If you want to up your chances of success, take a page out of the Boy Scout manual and follow these five steps to make sure you’re good and ready to give a winning startup pitch…

Knowing how to effectively make cold contact, whether in the form of a phone call, an email, or an invitation to connect on LinkedIn, is a skill every entrepreneur needs in his or her tool belt. And we’re not talking sales tactics here; it’s all about networking.

With all that you have going on during the early stages of running your own business, you run the risk of neglecting the single most important asset you have at your disposal: yourself!

This article is the first in a series featuring women entrepreneurs, female founders and their companies. We at FundingSage hope these founders’ stories about startup funding will inspire and motivate you as you undertake your own funding journey.