Work From Home Ideas for Military Spouses

Depending on where your spouse is stationed, opportunities for employment can be scarce. When it comes to employment, sometimes thinking outside of the box can be daunting. I have a few work from home ideas for military spouses that I’ve been wanting to share with you. Obviously depending on the type of person that you are, some of these options might or might not seem like something you would consider. I have been very fortunate to be able to work from home in jobs that I love I hope that some of these ideas can spark some ideas on ways you can bring money into your home.

And don’t think because you aren’t familiar with any of the options provided below that there’s no hope. These are just a few work from home ideas for you. And this post isn’t strictly for military spouses either. If you’re a civilian looking to make make money while being able to stay home, keep reading. Make sure to let me know in the comments if you have any questions.

Virtual Assistant 

If you aren’t sure what a virtual assistant is exactly, it’s basically someone that completes tasks for you while not being in the same location as you. Thanks to technology it’s totally a thing and you can truly do so much with it. I would compare it to being a remote secretary or administrative assistant, it’s totally doable and depending on the demands of the position you can make really good money too.

Here’s a couple ways to work as a VA:

Working with an influencer managing their social media or website can be very interesting and a great way to bring in some income if you’re familiar with different platforms on social media. If this is something that interests you, remember that you have to be well versed in the social platform, so get familiar with it so that you can offer quality services. And don’t forget, influencers/online entrepreneurs, we all have friends and if you do well, you can quickly set up a list of clients wanting to work with you from great experiences from other clients.

If a person that has a small business is running everything on their own eventually will branch out and need help, offer services for calendar management. You set up appointments and upload said appointments to their calendar. There’s apps for pretty much everything now and being able to remotely manage someone’s busy schedule is do able as remote support. A couple years ago I came across a housing contractor that mentioned to me that he didn’t have time to check his email. I came up with a plan on how I could help him manage his emails and get the important items to him as soon as possible versus him missing important emails.

I’ll have to further breakdown being a virtual assistant in a future post. I came up with interesting ways to be employed remotely and provide support for different types of businesses, not just working on social media platforms for clients.

Baker / Food Vendor 

These types of positions can be very lucrative for people that are skilled in the trades of baking and cooking. You’ll also have to note that if you live on an installation you’ll have to get approval to sell your baked/ cooked goods out of your home. I have several friends that have thriving businesses baking pastries and selling food, but with rising prices, you’ll have to check the demand in your area for your speciality to determine if it’s worth the time and money to launch.

But even if you aren’t super skilled but ready to get out there, there’s so many tools you can invest in to help with your new business. I recently learned of a really cool printer for cookies and baked goods! Check out the Eddie – the Edible Ink Printer! It not only cuts your decorating time, but you can use it to print on macarons, marshmallows, lollipops, white chocolate toppers and other sustainable foods! If you’re into baked goods, I highly suggest that machine.

Sweets and main food items aren’t the only attraction for folks when it comes to food either. Another incredible friend made charcuterie boards and special holiday charcuterie boxes. She was also very knowledgable in wine and had plans on expanding to teaching wine pairings as well. If there’s a demand and you can make it happen, do it!

Crafts 

The beautiful glitter tumblers, wood signs and amazing wreaths that you see in homes around installations, most are made by military spouses. We are truly a creative bunch! I have some very talented friends that make all kinds of things. If you love making and creating, look into what the demand is in the area or what business model is missing and start there. There’s really so many opportunities when it comes to being a maker and creator.

T-shirt businesses are pretty busy on installations and around towns. I see a few posts a week on military spouses pages asking for custom t-shirts for trips, birthdays or other activities.

This is a tumbler one of my friends made for Ezra. So talented!!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Monique Garnica-Nicolas (@pineapplesandarrows)

Secret Shopping

I will be completely honest and tell you that secret shopping can be a lucrative side hustle if you live in a large city. Unfortunately, more remote areas like say Fort Polk, did not offer too many opportunities for secret shopping unless you were willing to travel more than an hour away. When we lived in Tampa, I was able to set up a few shopping trips at month, I wasn’t getting rich off of these gigs, but it made for good extra money and it was fun.

Home Cleaner/ Organizer / Lawn Care 

When pcs season rolls around, people begin asking for move out cleans. Do it yourself or grow a team and kill it when it comes to being the go-to business on the installation and around town for cleaning.

If you love having a tidy home and every thing having it’s place, people are always looking for help in that department. When we were stationed at Polk, one of my neighbors offered this service. She shared her jobs on Facebook and it was always incredible. People are super creative and think outside the box so you don’t have to!

Lawn care is also one of the things that while it is seasonal, depending on where you live- offer off-season type services as well. I could never figure out when was the best time to fertilize. I would definitely pay someone to either do it for me or teach me.

Pet Care

Now that we have kitties, if we need to go out of town, I’ll be looking for someone that either works at a boarding place or have someone come in and check on the girls while we are gone. Some go through apps like Rover, but I have seen some spouses go on their own and have a great business. It is do-able. Offer additional services as nail trimming or bathing and that ups your value.

Learn as Much as You Can

If you’re serious about going into business for yourself and don’t know how to go about it, if you have a community college in the area, you’ll have access to a Small Business Center. I cannot say enough about the services those wonderful people provide. While my husband was stationed at GoodFellow AFB, I had the opportunity to learn from the ASU Small Business Development Center. It was such a great experience and I even hosted a round table about blogging way back when during one of their events.

Of course with anything depending on the type of business you want to go into, there will be early financial investments on your part. You can and will most likely experience long nights when launching your business. But in the end I can tell you it’s worth it. And consider this, if the goal is growing- all of these jobs you can actually grow into a larger business. Build your team and eventually you’ll be running the business while your teams are on the ground helping build your empire. Tell me what you think about these ideas in the comment below.

Cheers! 

Candy

Exciting News

Exciting News! I’m one of Google’s paid early testers for the Thank with Google pilot program! Thank with Google is an experimental feature that allows you to buy a virtual sticker as appreciation for the content here on Candypolooza!
Check out the variety of stickers to select from, and every time you send a paid sticker you can add a personal message to me! The virtual stickers translate into direct revenue that supports the work on my website.
You can find the Thank with Google feature in multiple places on my site, including in the sidebar and as a button at the top and bottom of this and all blog posts. If you try it out, let me know what you think! Thank you so much for your support, it truly means everything!