Yesterday, I wrote about the need to set a Big, Scary target at the beginning of your strategic planning process—a target that makes you a little nauseated and a lot excited. And I told you to declare it to the world, no matter how hard that seemed. And to ignore the detractors and naysayers and pesky Aunt Lou who always says you are too ambitious for your own good.
I hope you've at least started thinking about what YOUR Big Scary is, if you didn't know already. (And it doesn't have to be related to business...if you don't have a business that you requires a strategic plan, you can still set Big Scary targets for yourself, and I hope you do!)
As you might imagine, I've spent quite a bit of time myself thinking about my own Big Scary target. (It would pretty hypocritical of me if I didn't.) And, because I believe in never asking anyone to do something I'm not willing to do myself, I'm going to lay my (business) soul bare today and share my Big Scary with you. Right now. Or right after I get back from hyperventilating.
Okay, I'm back. My Big Scary is.....that Starling Consulting is a $10 million company within five years. Hopefully sooner. And that's $10 million in annual revenue, not just $10 million in cumulative revenue or anything like that. No cheating.
Off to breathe into the paper bag again.
That's a huge target, and it sits WAYYYYYYY off in the distance, since my company has only existed for three weeks. But, I said from the beginning that I'm not interested in playing small ball, and having managed a $30 million company for over a decade, anything less than double-digit millions feels small to me. I know I'm capable of it, and talented and well-advised enough to make it happen. All that's left now is the work.
So, dear readers, I now consider you part of my accountability society. Since all three of you (I think there are at least three of you) now know my Big Scary, you can hold me accountable to the work needed to get there. You have my permission to check in and see how I'm doing. (Maybe not this week, since I can assure you it won't happen before the end of September. I'm good, but I'm not that good.)
And if you have a Big Scary you'd like to share, feel free to do it in the comments, or to email it to me directly at lacy@starlingconsults.com. I love hearing Big Scary targets, and helping people figure out how to accomplish them. It's kind of what I do.