Adoption Agency
Start-up cost: $5,000–$125,000
Potential earnings: $200,000–$600,000+
Typical fees: $12,000–$30,000 for each local and international adoption
The 200 Best Home Businesses 3
Advertising: Local family publications, adoption magazines, Web site
with photo-listing of Waiting Children and plenty of
adoption resources, banner ads on related Web sites of
interest, registration with search engines, referrals
Qualifications: Must be licensed by state and/or county
Equipment needed: Office furniture, phone, computers with Internet access,
letterhead
Staff required: Yes—will need at least one licensed social worker to do
home studies and possibly a team of folks to handle and
review adoption paperwork
Hidden costs: Notary services; postage; long-distance phone calls,
particularly to foreign countries
What You Do
For some, the dream of having a child in their family would never be realized
without the services of a qualified adoption agency. You can specialize in private,
local adoptions or include international adoptions from a list of specifi c countries
from which you’ve received permission to help place children in need of homes.
Whether the child is from China, Korea, India, Russia, or your home state here
in the United States, you will have to scrutinize potential parents through the
required home study process, match them with children who are the best fi t, then
off er counseling and support as the parents and child are united. You can also help
children born with special needs find the good homes they so deserve. Th is is a
business in which the blessings far exceed any financial benefits. Many adoption
agencies carry high overhead, so what seems like a fortune in potential earnings
can actually be off set a bit by the costs of staffing and running a busy agency. Still,
there are plenty of good reasons to choose this line of work, such as the more than
four million children currently residing in orphanages worldwide.
What You Need
You will need to staff an office with everything from people to computers, since
few hopeful parents would be willing to pay huge fees to someone who’s a sole
proprietor running an adoption agency out of his or her home. You need to instill
confidence in your abilities and qualifications from the outset, and then work hard
to keep your reputation intact in what can be a volatile business. It’s not unusual
for a birth mother in the United States to decide to keep her baby at the last
minute, leaving you and your client family back at square one.
Keys to Success
Reputation is everything in this business. You need to be honest and upfront with
your clients about all costs so that they don’t feel you are taking advantage of their
4 The 200 Best Home Businesses
emotional distress over not having a child. Keep posting new testimonials on your
Web site as you receive them—and don’t be afraid to ask for more. Better yet, create
a database of satisfied parents you’ve helped and who are willing to speak to your
prospects about how wonderful you are. Such a list is worth its weight in gold!
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