Below is a top ten list of popular home businesses, especially among women.\

1. Business or Career Coach

A business coach helps small business owners develop and advance their business. Most business coaches specialize in a particular area, such as online marketing or team building. Others help certain types of business owners, like consultants or event planners. These are the most lucrative areas of the coaching field.Career coaches assist individuals in making transitions with respect to their job or career. Some focus on a particular area of career coaching, such as professional development, or assisting lawyers.

2. Web Design and Maintenance

If you know how to develop websites, you can offer your services to businesses. Typically you would design as well as keep the website updated and maintained. Many decide to specialize in developing websites for certain kinds of business owners, such as consultants and coaches.

Lots of women are opting to stay home these days. They either want to spend more time with their families or just want to provide their children with full-time love and support. For most, it's about having more flexibility and freedom. However, making the choice to work at home is just the beginning. The difficult thing for many is deciding which kind of business to run.

3. Pet Services

This includes: pet grooming and sitting. Many pet owners hire sitters to come into their home to look after their pets, especially if they are busy or travel a lot. You can even decide to provide specific services such as, cat sitting or a grooming mobile for dogs. There is a service in my town that even offers pet taxi services.

4. Concierge Services

Concierge services are a one stop shop for errand running: personal and gift shopping, making entertainment or travel arrangements, housecleaning, organizing parties and various business services. Many decide to focus on a specific market, such as hospitals, lawyers or the elderly.

5. Tutoring

If you are particularly proficient in certain subjects, topics or activities; you can provide tutoring services to others. College students struggling with certain subjects, or parents looking for someone to teach their child how to play piano, or success skills hire tutors. Some popular subjects are: mathematics, sciences, arts and crafts, music reading or instrumentation.

6. Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants help others keep their otherwise hectic life in order. Many small business owners hire them to do all kinds of tasks from personal errands, to maintaining web sites and internet marketing activities. A virtual assistant helps free up time for the business owner. You can even create a team of assistants to offer services, with each person specializing in a certain type of skill.

7. Catering or Personal Chief

Like to cook? Offer your services as a personal chief! You can make hot, delicious meals in your home and deliver them. Busy professionals who don't have time to cook, or those who travel use these services. And to separate yourself out from the crowd, decide to specialize in a certain type of cooking, such as vegetarian or healthy cuisine.

8. Technical Writer

A technical writer maintains or develops documents written on specific subject matter that needs explaining to a particular audience. They tend to write on specialized subjects such as science or engineering. Many are either experts on their subject or seek out experts to gather information and conduct further research.

9. Event Planner

An event planner is someone who organizes, orchestrates and plans parties, fundraisers, weddings, receptions, baby showers, open houses, etc. The list is certainly exhaustive! You could get even more creative and specialize in, say wedding banquets and receptions. I have a friend who plans tea parties for children.

10. Copywriter

Copywriters specialize in a particular kind of writing: sales. Businesses hire copywriters to develop promotional materials to help sell their products or services. These may take the form of web sites selling a product or service, brochure, or an email marketing campaign.

Regardless of which kind of business you decide to offer, one of the principle ways to stand out from the whole crowd is, specialize, specialize, specialize.