I AM A SINGLE MOTHER - CAN I GET HELP STARTING A BUSINESS?
The concept of the home based internet business is practically MADE for you! As a single mother you have enough to be concerned about in earning a living at all to support your family, being all and everything to your children with no backup and taking on all the worries and cares which in other situations are shared by two. The last thing you want is to have to worry about the type of child care you can get and how much you have to pay for it. The second last thing you want is to be afraid that your child is going to get sick or hurt and that your boss will be angry if you miss more time from work. The best way to insure that you have good child care and an understanding and flexible boss is to have a job where you provide the child care yourself and YOU are the boss! Can you get help taking advantage of a work at home business opportunity? Yes, you can. Without being a computer or internet expert you can find many resources which will help you decide which business is for you. You probably want something which can be started up at low cost and also provides flexibility as to time along with stability of income. You will find that some ideas have been around for a while - such as sewing, if you have that ability or want to develop it or marketing of cosmetics such as Avon or Mary Kay. Other business ventures are newer, but still meet the criteria we've just mentioned: eBay, for instance, or desktop publishing. Afraid you don't have the knowledge and skills for these? Would you be surprised to learn that a simple internet search will provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to begin and succeed in any of these ventures - or almost any other that you can think of. Another good idea is to look at the web sites of companies such as Clairol and Revlon who primarily market to women. Sometimes these companies offer loans or grants to women who want to start a business. Making application for this type of assistance can be the first step in learning to negotiate the paper work that any business entails. Even if you don't get specific financial help it is good experience to research, and apply for, these opportunities. There are actually national support groups especially for women who work at home or want to. These groups are organized online and are an easy way to benefit from the experience of others. Statistics show that there are 91 million businesses run by women and nearly half of them are run from the home. Does this convince you this is not a pipe dream but a practical solution for some of your potentially biggest problems? SBA, or the Small Business Association, has a special web site for women. Here you can get information on loans or grants, tax guidelines, opportunities for special training or finding services in your local area. Some Social Services districts have programs such as Learn to Earn which are designed to help single mothers avoid having to apply for welfare by providing them with the training they need to earn their own living. Almost any type of specialized training you need can be obtained online and this is an advantage not only to you for the sake of meeting your childcare responsibilities but to the social service provider which does not have to be concerned with finding transportation for you to get the training. Always remember that each one of those 91 million women who are running their own businesses started out with some of the same difficulties and fears that you have. If all of them did it, so can you! In part two we will explore the government, non-profit and paid services that can help you as a single mother in your home business. You can do it. |
