Careers & Work

The career climate for women is changing - find out how many modern mums are successfully fitting work around their home and family life

Today, there are almost one million women-owned businesses in the UK, making up over a quarter of all firms, and the numbers are growing. According to the Office for National Statistics, around half a million women work from home. One particular growth area is online business, which enables many mums who want to pursue a career, or continue to make money, the opportunity to work from home. There's even a recognised term for work-at-home mums - WAHs. We spoke to three online WAHs to find out how they set up, what has changed in their lives and how successful they are.

Emma Isherwood, 30, from Aberystwyth, is mum to Thomas, 17 months. She and her husband, Andrew, a web designer, came up with the idea for their interactive listings site soon after Thomas was born

"When I was on maternity leave, we found it hard to find baby-friendly places to visit with good changing facilities. Andrew and I searched the Internet and couldn't find a one-stop listings site, so we set up our own. Now we cover family-friendly establishments and organisations in general: restaurants, pubs, holiday venues, shopping centres - anything and everything parents want to review with facilities for babies and children up to teenage.

"What's great about the site is that parents' views are objective - which is why we didn't want to be funded by advertisers, so we're a non-profit making set-up. We do have a few banner ads to cover the charge for hosting the site (about £30 a year), but the aim is purely to help other parents as well as ourselves. Having said that, a sponsorship deal would help with promotional costs.

"It wasn't hard to set up the site because Andrew does it for a living. I'm still working full-time as a promotions assistant for an environmental research organisation and we run the site around our jobs. It doesn't take up a massive amount of time because the input comes from other parents. Most of our time is spent advertising our service at nurseries and other places that might be able to benefit, as well as checking entries for any unsuitable content.

"One day, if our database builds up enough, we might consider selling the site, but at the moment we're really enjoying running it."

Sadie Foster, 24, from Coventry, is mum to Callista, 4, and Aiden, 2. Sadie has set herself up as an online web designer. Her husband, Justin, is a development manager for a computer software company

"I first got the idea of becoming a freelance online web designer when I was pregnant with Callista, but it didn't come to fruition until after Aiden was born. In between times, I'd been at university, studying business IT, as well as working part-time as a web designer for an outside company, where I developed my skills.

"Every business needs a website, so I knew the client base was out there; my success depended on whether I could get a decent portfolio together. To begin with I posted notices on the 'forums' sections of websites for working mums. Eventually I set up as a sole trader, which was relatively straightforward as I had a basic knowledge of the legal side from my university course. I already knew how to register domain names because I'd set them up for my children, and I'd taught myself how to design a website while I was temping. There are also lots of online tutorials, most of which are free of charge.

"Running my own business is much more lucrative than working for someone else because I don't have any childcare or travelling costs. The main chunk of my income comes from large corporate companies. I tailor the charge for my service depending on the complexity of what's required, and I have a special package for work-at-home (WAH) mums, with a standard charge of £60. Recently I bought a dedicated server and invested in new software, which has eaten into my earnings, but I'm working towards getting into profit, and I should have broken even by the end of this tax year.

"For the most part, my job means I can work around the children. They both go to a nursery a couple of days a week because we believe it's important for their social development, so that gives me a bit more time to work solidly. I'm glad I've made the decision to work for myself - I wouldn't change that now."

Nadine Lewis, 34, is mum to Abbie, 6, and four-year-old twins Jordan and Lauren. She and her husband, David, live in Manchester, where Nadine has set up a child identity-tag business

"I returned to my job as a human resources (HR) manager after I had Abbie, but when we found out I was having twins, we knew we couldn't afford the childcare. When the babies were about ten weeks old, I set up a virtual assistant and HR consultancy from home, and it was while I was doing this that I had the brainwave for my identity-tag business.

"The idea hit me at 2.30am, and I jumped out of bed, registered the business name and started working on a business plan straight away. By the morning I had my first children's identity card set up! It was designed to attach to a child's car seat giving medical and contact information in case of an accident.

"I needed some specialist equipment to get going, so I bought an ID card printer for £4,500 on my credit card, did my research, including contacting the emergency services, and set up that way. I had to invest about £15,000 in equipment, promotions, stock and office stationery, but the business quickly took off. I soon started getting requests for ID wristbands, which I started printing at home. Now I have a big dedicated office where my dining room used to be, whereas at the beginning I was working on the kitchen table.

"I would be in profit if I stopped investing so much in the business, but I believe you have to plough a lot back in to make it grow. I try to do the majority of work during the school day, but I still have to take phone calls after the children come home. At least I'm here for them and don't have problems with childcare, sickness or being snowed in - and I'm still spending 100 per cent more time with them than if I had gone back to work. I've even become a school governor.

"I've got loads of work through word-of-mouth, repeat business and my website. Disabled groups who are amongst my biggest clients: the parents are perhaps more aware of their children getting lost or injured. There's information to pass on, especially if a child is deaf, can't speak or has particular mental or physical disabilities that would prevent them from being able to give information clearly and concisely.

"My busiest time inevitably is during the school holidays: it only takes one child to go missing on a beach and parents go into a panic, get a wristband and tell a friend. I love what I do, and I'll be even happier when I can pay myself a proper salary, which I hope will be sometime soon."