Alice Weightman: Mums can make it too

Balancing the demands of work and family is one of the challenges of modern life, and most people struggle with it at some point in their lives. For entrepreneurs, the problem of finding a correct work/life balance can be particularly difficult.

Indeed, there's a widespread view that entrepreneurs must be willing to sacrifice everything, including relationships and family, to ensure their business succeeds. But the experience of Alice Weightman (now 40) shows that, with the right support, this doesn't always have to be the case.

Weightman, the founder of communications and marketing search agency Hanson Search, didn't originally intend to work in the recruitment sector. At the prompting of her parents, she began training as a lawyer so she could help the family farming business sort out boundary disputes and other day-to-day legal problems.

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However, her studies at the University of Leeds and the Guildford School of Law convinced her that law was not the career for her. So in 1999 she set up a fashion label (Alice & Astrid) after meeting with a cloth supplier while on holiday in India.

While the label enjoyed modest success, and sold to Harrods and Liberty, Weightman realised that the business "wouldn't make much money". Many of her friends were enjoying great success as recruiters, so she decided to follow their example and in 2001 she joinedJPA Recruitment. She liked the work, and the following year she left to set up her own company with her partner, serial entrepreneur Kayode Dauda.

As with most new firms, Hanson faced the challenge of competing with more established rivals. But Weightmanfaced a further problem: establishing a business while expecting the birth of her daughter, Amirah, in November 2003.

As a result of working from "8am to 8pm" in the last weeks of her pregnancy she developed shingles. Despite this, she was back in the office only two weeks after giving birth. Overall, she says that she wouldn't have managed without the help of Dauda, who cut back his hours to help with the childcare.

Her efforts paid off as Hanson began to take on clients. A major breakthrough came when a dotcom healthcare firm hired her to recruit some junior staff. They were so impressed that they used her again to find some senior managers.

While the firm is still heavily involved in the healthcare industry, Hanson now works for a wide range of sectors and Weightman manages a staff of 22, across offices in London, Paris and Dubai. Together they are on track to bring in revenue of nearly £2m this year.

These experiences have made Weightman keen to help other working mothers.In addition to co-writing a report on the topic, last year she set up The Work Crowd, a website for freelancers in communications and marketing. While the site is open to anyone, she hopes that matching employers with workers will stop women with children dropping out of the workforce completely.

Weightman's main recommendation for entrepreneurs is to "ask a lot of questions and evaluate the risks". But once they have drawn up a strategy, they should go for it. "Don't get discouraged by focusing on your mistakes," she advises.