We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
WiseGeek

Advertiser Disclosure

Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.

How We Make Money

We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently from our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Home

What Are the Different Types of Home-Based Business Ideas for Women?

By Sheri Cyprus
Updated Feb 28, 2024
Our promise to you
WiseGeek is dedicated to creating trustworthy, high-quality content that always prioritizes transparency, integrity, and inclusivity above all else. Our ensure that our content creation and review process includes rigorous fact-checking, evidence-based, and continual updates to ensure accuracy and reliability.

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

Editorial Standards

At WiseGeek, we are committed to creating content that you can trust. Our editorial process is designed to ensure that every piece of content we publish is accurate, reliable, and informative.

Our team of experienced writers and editors follows a strict set of guidelines to ensure the highest quality content. We conduct thorough research, fact-check all information, and rely on credible sources to back up our claims. Our content is reviewed by subject matter experts to ensure accuracy and clarity.

We believe in transparency and maintain editorial independence from our advertisers. Our team does not receive direct compensation from advertisers, allowing us to create unbiased content that prioritizes your interests.

Home-based business ideas for women can be categorized into main types that include online and offline possibilities as well as service-based or product-based companies. Within these major categories, there are many different business types that range from practically no start-up costs to large investments. Some home-based business ideas involve part-time hours, while others may demand a full-time commitment. Within the different possible types, home-based business ideas for women may usually also be varied in their positioning, scope or target market.

For example, jewelry or accessory design, manufacturing and sales is a popular home-based business idea with many women. Some women focus on children's items, while others cater to a target audience of adults. One example of this idea for women working at home could involve creating a product such as children's clothes and selling them to wholesalers, while another business model for similar products may be self-marketed through a retail website. The scope of these product-related, home-based business ideas for women could be local, regional, natural or international. In terms of market positioning, these products may be promoted as either budget or luxury items, depending on the targeted consumer audience.

Service business ideas often focus on the owner's skills, training and work background. For instance, a trained cook may start her own personal chef business. Office and administration skills are commonly used in home-based business ideas for women. Transcribing medical, legal or general notes and text into official reports or records is a popular type of home-based business idea for many women. Writing articles or doing web design from home are other common business ideas for women who want to work from home. Typically, these types of ideas involve a low start-up cost, while the manufacturing business often requires a larger overhead structure.

While most women's, and other businesses, involve some sort of online component such as having a company website or even conducting the firm completely over the Internet, others may be done mostly offline. These types of home-based women's business ideas include doing services such as tutoring, dog walking, childcare, computer repair, personal shopping, errand running and home cleaning. Since these home-based business services are often only done in the scope of a neighborhood area, a website may not be needed, although some entrepreneurs may still have one. Women whose houses have basements may use this space to operate a business, while others may use a spare room or a desk set up within a room.

WiseGeek is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
See our Editorial Process Share Feedback

Discussion Comments

By umbra21 — On May 03, 2014

@browncoat - A home based business isn't really going to need to specify whether it is being run by a man or a woman these days anyway. It will seem to the customer that it's being run by a website because that's all they're going to see. I don't think there really are any limits to what kind of business you can start, except for those you impose on yourself.

By browncoat — On May 03, 2014

@Fa5t3r - The thing is though that women won't be able to sell power tools as well as men can because men are largely the ones who buy power tools and they are more likely to buy them from other men. Just like women are more likely to buy baby clothes from other women.

It might be a symptom of a sexist world, but that symptom might crush your business if you don't pay attention to it and I think there should be as many successful business women as possible, so I'd hate for them to fail because the world is biased against them and they didn't expect it to be.

By Fa5t3r — On May 03, 2014

Don't think too hard about whether or not this is right for women in general. Think about whether it is right for you and your circumstances. If you want to sell cars or power tools or ad space or whatever, don't let anyone tell you that you can't because you're a woman. Don't let them make you think you have to only sell those things to other women either.

Yes, women are more likely to be involved in child care and need flexible hours, so there is definitely a gender factor there, but you know what you can do best and you don't need to fit some other person's idea of your ideal job.

WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.