JEMMA Brook has hit the jackpot. She has found a way of earning serious cash without having to work a nine to five job, and NEVER misses a sports day or a school pick-up.
It’s a set-up that busy mums can only DREAM of… but it’s entirely possible to earn a tidy income without sacrificing family time with our top tips.
It’s no wonder ‘mum guilt’ is so rife these days – mums are expected to have it ALL, balancing a career alongside looking after the kids.
But this is really hard to do – especially when, in reality, most women end up taking on the lion’s share of childcare.
It can leave many mums struggling to keep all the plates spinning – which is exactly what Jemma Brook, from Droitwich, Worcestershire, faced back in 2022.
She was under pressure juggling her full-time job working at her local council alongside caring for her son Frank, then two.
She then went on maternity leave to give birth to her daughter Betty, who was born in March that year, but worried about returning to work in September.
So shortly before her maternity leave ended, Jemma made the decision to quit her job to look after the kids instead.
But it wasn’t long before she and her husband Matthew, 35, a financial planner, began to feel the pinch.
”Having a baby is expensive. There’s nappies and wipes to buy every month and all the house bills still needed paying,” Jemma says.
So the following month, Jemma began making bespoke biscuits in the evenings to bring in a little extra money.
“I’ve always loved baking,” Jemma says. “Even when I was at university, I used to bake, so making biscuits felt like a natural thing for me to do.”
But what started out as a few evenings soon turned into weekends, and soon Jemma was baking whenever Frank was at preschool or nursery.
Jemma founded The Brooks Biscuits, created a website and orders came flooding in.
She makes anything from personalised wedding biscuits to Mother’s Day boxes and Easter treats.
Fast forward four years later, and Jemma makes between 300 to 500 biscuits a week and makes up to £3,000 a month during busy periods like Christmas.
She spends around £300 a month on expenses, a good chunk of which go towards paying ingredients like flour and sugar, and business insurance too.
After expenses and tax, she is left with around £24,000 to £30,000 each year.
Frank is now six and Betty is four – and the couple have just welcomed their new baby girl, Bobbi.
Jemma still makes all her own biscuits from her kitchen – but the couple have extended it to make more room for her baking.
“Business is booming and now in busy periods I can make thousands,” she says.
“I love it as I get to take the children to school every day, and pick them up. I never miss a sports day or a nativity. It works around family life.”
You don’t need to launch a full-blown business like Jemma to make worthwhile extra cash.
The key is to find a job that is fully remote and flexible – which means YOU get to pick how many hours and when you work.
Even carving out a few hours during the school day, at weekends or once the children are in bed could potentially add thousands of pounds to your household income over the course of a year.
Here are seven ways to get started — and how much you could realistically earn if you want to work just 10 hours a week.
Before you get started – remember that if your gross trading income – the amount you make before deducting expense, tax or National Insurance – goes over £1,000, you will need to pay tax on anything earned above this threshold.
Virtual assistant – potentially earn £13,800 a year
Virtual assistants help businesses remotely with everything from answering emails and managing diaries to booking appointments, invoicing and updating websites or social media.
The average hourly rate for this role sits at around £25 to £40 an hour, although newcomers may need to charge less while building up experience.
At £30 an hour, working just ten paid hours a week for 46 weeks of the year could bring in £13,800 before tax and expenses.
Better still, much of the work can be done from home and around school or nursery hours.
The Society of Virtual Assistants recommends initially telling friends, former colleagues and business contacts that you’re looking for clients, as referrals and networking can be particularly valuable when starting out.
You don’t need a degree but you will need good communication and time management skills, and potentially knowledge of Microsoft Office or Google Workspace.
Peopleperhour.com and upwork.com both advertise freelance jobs.
Tutor online – potentially earn £10,120 a year
You might be surprised to hear that you don’t need formal qualifications like a degree to be a tutor.
All you need is a skill in an area of expertise – if you’re a numbers whizz, for example, you could tutor maths. Best of all, you can do it from your kitchen table – you can teach online.
Tutorful says tutors on its platform earn approximately £22 an hour on average.
Inexperienced tutors might start at around £15 to £20 an hour, while experienced tutors typically earn £20 to £35 and highly experienced tutors in sought-after subjects can command more.
Even ten hours of tutoring a week at £22 an hour for 46 weeks could generate £10,120.
Online sessions can also be scheduled for evenings, making this particularly easy to fit around your own children’s school day.
Manage social media – potentially earn £20,800 a year
All those hours spent on Instagram and TikTok could be put to profitable use.
Small businesses often need somebody to create posts, reply to comments, schedule content and keep their social media accounts active but can’t afford a full-time member of staff.
Rather than charging by the hour, freelancers commonly offer businesses a monthly package.
Current UK guides suggest freelance social media management can cost businesses hundreds of pounds a month, depending on how much work is included.
A freelance social media manager typically charges £400 to £800 for managing 3-5 posts a week.
So you could earn at least £20,800 over the year, at least, doing this job.
Start by approaching local businesses whose social accounts could do with some TLC. Creating sample posts can help demonstrate what you could do for them.
Proofread from home – earn potentially £14,145 a year
Got an eagle eye for apostrophes and spelling mistakes? Proofreading is another job that can be done entirely from home and at hours that suit you.
Businesses, authors, publishers and website owners all pay people to check copy for errors.
The Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading’s most recently published archived minimum-rate figures put proofreading at around £30.75 an hour for 2025.
Someone finding eight hours of paid work a week at that rate for 46 weeks could gross £14,145.
You will need excellent spelling and grammar before taking on professional work.
Become a bookkeeper – earn potentially £11,500 a year
If you’re good with numbers and spreadsheets, bookkeeping could become a profitable home-based business.
Bookkeepers help businesses keep financial records organised, record transactions and reconcile accounts, with much of the work now done remotely using cloud-based software.
Xero says freelance bookkeepers in the UK typically charge between £20 and £50 an hour, depending on their experience and qualifications.
Even charging £25 an hour for eight hours a week over 46 weeks could generate £11,500
Training and qualifications from organisations such as AAT or ICB can help you get work, and people providing bookkeeping services professionally may also need anti-money-laundering supervision.
Sell your creations – earn upwards of £6,000 a year
Jemma proves that a hobby can become a serious source of income.
Whether you’re brilliant at baking, crochet, personalised gifts, jewellery or creating digital downloads, selling products online means you can often make them after the children have gone to bed.
Online marketplace Etsy allows sellers to offer handmade and designed goods, but remember that your sales aren’t all profit. You’ll need to account for materials, packaging, postage and marketplace fees.
The Crafts Council surveyed more than 1,000 makers and found 49 per cent earn £10,000 a year – equivalent to around £833 a month.
So a modest £500 a month in sales would produce turnover of £6,000 a year, while successful businesses could sell considerably more.
Start small rather than spending thousands on stock. Test whether people will actually buy your product before investing heavily in equipment and materials.