1. Outline Cheryl's choices. Summarize the strengths and weaknesses of each. 2. Are there any personal factors that will affect Cheryl'sdecision? Explain. 3. If you were Cheryl, what would you do? Why? In late February of 1987, Cheryl Roche suddenly faced a situation that threatened the very survival of her business. After fourteen months of operating Career Fashions, Cheryl's business partner, Carolyn Knox, had decided to leave the company and pursue other interests. Cheryl wondered how she should deal with losing the only expertise the business had in design and production, which were crucial to the success of Career Fashions. Company Background In late 1985, Cheryl Roche had been managing her own used furniture and antique store in Montague, Prince Edward Island. Prior to that she had studied Business at Holland College in Charlottetown. Because the used furniture and antique business is seasonal, Cheryl found herself with a great deal of time on her hands. As she puts it: I really had too much free time and found it boring to wait in my store for customers during the off-season. I looked around and decided to study the market for clothing, so I constructed a little survey and administered it myself. When I look at that survey now, I'm amazed at how simplistic it seems to me, but it identifies uniforms as a market and I went with the results. That wasn't the only reason I decided to start the new business. I wanted to use my skills, and knew the opportunities would be limited if I worked for someone else. Also, I wouldn't have the opportunity to make as much money if I worked for another company, and let's face it, the number of jobs in Montague are limited. But don't get the wrong idea; personal satisfaction was my driving force. The questionnaire was constructed by Cheryl using information from one of her business courses; it was quite short and very basic. The questionnaire identified the respondents' age and income groups and whether or not they were employed. It then asked about the type of clothing respondents bought and where they purchased it. One question asked if there were any problems with clothing available on the market. Cheryl administered the questionnaire by telephone to women who worked in nursing homes and hospitals. An interesting piece of information Cheryl obtained was that many women who wore uniforms on the job were dissatisfied with the design, comfort, and availability. The same point was made by nurses, waitresses and nursing home workers. Based on that data, Cheryl decided to manufacture and market uniforms for women in the service industries. Cheryl asked her sister, Carolyn, to join her in the new company. Carolyn had a background in fashion technique design and, therefore, would be a valuable person who could design the clothing and run the production line. Carolyn agreed to join, and the two women, who were very close, formed Career Fashions in December of 1986. The start up of Career Fashions had proven to .