Discover the complete plan for an online business that fits around school, sports and sick days, and why parents are often the best planners there are.
Max from Remote SkillsWorks from Portugal and builds in public
my-week
Tuesday
Work around the family
08:15🎒 School run
09:00Work block2,5u
12:30Deliver to client1u
15:00🏫 Pick up
17:30🍝 Dinner together
✓ Job delivered before pick up
Why this guide
Before we start
Max from Remote Skills · works from Portugal
As a parent you want to be there: at breakfast, at the school gate, when someone is lying sick on the sofa. A nine to five job often fits badly with that. Many parents think working from home then comes down to working on in the evenings.
But look at what you already do every day: planning, switching, staying calm when everything comes at once and making sure everyone gets what they need. Those are exactly the qualities business owners look for. Combine them with a valuable AI skill and you build work that fits around your family.
In this guide you see how to link what you can already do to one new skill, how you earn with it and how you find your first clients. With a fill-in canvas and a route map, so you really hold something in your hands when you are done reading, in the hours you choose.
Max
For whomFor mums and dads who want to work from home, so they can be there for their kids.
At a glance
What you will discover
Four questions this guide answers, plus your route map. Tap a topic to jump there.
Before we start: what are you doing it for? Pick everything that speaks to you, there is no wrong answer. Your choices end up on your canvas later.
What matters to you?
Let us be honest
What is in your way right now?
Everyone runs into something, that is part of it. Pick what applies to you, even if it is more than one thing. It goes on your canvas, so you see what your next step needs to be about.
What is holding you back right now?
Your head start
Why parents make good business owners
As a parent you have fewer hours, but what you do in those hours is gold. You plan, switch and solve things while three other things are going on. That is exactly what business owners look for in someone who helps them.
🗓️
Planning
You run a whole family. A few clients and a weekly schedule are no rocket science after that.
🔀
Switching
From lunch box to a story about school and back again. You switch quickly without losing the thread.
🎯
Focus
You know you only have a few hours. That makes you work more purposefully than someone with a whole empty day.
🧘
Calm under pressure
A sick child and a deadline? You learned long ago to stay calm and make choices.
👂
Patience and explaining
You explain things three times a day, in three different ways. Clients notice that you really help them.
🌐
Network
Other parents, the sports club, your old job. There are more business owners at the school gate than you think.
✦ The formula
📚What you bringYour strength as a parent
Planning, switching, staying calm when everything comes at once and making sure nobody goes without. Plus everything you learned in your work before and alongside parenthood.
+plus
🛠️What the skill addsOne new skill
One skill you deliver from home, with AI as your assistant for the work that would otherwise pile up. You learn it at your own pace, in the hours you have.
=equals
✦What it deliversWork that fits around your family
For a business owner that means someone who delivers reliably and thinks along. For you it means work that fits around school, swimming lessons and sick days.
You do not have to put in more hours. You link what you already do every day as a parent to one new skill you deliver from home, in the hours you choose.
Exercise
What can you do, and who benefits?
Grab a cup of tea, for example once the kids are in bed. Write down what you can do, from work or from family life, and next to each line put who benefits from it. Your answers are saved on this device and come along when you save the guide as a PDF.
What I can do, from work or familyWho benefits from it?
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🗺️
Your starting cardIncluded when you save the guide as a PDF.
Fill in something above and your starting card appears here. Pick your skillset further down and it is added too.
What I bring
What I am proud of
My skillset
Next step
Pick your skillset, look at the earning models and tick off the route map.
The four skillsets
Which skill suits you?
There are four kinds of work businesses are looking for help with right now, and each one solves something different. You only need to pick one to start. Choose the skill you like the look of most, not the one you think you should choose.
🎨AI CreatorCreative
Brings visibility and attention
Suits
For people who like to write, tell stories, take photos or come up with ideas, and enjoy making something beautiful.
What you mean to others
You make posts, emails and visuals for business owners who want to be visible. You work ahead in your own blocks, so nobody notices whether you did it at nine or at half past nine.
What it brings you
A steady place with a few clients who count on you every week, with work you can put your creativity into.
📈AI ScalerCommercial
Brings clients and revenue
Suits
For people who are results driven, like goals and enjoy it when something actually happens.
What you mean to others
You set up websites, funnels and follow-up that bring businesses new enquiries. Project work with a clear end, planned around your family.
What it brings you
Work with a result your client sees straight away, and therefore clients who like to keep working with you for a long time.
⚙️AI OperatorSupportive
Gives people their time back
Suits
For people who like to help, keep things organised and are happy with a tidy workplace, a digital one included.
What you mean to others
You let AI take over the manual work of business owners, such as customer questions and follow-up. That system keeps running, even while you are at swimming lessons.
What it brings you
Grateful clients and recurring work, because nobody wants to lose a system that saves them time.
💻AI VibecoderAnalytical
Builds custom apps and software
Suits
For people who like puzzles, think logically and enjoy figuring out how things work.
What you mean to others
You build tools and apps for business owners, by telling AI what you want. Puzzle work you can do perfectly well in a quiet hour at the kitchen table.
What it brings you
The finest custom projects. It is the most advanced profile though: expect a bit more steering, that is part of it.
💡 Max's tip
Torn between two? Start with the skill you feel like doing most. You combine later, once the first one runs well.
Earning models
What you can earn with it
What you earn depends on your offer, your clients and your effort, so I make no promises about that. I will tell you how to set it up smartly. Roughly speaking there are four ways to sell your work.
⏱️
By the hour
You charge for every hour you work.
Pros
Easy to start with
Fair and simple to explain
Cons
You only earn while you work
Work faster with AI and you earn less
📦
Per project
You agree a fixed price for a clearly scoped result.
Pros
Your client knows where they stand
Work smartly with AI and you keep time to spare
Cons
After every project you look for the next job
Your income goes up and down per month
🔁
Subscription
Your client pays monthly for a service that keeps running.
Pros
Predictable, month after month
Every new client stacks on top of the last
Cons
Harder to start with before you have proven results
You keep delivering every month
⭐⭐ Our favourite
Project plus subscription
You build something custom for a fixed price. After that your client pays monthly for use, maintenance and improvements.
Pros
A solid start and an ongoing base
Your client stays helped, you build something up
Cons
Needs an offer that keeps working after delivery
⭐
Why this is our favourite: every client you help, stays. A monthly base brings calm in a week when a child is home sick, and you need to chase new jobs less and less. That is where the freedom is.
Finding clients
Four routes to your first clients
You do not have to start with strangers. Pick one route, do it well, and add another one later.
🤝01→ Start here
People you already know
Parents at the school gate, the coach at the sports club, your former colleagues. Everyone knows someone with a business. Tell them what you do, without a sales pitch, and ask what they run into.
✍️02
Online content about one topic
Share what you learn and build on one channel. You do not have to post every day: one fixed moment a week, prepared in your own blocks, is enough.
📞03
Contacting businesses directly
Pick a kind of business you understand, for example from your old job, and send a personal message with one concrete idea. Short, targeted and at a moment that suits you.
📢04⭐ Our favourite
Advertising
Once you have a good product and know who your audience is, advertising is the fastest way to grow. It takes a small investment, but you no longer depend on luck or on your calendar.
Your route map
From your weekly schedule to your first client
Ten stops, in this order. Tick off what you have done: your ticks are saved on this device.
0 of 10 done0%
🚩Start
✓Your first client
💡 Max's tip
You do not have to do everything at once. One skill, one offer, one client. The kids grow up and your business grows along.
Your canvas
Everything you chose, on one page
Your goal, what is in your way, your experience, your skill, your earning model, your client route and your route map in one overview, with a conclusion that writes itself from your choices. Save it as a PDF or stick it on your fridge.
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02
03
04
05
✓
What next
Which route suits you?
We have several concepts: a training programme, a business in a box, ready-made apps to license, implementation programmes and coaching tracks. Which one suits you depends on your goal, so we would love to talk that through with you.
Want to taste in practice which skillset suits you best and set up a first plan straight away? Then choose the tasting, the AI Starter programme.
Want to build seriously, or do you already have something running that you want to scale? Then the Founder or Builder track probably fits, and it is good to talk briefly about which route helps you most.
Remote SkillsFree · Step by step plan
Max from Remote SkillsWorks from Portugal and builds in public