One of reasons this happens is that our gifts - things that come very easily to us – are often ignored, or smothered by other duties. Let me explain.

One client of mine, a marketing strategist, built his business using his natural strength (gift) of building relationships. He loved connecting with clients, meeting new people, and personally interacting with others. However, as other business responsibilities set in, he found himself laying his primary strength aside and devoting more time to mundane duties. The result? He began to degrade in his level of excellence. Without focusing his contribution to business on his strength – he, personally and professionally, started to suffer.

Once he acknowledged this - he readjusted his schedule, dropped all administrative tasks that did not require his personal attention, and devoted two-hours of his time to re-cultivating old relationships and building new ones. Within a few months, his business boomed, he felt great and he had more time.

Are you like me? Are you unsure of what your natural gifts are? It took me a long time to realize mine. The tips below will help you pinpoint strengths you have that can lead you down path to excellence. 1.Make a list of specific things (no more than three) that come easily for you. You may not see them as “special” (like my ability to ask right questions) but if you are naturally adept at them, write them on your list. 2.Decide how committed are you to dedicating money and time to developing your gifts.

3.If you are willing to do what is needed to develop these strengths, set some deadlines. Research classes, activities or counselors who can help you expand on your gifts.

4.Find a “mentor” or someone else who will support you in your efforts to excel.

5.Put a measurable return on your investment. Create a list of reasonable accomplishments that you hope to make after developing your gifts.

6.Think big! Who is your role model, who is expert in your field? Study them and then see if you like any of their development strategies.

The key here is to remain persistent with development of your strengths. Many people have paid great sums of money for help of experts. If you do not feel you are able to grow solely with help of a mentor, by all means – hire a coach or consultant. The end result of having peace and confidence in your personal and professional life will be well worth cost!

Round three in dealing with venture capitalists or corporate investors. Don’t (never!) be so desperate for capital that you agree to turn over reins of company if you don’t meet specific performance milestones based on a first or second round of funding. There are too many variables in marketplace for you too control and you’re taking too much risk for not enough upside. If this is only way you can raise money from this venture firm or corporate investor then walk away, in end you will be better off.

Here are some “cliff notes” on how to write a business plan - there is no set formula other than covering basics about your company; i.e. technology, market analysis, marketing/business development, competitive analysis, management team and a five year set of (detailed by month from startup to year three) financials. The Executive Summary (first 3-5 pages) is most important, as it is a summary of entire plan and most investors read this carefully and scan rest of business plan.

Don’t get caught in trap of endless rewrites based on investor feedback – put your plan through one or two reviews by your BOD members and or seasoned execs that will give you honest feedback. Once plan has been reviewed and approved then go to market with this iteration and stick to it – investors should be investing in you ultimately, not an artificial business plan that more often than not is out of date by time you get to market.

Think about how you are going to market your company as you would any other product or service, blending traditional (fax, direct mail) with interactive processes (web site postings, e-mail, etc.). It’s a numbers game, you have to aggressively market your company and be prepared to see a return of only 1-3% versus your output – 1K in direct or opt-in email may only lead to 10-20 casual inquiries, generating 5-7 serious conversations, resulting in 1-3 term sheets (what we will invest for “x” equity) discussions.

Finally, last and most important rule of all is be tenacious, there is no substitute for absolute commitment to growing your company by raising capital or bootstrapping it! Your vision, guts and passion will very often carry day when/where others may give up!!

Lee Traupel has 20 plus years of business development and marketing experience - he is the founder of Intelective Communications, Inc. http://www.intelective.com, a marketing services and software company. Lee@intelective.com Reprinted with permission from Intelective Communications - this article may be reprinted freely, providing this attribution box remains intact. (c) 2001-2002 by Intelective Communications, Inc.