The Million-Dollar Proposals

The word "Strategy" is from the Greek word "strategos" meaning an army general. For you to do proper research, you must think like the military intelligence; paying much attention to details, because in warfare, life, death, civilization and even the future of a nation depend on it - and in this case, your money depends on it! Borrowing from the philosophy of one of the greatest military general and philosophers of all time - Sun Tzu, in his book "The Art of War" listed out means of doing a thorough and detailed assessment to ensure victory in battle; do not forget in this case, you landing the financing. Now I am going to use the things he taught literally in his time, where civilization depended on warfare as metaphors in these times of negotiation yet filled with clashes of interest and harsh competition. So in the next pages of this book, I would have you think like a Military general, but act like a businessman - not difficult right? "A good Military General in his assessment for warfare must consider the way, the weather, the terrain, the leadership, and the discipline, not only of the enemy troop but of his army" - Sun Tzu THE TERRAIN (PLACE OF COMBAT, REALITY)A good general also considers the best terrains to place his fight, or he checks the terrain where a fight would hold and prepare his troop for it; would it be in an open field, a valley, rocky plain, swampy area, forest, sea whatever the case maybe. He must ascertain the terrain for the fight - to prepare his soldiers for what to expect and convert the forces of nature to weapons on their side. A general ignorant of the terrain may find himself trying to adapt to a terrain first rather than winning and will lose the battle to his more prepared foe. So beyond the maps and the compasses, the general must be conversant with the terrain of the clash. Secondly, the general may not necessarily be at the forefront; he can take a step backward and have a bird's eye view of the terrain to know how to swing everything to his advantage.Now, in your strategic research, you must understudy your client or investor, be it a business person or an organization. Sometimes the map differs from the actual terrain, so what you read in books and statistics may not suffice; engage the people! Statistics only makes sense when you can relate it with day to day activities. Find a spy, an insider, and get the answers you need. You need to get first-hand information about the organization you seek to get investment from.Also, you must learn to also step back and see the big picture. Most times, it might not exactly be about your expertise, you can step back to see reasons why the funds may not be given to you and tackle them; they could be government and economic policies et cetera, all I am just saying is, sometimes you need to step back and look at other areas that have anything to do with that field of business and see if there is anything that can affect the possibility of you getting the funds you desire. Stepping back might need the help of other experts in other areas who should be a part of your team, but make sure your overview is holistic so that nothing falls into your scotoma.THE LEADERSHIP (MERGING TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE FACTORS)The general sets the tone for speed, chain of command, fluidity or rigidity in navigation and all kinds of maneuvers that will get them the victory. Mostly his ability to make these decisions depends on his ability to marry the tangible factors and the intangible factors. His leadership is what creates the morale of his army and morale in the soul is worth more than swords at hand - morale is the live-blood of the army.So his combination of resources and instincts, reality and his masterfully crafted words to create bliss of raging emotions in the battlefield can be a deciding factor for victory.