Home-based working mothers can help economy

Women across the country are taking charge of their work and their families’ livelihoods. From starting their own businesses to telecommuting, millions of moms — many of whom are highly educated, experienced and motivated — are jumping back into the workforce while choosing to work at home. What we may not realize is how much their work helps to galvanize the struggling American economy.

Small businesses boost economy

A tough economy has many stay-at-home moms starting businesses to help support their families. In entrepreneurial circles, theyÂ’re leading the charge in startups: Four in five new businesses are started by women. In fact, 80 percent are moms. The number of women entrepreneurs is growing at twice the rate of men.

Not only do small businesses help women and their families; they also help to stabilize a struggling economy. “Small business drives the American economy,” says Dr. Chad Moutray, chief Economist for the Office of Advocacy at the Small Business Administration. “Main Street provides the jobs and spurs our economic growth.”

Woman-owned businesses employ more than 12.8 million Americans and generate $1.9 trillion in sales. According to Sharon Hadary of the Center for Women’s Business Research, women own 34 per cent of all businesses (approximately 8.5 million) — an 89 percent increase in the number of businesses owned by women just a decade ago; these businesses generated $3.1 trillion in revenues.

When women work from home for other companies, they are still helping the American economy recover. Companies benefit when they allow their employees to telecommute. When pay is stagnant, telecommuting can serve as a form of compensation by allowing employees to enjoy the cost savings of reduced commuting expenses and other benefits of working at home.

In some cases, companies that hire telecommuters decrease overhead by reducing office space. Guidant Financial Group, a Washington-based financial services group, moved 15 percent of its workforce to home-based offices. As a result, the company will not renew the lease on 3,000 square feet of office space; this development will save the company $48,000 in rent and operational costs next year.

Traditionally, outsourcing has meant shifting work to overseas companies. Outsourcing simply means using non-company resources to complete internal business tasks. The process frees time and money, allowing the small business owner to pay for services only when they are needed. Not only does this remove a salary from the capital expenses column; it also removes cost of an employee benefits package, limits tax responsibility and reduces required office space, supplies and utility bills. Work-at-home moms who deal as private contractors save U.S. companies millions of dollars annually.

For example, Cara Brook, who runs a home-based business consulting service, found that outsourcing proved beneficial.

“One of the things I was stuck on initially was how I was going to find the money for something like this,” says Brook, who projects 2008 sales of more than $100,000 for her Stamford, Conn.-based firm. “But paying somebody about $35 an hour to do some administrative tasks frees me up to charge $125 an hour for what I do.”

Finding support

Not only are businesses finding work-at-home moms to be an effective cost-saving approach, but growing numbers of mothers are finding that working from home is extremely rewarding, both personally and professionally. There is more support than ever for such owners with online associations such as Home Based Working Moms (HBWM.com), and HireMyMom.com; the connections enable businesses to post jobs and projects at no charge to mom-professionals who have experience and degrees in a wide variety of backgrounds. With technology, virtually anything can be done from oneÂ’s home office.

ItÂ’s a win-win situation for the businesses and the mom-professionals; not to mention an advantage for the economy.

Lesley Spencer Pyle is the founder and president of HBWM.com Inc., a Spring, Texas-based organization that helps women with home-based employment. She is the author of The Work-at-Home Workbook: Your Step-by-Step Guide on Selecting and Starting the Perfect Home Business for You. Visit www.hbwm.com for more information.