In Business with Mum

The bond between mums and daughters can be fraught with difficulties. In our teens, we often clash non-stop: the notion of working together one day may fill us with horror!

Fast-forward a few years, however, and we realise that our mums can be our most influential and valuable role models. Some even manage to harness a good mother/daughter relationship and make it work in business.

Lisa Donaldson from Kildare recognised that her business skills combined with her mother Carol Hill's twenty years experience in the catering industry could result in a very profitable partnership. Now they're running the hugely successful Half Moon Crêpe Company together in Temple Bar, Dublin, an idea that they had been working on for three long and arduous years before it came to fruition early last year.

Working so closely with Carol was tough for Lisa in the early years. "There was a strain on the relationship at the start because it was manic, such a stressful thing to do. I remember saying afterwards, 'God, I don't know if I would do this again' but a year down and I think 'It wasn't so bad!'" admits Lisa.

"We were waiting for a full year for the premises to be ready and there was a lot of pressure on both of us - if it wasn't builders it was plumbers and neither of us knew much about things like that. When you start having run-ins with family though, you start thinking it's not worth it, especially because we had such a fantastic relationship beforehand. To put a strain on it all for a shop was a lot really and I did wonder if we were doing the right thing."

After their original idea for the property was rejected by Temple Bar Properties, Lisa and Carol were devastated but decided to go for a girlie weekend together to shop for bridal dresses for Lisa's upcoming wedding and also to pick up business ideas.

"That's when we discovered crépes," says Lisa. "Now the business is doing really well, but we still have arguments. Luckily I work from home most of the time doing the suppliers, the accounts, the wages, the wheeling and dealing while Mum manages the shop! We have to meet up twice a week and I would get in to the shop maybe two afternoons a week. I try to get in when she's not there so I can keep an eye on things! We would both have a different approach - Mam would be more aware of the customer and service whereas I would be more aware of the business side of things. I always think in terms of money! But we manage to work out our differences and things are absolutely fine now."

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