Many stay-at-home parents want to start their own home-based business. Working from home allows flexible hours for parents while still supplementing their household income. Getting started with a home business can be challenging, however. Here's how one single mother explored her own talents and inexpensively started her own home business, a painting and wallpapering service.

Use Your Talents

The idea of starting her own business was planted by Jennifer's sister. Jennifer, newly divorced with four children, had to fight hard for child support payments and was barely scraping by. Yet whenever a friend would ask for her help with wallpapering a bathroom or kitchen, Jennifer always found the time.

One day, Jen's sister Caroline stated the obvious: why not start charging people for her talent and experience? That's how Caroline and Jen joined forces to become a wallpapering team with more business than they could handle.

Flexible Hours

That was 25 years ago, and they are no less in demand today than they've ever been. When the children were small and in school, the sisters would schedule their jobs during school hours. Now that their children are grown, they schedule their wallpapering around their grandchildren's school plays and their parents' doctor and hair salon appointments. If you are seeking a home- based business that lets you work as much or as little as you need, consider opening your own painting and wallpapering business. A bonus is that this business can be opened on a shoestring.

Inexpensive Start-Up

Start-up of a wallpaper and painting business can be accomplished with less than $100. How?

• Use your home computer skills to create colorful flyers on ordinary paper.
• Buy sheets of pre-cut business cards at the stationery store and design them to match your flyers.
• Have your first client purchase the paint or paper. Chances are that if you find painting and papering an intriguing business idea then you're quite experienced in turning that fixer upper into a showplace with color and texture. You are also likely to have most of the tools that you need: brushes, sponges, rags, blue painter's tape, drop cloths, retractable knife, wall sizing, wallpaper paste, roller and water trough.

Get the Word Out

All those friends you've helped re-do their dining room or decorate the nursery can be your references and your major marketing program.

• Give your friends two or three of your business cards to pass along to their friends and business associates.
• Post colorful flyers made on your computer at laundromats, libraries, grocery stores, schools and churches.
• Tell everyone you know that you are officially in business. Then ask your spouse, mother, brother, neighbors and cousins twice-removed to tell everyone they know about your painting and papering business.
• Join the chamber of commerce.
• Introduce yourself to real estate agents who can recommend you to their clients who need to fix up a house to sell, or clean up a home they've just bought.
• Contact building contractors who will use you to help finish a new addition or renovated office.

Grow Your Business as Needed

This is a business you can grow as the years go by and your needs change. As children move into junior and senior high, plan on extra costs associated with sports, activities and quickly outgrown shoes. And it's never to early to start saving for college. How can you give yourself a raise as your financial needs increase?

• Hiring employees for bigger jobs will bring more income.
• Look into specializing. Painters that can create faux finishes - rag, marble, stipple and sponge effects - or trompe l'oeil and mural painters demand top dollar.
• Share your talents with others and teach classes, at your home, in a local hardware store or at a community college.
• Take some design courses and offer your services designing a living room instead of just painting it.

Whether you are looking for a few jobs to make ends meet or require a full time income with a flexible schedule, starting a home-based business, such as your own paint and wallpaper business, may be the answer to your work-from-home dreams.

Author Bio
Pamela White is a home-based freelance writer and author of three work-at-home e-books including:

• "Bizy Guide to Your Painting and Wallpapering Business"
  
• "Bizy Guide to Mystery Shopping"
  
• "Become a Food Writer"