When a mentor or consultant comes to an entrepreneur, at the very start, they usually ask about the big goal and try to ground it in money. Every (or almost every) consultant has probably heard this magic number at least once throughout their practice: one million dollars.
What will the entrepreneur do with that money? Who knows. But even if there's an understanding of where to spend the million, it won't be enough to start moving in that direction.
For most people, a million dollars feels like a leap beyond their grasp. Just knowing what to do with it isn't enough to make you jump that high.
It's gotta be an entrepreneur's burning desire. And it's not only about a million, but any other target amount (insert your own).
In my lectures, I often mention one story. The team told me, "We want to grow by 50% within a year."
Then they found out that a similar company with a $150 million valuation on the US market in their niche was already a unicorn. The company needed to grow 20 times or more to hit these figures. A monumental challenge.
But nevertheless, at that moment, the founder's eyes sparkled. He realized that such a goal could be achievable for him at all. There's a tangible and clear vision of how to step into that bright future and how it's constructed.
Here's an example of a company valued at a billion dollars, generating $150 million per year in the US market, organized like this: "We can do that, too!" the founder thought.
Together with the team, we have created a hypothesis of how we can reach such a goal with our current resources and what first steps we will take towards it.
This is what ignites an entrepreneur's drive.
So, here's the kicker: if your million dollars are just a million dollars, devoid of a visionary entrepreneurial path with a step-by-step strategy, well, it's probably gonna stay a virtual million dollars forever and a day.