4. Polish your presentation. You only get one shot, make sure your presentation, both your pitch and your business plan, is best you can make it. Practice, practice, practice.

5. Be realistic. Being unrealistic is most critical mistake entrepreneurs make in their business plan according to angel investors. Be realistic in time needed to obtain financing, amount of effort required, and in determining amount of capital required.

The point is this: don't worry about "right" way to do your business, but rather worry about what works! Just because others in your field do things a certain way doesn't mean that you have to as well. I think it's important to stand out from crowd, so don't be shy! I walked around that book fair (which drew 75,000 people first day) in a bright white terrycloth bathrobe with a sign proclaiming myself as "The Stay-at-Home CEO"! Do you think that other authors were doing that, or anything remotely like it?

We have a local tourist-oriented magazine and it carries a number of advertisements from real-estate professionals. One particular page caught my attention because there were at least a dozen business-card-size ads that were virtually identical except for photos. I was astonished. What is it that would cause a reader to pick one particular agent out of crowd?

So, write your own rules. They are only ones that matter.