How To Fill Your Empty Nest With a ‘Fun & Profitable’ Small Business From Home

Sometimes when you hear the word ‘business’ it has a very serious connotation to it, but it doesn’t have to, because this post is about filling your empty nest with a ‘fun’ home-based business.

So if you’re an empty nester and you’re finding life a bit difficult at the moment, then this post is for you…

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The Dreaded Empty Nest Syndrome

So you’re feeling a bit low because your child, or one of your children, has flown the nest.

This is real and it hurts!

Now in all transparency, I have two young adult sons who still live at home so I’m not quite an empty-nester. However, they do very much live their own lives and so I had that gap to fill of not being a full-time mother anymore.

So although I know that I can’t take the hurt away, or stop you from worrying, I do have a brilliant way for you to refocus your mind.

My Proposition To You…

I know that there are many empty nest ideas such as finding new hobbies and interests, but in this post I’m going to talk about filling your empty nest with a new project, a project just for YOU!

What I’m proposing to you today is to fill your empty nest by starting a small business from home.

Imagine this…

You look forward to getting up and out of bed everyday because you WANT to work on your new business.

The reason you WANT to work on your new business is because:

… this list can go on and on, but you get my point.

Now before we get into the ‘fun’ home business ideas, we need to address a couple of things.

I’m Working Full-Time

If you’re working full-time, then don’t worry as you can easily fit some home businesses around working full-time.

If you choose a business idea which is the least stressful for you, then you will look forward to working on your new home business each day, especially since you know that you’re making extra money from it.

Eventually you’ll get to the point where you are making really good money in your home business and you can actually start to think about taking the leap and hand in your notice at work.

I’m Caring for Elderly Parents / Grandchildren

This is similar to above.

But be encouraged as there are some home business ideas which you can work on very part-time and still earn a decent income each month ($1,000 – $2,000 per month).

I know that looking after elderly parents can be stressful, so make sure you choose a business idea which can work for you and around your other commitments.

Related Reading:

What About My Menopause!

This is a biggie!

This was one of my main reasons for doing a self-assessment when finding my dream home business at 51.

I absolutely HAD to find a business which I could succeed in whilst dealing with my menopause symptoms.

Personally, my menopause symptoms comprise of:

I think I am in the minority of women who has not experienced hot flashes/flushes.

But I could have no energy and/or feel really low for days. So this meant that I could not do client work, as I didn’t want to put myself under stress to commit myself to do work for clients but couldn’t deliver on time due to my menopause symptoms.

So take my word that you CAN find a home business which will work around your menopause symptoms, just like I did!

Fun & Profitable Home Business Ideas

So with that being said, here are nine home business ideas which you can work around your current job, menopause symptoms, or indeed, any other commitments.

Create & Sell an eBook

A Passive Income Business Model

Have you heard the phrase ‘everyone has a book in them’? Well, I think that this is absolutely true.

I never, ever, thought that I would have written over 12 books since 2007!

I very much doubt that I would be able to write a fiction novel, but I definitely know how to write ‘how to’ books.

My ‘how to’ books:

You definitely know something that other people don’t, and this is how you write a ‘how to’ book.

You basically solve a problem for other people, and they are willing to pay for it.

Passive Income

Once your ebook is created, it’s just a case of promoting and marketing it – which is a whole subject in itself.

My friend Ana of The She Approach blog has created an amazing course called ‘eBook Bestseller Bootcamp‘.

Ana’s course shows you how to find an ebook topic, create and write your ebook and how to market your ebook to make $2,000 per month in passive income.

► Go here to learn more about Ana’s eBook Bestseller Bootcamp.

Amazon Self Publishing

A Passive Income Business Model

Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is a fantastic way for anyone to self-publish a book, whether that be fiction or a ‘how to’ book.

This is very similar to creating an ebook, but in this case you write your book then format it for Kindle and Paperback.

Ana has a whole section in her eBook Bestseller Bootcamp course about creating ebooks specifically for Amazon Kindle.

► Go here to learn more about Ana’s eBook Bestseller Bootcamp.

Please note that Ana’s course shows you how to format your book for Kindle, but not for paperback. However, there are plenty of YouTube video’s showing you how to format your book for KDP paperback.

Create & Sell Printables

A Passive Income Business Model

If you have a little creative streak in you, then creating and selling printables is also another great way to earn passive income.

Here’s an example of one of my printables…This is a free bonus with my Home Business Roadmap ebook

Printables can come in the form of:

The list can go on and on!

Julie from Gold City Ventures started creating and selling printables three years ago; and she literally makes thousands of dollars of sales each month in passive income!

The great news is that Julie has created an online course, specifically aimed at beginners, to show them step-by-step how they can also create and sell printables to make passive income each month on Etsy.

She has created a free workshop to show you the basics of what you need to do to get started.

So if this is something you think that you might be interested in, then take a peek at her free workshop…

► Earn money selling printables free workshop

The next five business ideas are offering a service in exchange for money.

Freelance Writing

If you have a good command of the English language and are good at spelling and grammar, then seriously consider becoming a freelance writer.

And no, you definitely don’t need any formal training or qualifications.

But of course, there’s also many other niches for freelance writers such as online magazine article writing, copy writing, ghost writing etc.

Elain Cain is a very successful freelance writer and she also runs a couple of her own blogs. She has also created an online course showing how absolute beginners can earn a full-time income from freelance writing from home.

Checkout her free freelance writing email course to see if this will be a good fit for you…

► Free Freelance Writing Email Course

Proofreading

Proofreading is a very popular freelancing choice for women in their mid-life years.

The reason being is that they:

In fact, you can get so submerged in proofreading that you’ll forget that you have an empty nest!

Again just like freelance writing, you don’t need a degree or any formal training to become a freelance proofreader.

However, you obviously do need excellent English, spelling and grammar.

I’ve actually written a blog post on how to become a freelance proofreader with no experience, which will give you more of an idea of what it actually entails.

You can also watch this free workshop by Caitlin Pyle of Proofread Anywhere who runs her own very successful freelance proofreading business.

► Free Proofreading Workshop by Caitlin

Become a Virtual Assistant

Indeed, just like freelance writing and proofreading, there are dozens – if not hundreds – of freelance services you could offer as a virtual assistant.

To become a freelance virtual assistant, you should do a self-assessment on yourself to find what your strengths and weaknesses are. Here, you’ll easily be able to identify what skills and experience you have so you can offer those skills as a virtual assistant.

I think that you’ll be amazed at how many services you can offer and in such a big variety of niches.

Abbey Ashley started out as a virtual assistant and was able to double the salary from her full-time corporate job, working only 20 hours a week… in just 30 days while on MATERNITY LEAVE!

Abbey now runs the very successful Virtual Savvy where she helps aspiring virtual assistants launch and grow their own at-home business from scratch.

► Watch Abbey’s Free Virtual Assistant Training Workshop

The next two home businesses are offline business ideas.

Dog Walking

This is a great offline home-based business which helps fill your empty nest; as you have the wonderful company of dogs!

Dog walkers are becoming more and more popular as most people who work full-time and wouldn’t get a dog before, can now do so because of the popularity of dog walkers.

So if you love dogs, and love to go walking outdoors (in all weather), then why not consider becoming a dog walker?

► How To Start a Dog Walking Business

Creating & Selling Dog Treats

This little home business is not offering a service in exchange for money, it is more of an ecommerce business model.

So what you do here is literally:

You can easily make an extra $1,000 per month part-time from making and selling dog treats.

► Learn How To Start a Treat Business from Your Kitchen

Blogging

This is my jam.

I decided to start a blog (this blog you’re reading now) so I could fit it around my menopause symptoms and to help fill my empty nest.

Now first and foremost, blogging is a long-game because you won’t see an income for a few months, or even a year.

Secondly, blogging has a massive learning curve.

But please don’t be put off by those.

Yes, you will get frustrated at the learning curve, BUT you have:

If you feel that you would love to give blogging a try as an online business, then listen to what Lauren of Create&Go has to say on Blogging as a business.

► Launch Your Own Blogging Business to $1,000+ Per Month

Use Your Hobby Skills

All of the above home businesses use your current skills (becoming a virtual assistant) or where you learn on the job (blogging for example), but what about earning from your hobbies?

You probably didn’t realize, but you can actually start a small business from home simply by using your hobby as a service.

For example, can you do…

This list can go on and on, but I’m sure you get my point.

Even if you don’t feel as if you have any skill or hobbies to offer as a service, you can start a…

etc..

So what I’m trying to say is that you can start a home-based business no matter what your skills, experience, knowledge or current lifestyle situation is.

What Next?

If this post has inspired you to fill your empty next with a fun and profitable home-based business, then why not take it one step further

Good luck and I wish you all the best for the future!

Claire,

Claire

Hi, I’m Claire Bullerwell

I’ve ran dozens of home-based businesses, both offline and online, since my early twenties. I started this blog to share all my wealth of knowledge and experience to help women just like you; to find your dream home business and to live your best life.

Follow me and let’s get acquainted…