10. No Herman Miller chairs. No $16 million parties. No corporate jet.
9. Trim head count
8. Outsource services (fulfillment, human relations, ISPs)
7. Know your three C's (Customers, Customers, Customers) Everyone in your company should be selling for you. Your team should be a sales team. Senior management should meet with clients.
6. No Superbowl ads. Empower your CFO. Have your CFO in charge of advertising.
5. Take on profitable projects. Even if they're not part of your business plan, don't turn down money. It's more important to have business, not just follow the plan if it's not bringing in money. Better to have revenue than not.
4. Count your beans. Know your overhead, collections, contributions, variables, costs. Have a good CPA. Cash is king in the new economy.
3. Take the money. If someone extends a term sheet, whatever the terms are --take it. Not many VCs are extending term sheets.
2. Sell out. If you can merge--do it.
1. If all else fails, start another company.
