business
Leading business mums share their sweet secrets to success with columnist Philippa Hennessy
Wimbledon mews. Legal eagle and mother of two reveals how her business acumen has got her to where she is today. Why did you set up SW19Lawyers? Both founding partners didn't want to go back on the City treadmill working 14 hour days. We wanted a work/life balance. What challenges have you faced?
F
or women with children, a career was once a thing of the past – running the household as the full-time childcarer replaced the commute, the long hours and the boardroom banter. Nowadays, there is just under a one per cent difference between mums who work and women without children who work (Office for National Statistics). Employment rates for mothers peak in the age group 35 to 49 – there is a growing breed of women revelling in a 'second youth,' keen to claw back some independence. They may brush up on old skills,
acquire new skills, pursue a new hobby, return to fulltime work or brave business alone. Wimbledon has seen it all – successful mumpreneurs running delicatessens, hair and beauty boutiques, jewellery enterprises and at the highend, lawyers. Belinda Eriksson, co-founder of SW19Lawyers (www.SW19Lawyers.co.uk), claims that to succeed in any business, you need to be driven and have vision. Since its humble beginnings in 2008 with a makeshift office in the spare bedroom and a handful of old contacts, SW19Lawyers now resides in a fully functional (and rather plush) office in a
• We had a minimal budget, so had to market hard to law firms and banks to get on their referral lists. • Work / home balance - that's why we set up something we
Belinda Eriksson from SW19Lawyers
darlingmagazine.co.uk | summer 2011
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