0816_TOEFL-Test-and-Score-Manual-1997

Money Matters ● 55
So, consider joining forces with a bigger, well-financed partner to bring
your product to market.
Here are some things to consider before you craft a strategic alliance:
• Set clear goals for what each partner hopes to accomplish.
• Clarify exactly what each party has committed to do to move the project
forward.
• Specify who will be the key players and how they intend to communicate
with everyone involved.
• Try working on a small project together before launching a major
initiative.
• Regularly review the success of the project and make changes to
improve it.
GREAT
Even Out Your Cash Flow
Running a seasonal business is challenging, but there
IDEA
are strategies to manage cash flow in order to make
it through the slow times of the year.
Paula Wolff, a former certified public accountant (CPA) with a major
firm who also served as an interim chief financial officer (CFO) with a
biotech company, agreed to help her son, Barry, expand Seasonal Solutions,
his Overland Park, Kansas–based landscaping business. After he lost his
job when Lehmann Brothers collapsed, he went into the commercial real
estate and property management business.
Landscaping companies in the Midwest are busier in the summer than
the winter, so the mother-and-son team needed to figure out more ways
to keep their six full-time employees busy all year round. (They hire more
help during the summer.)
“We expanded our services to think out of the box,” said Wolff. “We are
also good about asking for business.”
For example, in addition to doing lawn care and maintenance, Seasonal
Solutions can install a sprinkler system or build an outdoor kitchen.