As business adviser Lisa Butler says, if you wait for the best time to set up a new venture, you would wait for ever. But even she had second thoughts when she realised that she would have a ten-week-old baby when her company, Adhere Training, was due to launch.

"I had managed skills advisers for four years and I had the qualification. It was really a matter of waiting for the right time — but there never is a right time, really.

"I haven't really had time to think about how mad it is to start so soon after giving birth. But if the economy was more buoyant, premises would be more expensive, salaries would be higher and perhaps competition greater.

She added: "I had set myself a date of Easter 2010, and I happened to get pregnant with my fourth child. I wondered if I should put the business on the back-burner, but then I had the offer of redundancy, and I thought it would be silly not to go for it."

She had spent seven years working with Business Link, advising small and medium-size businesses, following her first maternity break for her oldest boys, twins now aged 12.

"I had spent the past four years talking to companies about their training needs and I had a good idea of what smaller businesses want.

"There's a bit of a gap in the market for smaller businesses. They can't afford to have trainers in because there are not enough of them. I wanted to develop open workshops, where the training takes place on a set date and they can join other companies. I also offer bespoke and in-house training.

"I have been surprised how many sizeable companies there are locally, and I am building up a network of associates who can provide specialised finance training or IT training."

The birth of Esther, now four months old, has led to her becoming expert in outsourcing. At first she created a virtual office with a shared receptionist, but has now moved into her own serviced office.

"At the moment we are relying on grandparents to do the childcare, so it was quite noisy at home, especially in the school holidays," she said.

Three of her first courses, on management training, equality and marketing, have been fully booked, but she is not resting on her laurels.

"As a new business I am having to put in a lot of hours to build the profile of the organisation, telling people about us and what we do. I'm hoping that despite the downturn, companies understand that they need to choose the right training. It's an investment and they should see the return."

She is hoping that eventually running her own business will mean a good work-life balance. "Hopefully, once the business is running well it will allow me to take time out in the school holidays and get my associates to deliver the training."