Top Planning Secrets of Million Dollar Entrepreneurs – Part 1

Cameron Herold

This is the first part in a series on business planning exercises for entrepreneurs. The exercises shared in this series represent an exclusive look inside the elite entrepreneurial group EO (formerly known as YEO – Young Entrepreneurs Organization).  EO members must have businesses with a minimum of $1,000,000 in revenues.  Below is what EO members recently learned during an Executive Management Program in Boston, MA.

Caveat: The following is a cursory overview ONLY.  To experience the depth and detail of these business gurus’ publications and workshops, you must contact:

Planning Secrets of Million Dollar Entrepreneurs 1: Cameron Herold

Planning Secrets of Million Dollar Entrepreneurs 2: Verne Harnish

Planning Secrets of Million Dollar Entrepreneurs 3: Kaihan Krippendorf

Planning Part 1: Develop and Share Your Vision

Cameron Herold, former COO of 1800GotJunk, spoke to EO Executive Management Program members about the first step of planning. This step is called the “Painted Picture”  in which you visualize the future of your business and communicate it to employees.

Committing an idea to paper it is not new in corporate or leadership training. However,  1-800-Got-Junk successfully branded the concept and infused their corporate culture with it. That is what makes it different…not the tool itself, but the manner in which is was implemented. This is a key leadership lesson for all future entrepreneurs and CEOs looking to lead.

Cameron counsels: Show an example, Share it.

Remember: It is about the idea. It is not about “how.”

Example: The “can you imagine wall” at 1800GotJunk where staff wrote creative ideas and dreams for the business.

Example: Here is Cameron Herold’s painted picture.

Suggested Exercises:

1. Kick off a discussion about the “Painted Picture” by asking the class/yourself “Where do I want to be in three to five years?” Visualize it without constraints or “what ifs.”  Is it an image of you in the future, your company in the future, your family? Allow the vision to be narrow or broad.

2. Using Cameron Herold’s painted picture as a template, develop a personal or company painted picture.

Extra: Develop a PowerPoint. Great examples of sharing a vision here (www.Grasshopper.com).  Educators and students using the free Entrepreneur in the Classroom (EITC) curriculum will have already seen this in Module 1.

Extra: Engage in a “Mind Mapping” exercise in which students/entrepreneurs develop business concepts around an area of interest. Sign up for the free Entrepreneur in the Classroom (EITC) curriculum and see Module 2.

Stay tuned for the next in our series on Top Planning Secrets of Million Dollar Entrepreneurs.

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More information

Know a Young Entrepreneur? Nominate them here.

The NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization promoting the importance of small business and free enterprise to the nation’s youth. More information is available at www.NFIB.com/YEF.  The Foundation is associated with the National Federation of Independent Business; NFIB is the nation’s leading small business association, with offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals.

Entrepreneur In The Classroom. The NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation Entrepreneur-in-the-Classroom (EITC) supplemental curriculum exposes students to entrepreneurship and the necessary steps to take an idea and turn it into a business. The free curriculum can be integrated into classes teaching a variety of subjects including music, art, fashion, business and many more. You must be registered to view the full Entrepreneur-in-the-Classroom curriculum.

Related links:

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