Is a person really “over the hill” after they turn 40?
I understand the concept, like when the work week passes Wednesday, you know your work week is closer to being done than it was on Monday or Tuesday. But with age, it seems to have such a negative feeling.
I personally felt like turning 40 was exciting! The kids were growing up and more independent, and I felt like I had more free time and more opportunities to explore opportunities in business.
I know there are more women out there like me, so I put together this list of 8 Best Business Opportunities for Women after 40.
1. Herbalist
My friend Chelsie always had a passion for natural remedies, and learning how to use plants in medicinal applications. When her kids were in high school, she started taking Herbology classes.
She then was able to start making her own teas and tinctures, and opened her own store selling her very own products, as well as products from other people who also made natural products!
If you have a passion for natural products or remedies, this may be a great avenue of business for you! There are often rules and regulations surrounding this type of business, so make sure you look into that for your area before starting this venture.
2. Tutor
This is a great option if you are a teacher, but are ready to scale back the amount of hours you work. As a teacher in a classroom, you are limited to how much time you can spend helping a child who needs some extra instruction. In many schools there are aides who can help, but even they are limited to a short amount of time with the child.
As a Tutor, you can set your own hours, but it will be mostly evenings and weekends, or during school holidays. Another option would be tutoring home schooled kids. Especially in the last few years, the amount of families choosing to home school has grown a huge amount! (In the US, the amount of homeschoolers jumped 56% from Spring 2019/2020 to Fall of 2020/2021.)
As a former homeschooling mom, I know it would have been a great idea to hire a tutor to help my kids in high school. It would have taken a lot of stress off of me!
3. Personal Care Aide
I worked as a Health Care Aide for almost 20 years. I absolutely loved taking care of the residents in the home I worked in. But between 12 hour shifts, workplace politics, and constantly changing policies, burnout in health care workers is very real.
Another option is to start working for individuals who live in their own homes, but need some extra help. These people often are not ready to move into an assisted living facility, but need some help in their daily activities.
This can be even more fulfilling than working in a facility as it gives you the opportunity to take the time the individual needs, instead of rushing through their daily needs because someone else needs help as well. Public long term care homes often feel like warehouses for the elderly.
Some potential clients will pay for your help out-of-pocket, and with others you may be paid for by Insurance or Government. Look into this before taking on a client, and also be aware of what hours you will be needed. Sometimes the timing of your care will need to be very specific, so you need to make sure it works with your schedule! Especially if you have multiple clients.
4. Fitness Trainer
If you are passionate about fitness and you love to teach it, you would make a great fitness trainer! I feel that every year more and more people wake up to the necessity of taking care of their bodies. Any illness or virus that goes around can affect overweight individuals far more than someone who is within a healthy body weight, and thankfully people are paying attention!
There may be some certifications you need to be able to legally and safely teach others how to work out, or to run exercise classes, but that should be easy if you are already knowledgeable on all the fitness basics!
I currently have a trainer who makes me a new fitness plan every month and sends it to me by email! I will video myself working out once in a while so she can check my form and make suggestions, and I get to work out whenever it works for me!
The fitness industry is huge, and there are so many types of fitness to be taught. So go with whatever style you are passionate about!
5. Sewing and Alterations
This is a really great business if you love fashion, have often made clothes for others, or were a go to person for friends and family when they needed clothes fixed or altered. This can truly be a home based business, if you are willing to use some space in your home for this!
My daughter got married last year, and wedding dresses rarely fit great with some alterations.
We were recommended to someone who did alterations out of her home. It was a relaxed environment to be in, and easy to ask questions or give suggestions. There was no one else walking in and out like there might be if it was in a store, so I felt it was good for all the attention to be on my daughters wedding dress!
I find word of mouth is the best type of advertising, but if you need more business than that provides, maybe spend a little money for a Social Media Ad, or hang up flyers around town!
6. Patient Advocate
I actually didn’t even know this was a career until a family member had a young child that needed to spend a lot of time in the hospital.
It can be absolutely daunting to try to communicate with busy doctors and nurses, and also hard to make decisions with so much information that is given!
A patient advocate will act as a liaison between the medical staff and the patient. They will help the patient get the best medical care and help them find supports. The advocate will make sure the patient understands the medical jargon they are reading, and can be a spokesperson for the patient. And they can prepare patients for what to expect and what questions to ask for their next doctors appointments!
While Patient Advocates are most often employed by a hospital, and therefore paid by the hospital, they really do fight for what is in the patients best interest, as the outcome is usually better patient outcomes, and therefore better for the hospital as well! Having said that, you can also be a self-employed patient advocate, hired by individuals or families to help them through the medical challenges they are facing.
There is no formal training to be a Patient Advocate, but it is helpful to have degrees or training in the healthcare field and in Social Work.
7. Music Teacher
This is such a great business to have if you are musically inclined! Almost everyone loves their music teacher, and you get to make money doing something you love!
Many music teachers work around school hours, but with the amount of kids homeschooling or doing online school, your hours could vary a lot! As well, some private schools may be willing to hire a music teacher to come in once a week for a day to teach smaller classes.
Teaching adults music lessons could also be very fulfilling. Sometimes as people get older, they make time for the hobbies they wish they had taken up while they were younger!
And if you are looking for even more flexibility or earning potential, why not start a You Tube or Rumble channel for teaching different levels of music? It takes time and effort for no pay in the beginning, but if you are consistent, eventually you will get subscribers and sponsors, and could even start a Patreon account for “extra” teaching!!
8. Blogging
I love to write. I have always loved to write and used to write long letters to my cousins and friends who lived far away. I actually thought I might be a novelist someday, but I have not committed time to that at this point.
But now I blog, which is so much fun! I literally just can write what’s on my heart, depending on what blog I am writing! For the Reluctant Affiliate, it’s about making money online, or ways to make extra money in general. On another blog I have started, it’s all about my adventures with my friends and with my family! Spending time outdoors is a favorite thing of mine, so I am very excited to get more written on that blog.
It also takes a while to start earning money from a blog, but when you are consistent, good things will happen! Depending on what you are blogging about, you can get affiliate links to just about anything, and if people buy through your link, you will earn a small commission!
Eventually the small commissions add up, and as your blog grows, so will the sales made through your links, and you may even start to get sponsorships or people asking you to write a guest article on their blog!
I felt a little intimidated getting started on a blog, since I had no idea how to do anything except write. I found this company, which had training for complete newbies like myself, and continues to offer training to well seasoned bloggers!
So…..
What are you waiting for?! Go out and tackle your dreams. The worst thing you can do, is to do NOTHING. You may be thinking, “What if I fail?” Change your thinking 180 degrees and say, “But what if I don’t?”
