Though some in our culture seem to believe that motherhood is a second-rate vocation, most would agree that only someone who has never been a mother or never actually paid attention to what his own mother has willingly done could make such a brash statement. In every way, motherhood is one of the most trying, tiring, and honorable professions a woman could ever take on. And it really is a profession; it requires at least 18 years of a woman's life, takes all 24 hours of her day, includes the use of at least a dozen different skills and abilities, and normally pays in relational and emotional ways that no other career can.



What is particularly odd about the business of motherhood, however, is that even though it requires so much more than most vocations, it is one of the only ones without a paycheck. This used to be fine when dad's paycheck was enough to sustain the household, but these days when there are more single mothers than ever before and even two-parent homes need dual incomes to survive, the lack of a motherly paycheck can become a big problem. Most jobs often take mothers away from their primary business of raising children; it either forces them to leave the kids at home alone or in some kind of professional care. It is not always a bad thing to do so, but when it comes down to it, neither of those options is really what the average mother wants. The option that is often left out of the list is starting a home based business, mainly because women are unaware that that is a choice, but this is a valid option today with so many businesses utilizing phone and internet communication to conduct business. There are a plethora of business opportunities for the mother who wants the benefit of being able to work at home, and here is a look at some of the best.

One of the first things that one of these franchises offers is the ability to set your own schedule, including how many hours a week you will work. Whether you are a married woman looking to subsidize your husband's income or a single mom needing to single-handedly provide for the family, a work from home business can accommodate. They range from Allstate Investment Group's Soda/Snack Combo machines to the more time-consuming Adventures In Advertising, one of the largest advertising franchise businesses in the nation, so whatever time and energy commitment a mom wants to give to the business, there is one that fits.

On one end of that spectrum, Allstate Investment Group estimates that with a vending business consisting of 20 of their machines, the average franchisee can take care of all weekly restocking responsibilities in only 17-18 hours, and when the average machine brings in over $8000 a year, those 18 hours are well spent and leave far more time with the family than a 40-hour job ever could. Allstate Investment Group is not the only vending option that saves time; U-Turn Vending is another champion of the vending industry, providing some of the sturdiest machines available, and DVDNow is a great option that takes vending to a whole new realm: video rental, which makes restocking even less of an issue, because everything that is rented from the machine is also returned to it. To make these time-saving vending outfits even more attractive (at least for children) they double as fun family field-trips or convenient stops on mundane errand runs. Moms can decide whether to make the runs while the kids are at school, or take them along to the malls and shopping centers that the machines are stationed at for a day of shopping while you take periodic stops to refill machines.

Sometimes the time investment is not the only consideration though; you may find that being able to work at home via telecommunication is far more important. In fact, young mothers with frequently sleeping children or kids who spend most of their time at school may not mind having something to spend their time working on and could benefit from having a more mentally engaging task before them. The aforementioned Adventures In Advertising is a great option to take anyone interested in advertising, regardless of experience, and set them up for success in a variety of advertising avenues. Another option is Virtuoso Music, a franchise in which you become the telephone reference point between music teachers and potential students. Perhaps you would prefer a sales franchise like Vehicle Tracking Solutions, which specializes in selling GPS tracking devices to delivery companies. Find clients, make deals, and order equipment all over the phone, right from your own living room. Whichever business works for you, the fact that you are working at home means you are only yards away from the sleeping baby in the bedroom or that pot of stew about ready to boil over in the kitchen.

Very few people are really good at attending to two fulltime jobs at the same time, and considering how much time, energy, and thought it takes to be a successful mom, it is even harder to be a working mom. It will never be easy, but if you have to walk that double-vocational line, you can at least make it somewhat easier on yourself, and much more rewarding both personally and financially, by running your own small business from home, on your own terms and your time.