Entrepreneurs? They're those one-of-a-kind people endowed with the skills and initiative necessary tocreate and successfully market valuable new ideas. They live in the future, have creative personalities and thrive on challenges. They enjoy taking calculated risks and making difficult decisions in order to generate growth and a profit.

Jane Berenson, editor of Inc. magazine, expressed it well when she said, ``Entrepreneurs, by definition, are problem solvers. Show them a really tough problem, and they leap into the fray, finding opportunity where others see disaster.''

Successful entrepreneurs play a key role in developing our economy. Prices, production and the distribution of goods and services are determined mainly by free-market competition.

Just three weeks ago in Washington, D.C., Inc. magazine sponsored The Inc. 500, a three-day entrepreneurial conference. Close to 1,700 entrepreneurs were present as recognition was given to the leaders of the country's fastest-growing companies.

FLORIDA IN TOP TEN

Florida is home to Inc.'s leading growth company and now ranks fifth among the top 10 states, which have 28 fast-growth companies. Ranking No. 1, Northern Capital Insurance had $95 million in sales, up from $476,898 in just three years.

Northern Capital Insurance was founded when Alexander Anthony and Albert Fernandez recognized a worthwhile start-up opportunity: Big insurers had exited from the Florida market. The two entrepreneurs' value proposition focused on creating a superior level of customer service combined with a well-thought-out client relationship process. Funding for Northern Capital came from the sale of their 900-person security-guard company.

Northern Capital's exceptional growth is attributed, in great part, to the quality of the company's agent training, its positive agent-customer relations and dedication to rapid and fair claim resolution. At every step along the way, there is a focus on compassion.

Northern Capital's statewide agent network enables the company to pay close attention to customer service. In Miami-Dade and Broward counties alone, there are some 580 independent agents providing homeowners, auto and commercial coverage. A secure Internet-based system enhances each agent's ability to provide fast and accurate service when issuing policies and resolving claims.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Approximately a quarter of the Florida-based Inc. 500 fast-growth companies are found in the advertising and marketing sectors. Most deal exclusively with the new advertising opportunities created by the Internet.

At No. 5 in the ranking, IntegraClick had $96.4 million in sales, up from $755,547 in 2005. An exclusive performance-based, cost-per-action (CPA) network is operated by way of clickbooth.com. This website deploys advertisers' campaigns across an affiliate network of website publishers. In order to handle heavy traffic and ensure reliability, proprietary technology ties the network together over 20 servers clustered worldwide.

Both advertisers and publishers benefit from IntegraClick's custom-built ad rotators and optimization systems. Products are targeted to the specific audience most likely to generate revenue. The CPA business model is unique in that advertisers only pay if they achieve their goal -- a lead or a direct sale.

From these Inc. winners, the message is unmistakable. The three key ingredients for a successful start-up are a capable entrepreneur with a viable business idea who has access to sufficient capital. Today's successful entrepreneurs astutely blend knowledge of time-tested business principles with a secure foundation in information technology.

While the insurance industry has been slow in adopting IT innovations, Northern Capital's secure Internet-based information system is likely to be the nucleus of their competitive strength. It's a unique IT solution tucked into an age-old distribution system. Information technology enables delivery of their customer-based value proposition.

Advertising is another industry known for its IT foot-dragging. Major ad agency leaders were slow in accepting direct marketing's IT impact. The focus was on major media and content creativity. Today, IT-savvy advertisers seek new and effective advertising solutions from start-ups like IntegraClick.

Want more information about IT marketing tools? Visit the Small Business page at MiamiHerald.com/Business.