Mum of two Rosie Forsyth, 40, tells Motherswhowork.co.uk how she juggles working for herself as a chartered accountant with family life, and how her second child gave her the final push to use her years of experience as a chartered accountant to bite the bullet and establish her own business.
What work did you do before you set up your company?
I worked for Grant Thornton.
How did you fund the business?
From savings.
Profit in first year
£3,000
What was the motivating factor for staring your own business?
Having my second son! I couldn’t imagine getting a toddler and a baby to nursery and to be in work looking respectable for 8.30am. There had to be another way! I had always thought about doing it, but it was too easy not to make the leap before – the kids gave me the opportunity.
What do you enjoy most about running your own business?
Without doubt the flexibility! I can be in the playground to pick up my sons when school finishes, and I don’t need permission to go to sports day and can fit in a game of tennis on a nice sunny day! Oh – and be there to empty the washing machine!
Running a business can be a mixed bag sometimes. What have been you highs and lows so far?
The low point was getting a letter from the Inland Revenue on Christmas Eve saying they were about to investigate my 80-year-old client for unpaid tax of £40,000. (They had got it completely wrong and she didn’t owe a penny, but it ruined my Christmas!)
The high points are having clients who appreciate you and recommend you to their friends. A chance conversation with a mum recently resulted in me helping her with her tax return and going back over three years to get her £15,000 back!
How have you managed to stay on top of your career with the demands of motherhood while running a business?
It’s vital to keep up to date technically and I belong to a group that runs lots of seminars to help with that. You have to be prepared to work odd hours sometimes, when the kids are in bed, or to send hubby out with them for a few hours at the weekend if you need to catch up. It also helps if you aren’t house-proud!!
How has running your business impacted on your relationship with your partner and children?
It’s been great. If you are happy with what you are doing, it rubs off on everyone. They are all really supportive and the kids appreciate that I am around after school even if I need to make phone calls etc. They do laugh, though, when I appear in the morning in a skirt and make up as I’m obviously going “out to work today!”
Any tips for expectant mums, or mothers who feel that you can’t have a successful career and a happy family life at the same time?
Go for it! You do need to be organised, but you really won’t miss that long commute to work and the office politics! There are some great friendly networking groups around if you are worried you will be lonely.
It can be a daunting prospect going it alone, but if you get things in order from the start, it’s much easier later on. You will also find skills you never knew you had – and the kids will love you when you realise you never quite got to the shops, so its pizza for supper!
