The Entrepreneur's Paradox. Curtis Morley

companies are experiencing rapid growth. For the most recent data go to EntrepreneursParadox.com/GrowthRate.

Industry	Median Growth	Top Twenty-Five
Advertising/Marketing	171%	6586%
Agriculture & Natural Resources	159%	N/A
Business Products and Services	136%	2114%
Computer Hardware	161%	200%
Construction	146%	942%
Consumer Products & Services	187%	2402%
Education	156%	1290%
Industry	Median Growth	Top Twenty-Five
Engineering	124%	575%
Environmental Services	135%	202%
Financial Services	150%	1868%
Food & Beverage	176%	1201%
Government Services	197%	898%
Health	169%	2598%
Human Resources	118%	898%
Insurance	131%	357%
IT Management	129%	940%
IT Services	112%	N/A
IT System Development	182%	842%
Logistics & Transportation	154%	1690%
Manufacturing	115%	659%
Media	217%	461%
Real Estate	170%	1060%
Retail	224%	1929%
Security	185%	349%
Software	183%	3129%
Telecommunications	134%	434%
Travel & Hospitality	153%	355%

      For an updated and comprehensive list of all industries, go to: EntrepreneursParadox.com/CompareGrowthRates.

      If you are really dreaming big, here is another piece of data to compare against: the fastest growth to one billion dollars:

Don’t Pull Numbers Out of Thin Air

      Do your research. The two most common responses I hear from entrepreneurs when I do this exercise are: “I want my company to grow to $50 million or $100 million” and “I want to do it in five years.” Make sure you’re not just pulling numbers out of thin air. Walk through this exercise by going to the website (EntrepreneursParadox.com/CompareGrowthRates) and enter your actual numbers so you can have a realistic, feasible, and motivational goal. Evaluate where you’re at today and what it will take to get you to where you want to be. Is your plan realistic based on comparables, growth rates, and the number of units you would need to sell to achieve your goal? Rework the numbers until you believe them wholeheartedly. You own this. You may feel a bigger potential than what others are doing, and that’s great. Use this as the baseline and then go with your gut.

Visualize the Goal

      The purpose of this exercise is not just for planning—you need to be able to close your eyes and vividly picture the day you accomplish your goal. You need to be able to visualize where you are in the office and see, feel, and smell the environment and events as they take place. Don’t dismiss the power of this undertaking. In fact, give it a try right now. Put the book down, or press pause if you’re listening to the audio version. Picture yourself and your surroundings at the end point of your journey as viscerally as possible. Did you see it? If not, fill in the details even further, then close your eyes again and create this picture as if you are actually there. This may take a few attempts before you start to see the details and colors of the room, but it is important that you can see the friends who took the journey with you, feel the hands you’re shaking, and taste the celebratory cake. Practice this visualization repeatedly, especially in the morning before getting ready for the day. Cement the image in your mind until it’s all but inevitable.

      “YoY: Year-Over-Year (YoY) is a frequently used financial comparison for comparing two or more measurable events on an annualized basis. Looking at YoY performance allows for gauging if a company’s financial performance is improving, static, or worsening.”

Overcoming Pitfall 3: Reverse Engineer the Goal

      •Go to the website and calculate your desired growth rate for your company. You can put in the final revenue numbers or your Year-over-Year (YoY) growth rate, which it will calculate for you. EntrepreneursParadox.com/CalculateGrowthRate.

      •Go to the website and compare your growth rate to the most up-to-date stats for growth rates of other companies in your industry. EntrepreneursParadox.com/CompareGrowthRates.

      •Write out your goals in detail following each bullet point as shown in the chapter.

      •Go to the website and enter your data to get a visual representation of your goal in infographic format. EntrepreneursParadox.com/GoalInfographic.