own business or personal website. If you’re an organization, or part of an organization, a website can help you spread the word about your organization in ways that to me are more helpful than phone calls, or flyers, and allow interested people to interact with you instantly night or day, weekday or weekend, to grow your membership, or donations.

E-Commerce websites allow you to both advertise and sell products, so if you produce your own product, or sell the products from others an e-commerce website can help you keep track of sales, and run a successful online store. If what you plan to sell is your service (information, technical repair, insurance, medical, holistic, or other service) your website can serve as your online interactive business card. In many cases and online business card that let people who visit your website, see, and hear your message.

A Blog is usually more text and expression related so if you enjoy writing, especially about something you are passionate about perhaps a blog will serve you best. In my case the word passionate translates to simply knowing a little something about the person, place, or thing I plan to write about. Usually the more I research or come to know about my chosen subject the more passionate about my writing I become. When it comes to blogging it’s about sharing what you know and feel about something with your readers. Example: when it comes to writing I usually think in terms of writing a letter to a friend; what I mean is if I discover something, or find something interesting about writing, gardening, or some other interest of mine, my next step is usually to think in terms of sharing that information in a letter that becomes my blog post to a friend (you, the reader).

 

The real trick for a first time blogger is how not to convince yourself that you really have nothing to write about. You may not always be in the mood to write, I know that’s true for me, but what seems to count most in blogging, besides dispensing all sorts of useful information, is your own personal experience with people, places, and things.  Sure everyone can do and experience the same things, but what was your own personal experience? What stood out most to you?

Whether you enjoy working with your hands, sewing, cooking, or planting a garden don’t be afraid to share that passion or information about the effect it has on you, or how it makes you feel. Especially if what you are passionate about stimulates feelings you don’t mind sharing. You might be surprised how some topic you consider boring generates an interest in others. Naturally I can only sight what works for me when it comes to writing down my thoughts; something I’m still working on. With regard to blogging, I will say this, if you are an author (published, self-published, or unpublished) you should have your own blog. Blogging is a great way to keep in touch with your readers, and keep your followers up-to-date about you, your writing projects, appearances, and new releases.

For those in which the desire to write is already in your DNA, having your own blog had even been responsible for the selling of a few more of your books, articles, and short stories than usual. That’s just one of at least a hundred good examples I can think of for having your own blog. You should know your needs when it comes the website vs a blog question, and there are web designers and blog designers out there ready to help you focus on your internet goals.

Since I first became involved with the internet over ten years ago I have watched internet capabilities grow in leaps and bounds from personal computers and dot-coms in the early days, to laptops and Y-Fi growing the amount of people with access to the internet, followed by tablets you can take anywhere and now cellphones with all the operational perks of the old comic book hero Dick Tracy’s wrist radio, so what will it be, website, or blog?