Clif Bars Solo Climb

How does Clif 's spending compare to its competitors ? Why are they able to do this and still succeed

Clif 's spending is only about half of what his competitors ' is . Clif uses grassroots marketing efforts instead of the usual ' ways , like television , sponsorships , etc . They look for unique opportunities , such as sponsoring the hotel 's party for the new `green ' rooms , which was cheap . They also go to events and sponsor unknowns , like the teams behind the competitors in the Tour de France . These methods allow them to save on advertising

while still promoting their product to the market they really want

What do you think you would have done in Erickson 's position , when offered the 120 million for the company ? Why

I would not have sold either . Erickson 's reasons were good . In today 's corporate world , selling would have meant all of the things he was worried about - losing his employees , moving the company , being unable to have a creative work environment , not being able to support important causes , and having to answer to someone else . Erickson felt that having the freedom to run his company the way he chose was more important than getting that much money . Since he turned down the offer , Erickson has been able to move more into the organic market and focus on `green charities even more . He also has been able to make his own decisions of this would have been possible had he allowed the buyout . If I had my own company , I would want to do things my way much more than I would want millions of dollars , especially if it came with the kind of strings that came with Erickson 's deal . One of the biggest reasons to start your own company is to have everything within it , and selling out defeats the purpose

Why does the buyout of the former CEO 's stake cause such a cash flow problem for the company

Erickson needed to work out a deal , because although his company is profitable and worth a lot of money , that money is tied up in inventory property , and other non-liquid assets . He could not simply pay the former CEO and be done with it . Instead , he worked out a deal with her basically that he would pay her a certain amount per year to make up the company 's worth . Since he has not finished paying her yet (and since the details of the arrangement weren 't mentioned , he may never be done paying her , a large portion of his profits have to go to her rather than to the company 's other missions

What alternatives do they have besides paying for her stake out of the company 's cash flow ? Why do you think they haven 't pursued those alternatives

Erickson could have chosen to give a division of the company solely to Thomas . Luna bars is a division for women , and he could have divided the company in half and allowed...