THE FIRST THIRTY DAYS

The order of work is the same whether you’ve just decided to take cash seriously or inherited a brand short of it. See the quarter, measure the cycle, shorten the supply side, and only then sell in advance: a preorder program without a forecast is a new way to run out of cash.

1. Week one: see itPull every bank balance and 90 days of payout reports. List every open purchase order with its remaining payments and dates. Build the first 13-week forecast and set the floor (chapter 13). Hold the first weekly meeting on Friday, however rough the forecast.
2. Week two: measure itRun the cycle tool for your top three product families (chapter 3) and the growth tool on this year’s plan (chapter 2). Pull the outstanding balance of every kind of float and ask your accountant, in writing, about breakage and unclaimed property (chapter 8). Split last quarter’s cash by new and returning customers (chapter 9).
3. Week three: the supply sideRun the price-break rule on the next three purchase orders, and ask for the bigger order’s price on scheduled releases (chapter 10). Send the terms request to your two largest suppliers (chapter 11). Flag every product over 26 weeks of cover and decide what happens to it.
4. Week four: customers fund itPlan the next launch or restock as three tranches with existing customers first, run the preorder tool, and write the delay notice before it opens (chapter 6, chapter 7). Put the scorecard beside the forecast (chapter 14). If the growth tool said you need outside cash, start the financing conversation now (chapter 12).

At day thirty the cycle won’t be shorter yet; orders and terms take a quarter to flow through. You’ll have the next thirteen weeks in view, a number for the cycle, and a plan for who pays for the next round of growth.

See the quarter, then shorten the cycle, then let customers fund it. In that order.

Do this

• Put the four weeks on the calendar today, with an owner for each line. Score the audit in chapter 1 again at day ninety.