AIP 1.19 Strategies, Organizational Goals, and Management Accounting LO 2, 3, 4 In 2003, William Aldo found an opportunity to enter the skateboard business. Prior to becoming a Canadian chartered accountant (CA) and specialist in mergers and acquisitions, Aldo was an avid skateboarder, winning numerous competitions in his teens and early twenties. Through his Cancon Group of companies, he dealt with a base of clients who had businesses that they were looking to sell or expand. As a result, Aldo was on a first-name basis with numerous entrepreneurs. That year, a friend called Aldo with a proposition. One of his clients had died suddenly, leaving behind a chain of skateboard shops located around British Columbia, but mainly in smaller cities and suburbs around Vancouver. The individual had not planned for any successors to carry on the business. There were 13 stores with sales of about $4 million (CDN) per year. Although Aldo was making a good living as a consultant, he decided to combine his business expertise with his skateboarding passion. Aldo could see the potential for profits. Skateboard shops in smaller cities did not face the same amount of competition as did stores in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. Also, some of the 13 stores were exclusive sites in smaller shopping malls; these generated higher profit margins. But more importantly, Aldo recognized the need to provide experienced boarding technicians to tune and maintain the increasingly technical boards and components. He hired only accomplished boarders as technicians and sales associates. Once Aldo acquired the board shops, numerous opportunities popped up. With Working Ventures as an equity partner, and cash flow generated from his existing stores, Aldo began a West Coast buying spree, acquiring first KickFlip, a skateboard chain in Seattle that went bankrupt. When the owner of SoCalBoards in Los Angeles died, Aldo purchased the chain of 22 stores, along with its wholesale division, warehouse, and experienced technicians and administrative staff. He purchased a chain of 17 stores owned by SFSkate in Northern California, and then 80 stores run by Rokers in Oregon. Aldo recognized that technology was changing rapidly. He believed that web-based skate- board sites soon would be his primary competition for boards, components, and accessories.