Gil is confident. He happily reports that he makes the best outdoor furniture in the world and that it is made to last 100 years.

Topic for Discussion: What would happen if you had that attitude?

Answer: This attitude will drive you to improve. Until you are confident that you are the best in the world, you have to work very hard to achieve that status. You have to have knowledgeable customers, vendors and industry experts say you are the best in the world.

This attitude will also force you to think long-range. Being the best, making something that is to last beyond one's lifetime is a worthy and time-consuming goal. For Gil, it is clarifying and this brings us to the big point. You have to be where your customers are. From the beginning, Gil knew he needed interior designers and architects to be his sales channel. This led him to the conclusion that Weatherend Estate Furniture must advertise in high-end print publications that are read by designers and architects.

Seems simple but the first question you have to ask yourself is where are your customers? Where do they hang out? What do they read? What other products and services do they buy? How do they buy them?

Increasingly Gil is also about custom craftsmanship -- one-to-one marketing. He says on the web, "Weatherend Estate Furniture has the engineering and manufacturing capabilities to offer revisions to our standard product to fit your individual needs."

You think about it: Can you describe your core customer? How do you reach them now? What should you be doing that you are not now doing to reach more customers like the ones you have now?