5-Minute Interview: Howard Baskin, chairman, Big Cat rescue

The sanctuary was very similar, except nonprofit. Learning abour the nonprofit world has been an interesting challenge, but the similarities far outweigh the differences.

We went from useless financial statements to detailed, audited financials that let us make intelligent decisions. We started with the “low-hanging fruit,” — the place I thought it was easiest to build revenue, the tours. As we generated modest surpluses and Carole could spend less time worrying about whether the cats would be fed, she focused on building her Web skills and the Web content while I networked and obtained donated advertising to build the tour traffic.