Women often face a tough decision after having a baby – should they return to the workforce or should they forget about their career and concentrate on being a stay-at-home mum?

There are pros and cons with either choice, but an increasing number of Irish women have settled on a third way, by deciding to enjoy the best of both worlds and setting up a business from home.

There is even a glossy new name for these ladies – kitchen table tycoons.

The phrase was originally coined by an expert at the London School of Economics and is now the title of an excellent new book by British journalist Anita Naik.

Naik combines looking after her daughter with running a successful writing business from the comfort of her own home.

She explains that it can work very well but, of course, there are some drawbacks to be aware of, including the fact that, without the social aspect of going out into a crowded workplace, there is the risk it can feel isolating and lonely.

One of the biggest helps for ‘Work At Home Mums' (WAHMs) is the wonderful flexibility and freedom that the internet offers.

Mums can run online businesses, selling everything from children's clothes to greeting cards and jewellery.

Their work is just a click of a mouse button away and can be dealt with at any time of the day and night, meaning mums can work around family commitments.

While the kids are in school or the creche, or when they are in bed at night, mums can focus on the job at hand, without the hassles generally associated with going out to work: commuting, office politics, etc.

And while it can take time to build up a business, most WAHMs enjoy running their own show.

A UK survey last year found that two thirds of kitchen table tycoons said they took more satisfaction from running their own business than in their previous job, working for someone else away from the home.

For more information and advice on setting up business in your own home, visit

www.iamawahm.com

www.irishbusinesswomen.com

Getting creative with cards

Lindsay Bond O’Neill from north Dublin returned to fulltime employment after giving birth to her first son three years ago.

“I realised after a few months that working full-time wasn’t going to work out and that I wanted to be at home with him,” she says.

“But I still wanted to do something that gave me a bit of an outlet.”

Lindsay (37) had always had an interest in arts and crafts and had been making up cards as a hobby.

“Friends and family suggested that I could make it into a business and I did some research to see if there would be a market.”

Lindsay launched her business, Creative Bond (www.creativebond.ie), almost two years ago.

She creates custom-made cards for a range of occasions including birth announcements, christening invitations and she also makes up photo-montages.

“I'm still building the business so I do some parttime consulting work for my former employer,” she says.

“It’s great that I have no commuting and can spend more time with my two boys, Logan and Justin.

“It can be challenging to separate work and home so that you can focus time on the business. The good thing is that I can manage my time so I can often work at night when the boys are in bed.

“The long-term plan is that I can build the business more as the boys get older.

“I think that working from home can work well but mums need to have either a skill or a good idea for a business.”

Designing delights

Carol Shaw from Rathfarnham, Dublin, runs her bespoke handmade jewellery business from home.

She has two sons, Stephen (17) and Andrew (13).

“I gave up working after having Andrew but when the kids were a little older, I studied interior design and worked part-time.

“I really loved my job but it was starting to take away from family time, so I decided to leave.”

In the intervening years, Carol tried her hand at a couple of endeavours, including card-making and cake-decorating.

When Andrew started secondary school, Carol (45) decided to turn her passion for jewellery making into a business.

“I was conscious of the fact that I would have these extra hours in the day and I wanted to try something different,” she says. “Working from home is great because I’m there to help the boys with homework and I can pop out to see my Mum during the day,” she says.

“It's a flexible way of working – I can always bring a tray of beads downstairs in the evening and work on a design. “I don’t feel isolated working at home because I make sure to keep in touch with friends.

“I’ve also found that website forums are a great help because there are other women working at home who can offer advice and tips.

“That help is invaluable when you’re in the midst of setting up your business.” Carol’s website is at:

www.carolshawjewellery.com

Kitting out the kids

Orla Murphy from Swords, Dublin, runs an online school uniform business (www.bobbins.ie).

“It wasn’t initially a webbased business – it was more of a pin-money business,” she says.

“My kids went to school locally but any time I wanted to get any part of their uniform I had to travel for miles to get it.

“Very often when I got there, I found they were out of stock.”

Orla (35), who has three kids, Ellen (10), Adam (9) and Lara (7), thought there should be a better way to buy school uniforms.

In 2006, she decided to put the business on the web and now stocks other types of uniforms along with casual wear. She works from an office in the house and enjoys being with the kids when they get home from school.

“As a child, my mother was a stay-at-home mother. She was always there for us and I wanted the same for my children. As I didn’t have childcare costs to consider, working from home just made sense. Being able to work and be with the kids gives a nice balance to our everyday life.”

But as with all businesses, there are hectic times.

“It used to be really hard to juggle being a stay-at-home mum with running a business when things got busy. Once I got into a routine, that improved somewhat.

“While I would love to say that my business doesn’t impact on our house at all, I’d be lying.

“Let’s just say that the housework sometimes loses in the battle for my attention.”