You started a business and wisely crafted a well-thought out long-term strategic plan. It includes ways to build brand awareness and influence your target market. You thoughtfully outlined ways to capitalize on your company's strengths and overcome weaknesses. To do so, you used a wide-eyed and sober consideration of threats and opportunities. But your bank and power company won’t wait for your plan to come to fruition for you to pay the bills. How do you score customers super fast?

This is a dilemma faced by almost every entrepreneur and startup venture on the planet. Sometimes a new company is temporarily capitalized by investors, but often it's not. Managing that precarious gap between a successful launch and sufficient cash flow can create sleepless nights and nail-biting anxiety. Here are four ways in the short run to put a jingle in the cash drawer:

Don't make customers come to you. The kid who took his lemonade stand door-to-door made a lot more summer cash than the teen on the corner waiting for the next passerby. Pop-up restaurants in office buildings are the rage in major cities for employees when their limited lunchtime impinges on their going out to a brick-and-mortar sit-down restaurant.

1. TAKE THE BUSINESS TO CUSTOMERS.

Instead of selling one item at a time, consider bundling products or services. (Or unbundle a product or service to sell a single product at a time.) What about a co-op approach? Look at price incentives tied to contributions to charities, affinity programs and valued discounts. Add a product to your service or a service to your product. While respecting the tax code, could you trade goods and services you have for goods and services you need?

2. REFRAME THE PRICING OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES.

Mentoring customers builds rapid trust and creates a story that customers will quickly take viral. Customers today value the organizations that help them stay on the cutting edge in their ever-changing world. Brainstorm to figure out the key questions that your customers have and look for unique ways to provide them the wisdom they value.

3. BE A VALUED MENTOR TO CUSTOMERS.

Sometimes creating a reputation for being innovative can lasso the hearts and funds of new customers. What would costuming do for your business? What if you arranged for a group of elementary students to decorate your establishment or contribute to your website? Could you turn the parking area on its ear or have fun with your phone greeting? What role could music, food or special aromas play in your enterprise? Look for ways to put some or all these ideas into practice to stave off creditors as you put out the welcome mat for customers. But always remember that transactions aimed at securing quick revenue should always be done with a long-term relationship in mind. If your customers view your tactics as simply a one-night stand, they'll make certain you never get another chance to win them back.

4. PROCURE BUZZ-WORTHY CREATIVE WORK.