Bea Lewis

Q: When my daughter told me of her plans to go into business and sell her home-baked cookies on line, I was most supportive. Having been a bookkeeper, I offered to set up a financial plan for her. She’s a trained pastry chef and wonderful baker, but knows zilch about making money. She declined my offer and took offense that I had questioned her ability to start her own business. A few weeks later, she told me her friend set up a business plan for her including how banks lend money and how to market her baked goods – the EXACT same input I had given her. Why was her friend’s advice accepted and not mine?

A: I posed this question to my daughter, Jennifer, who said she could understand the daughter’s resistance to be helped by her mother. Although her mother says she “is most supportive,’’ she doesn’t sound like she trusts her daughter to handle the responsibility of running a business – and that came through loud and clear. Personally, said Jennifer, I, too, would probably go elsewhere to learn the business information I need to embark on a new endeavor, but what I would want from my mom is for her to tell he she is proud of me and offer to be of help if I ASKED her for it.