Page 77 - Hard Goals

68 HARD Goals

process for yourself or your kids, you know that’s an impressive
feat all on its own. But what about the fact that, once enrolled,
he then checked himself out of his higher education a year before
graduation in order to create an empire from a pile of trash?
Scudamore started 1-800-Got-Junk (which, as the company
name implies, specializes in junk removal) in 1989 with just
$700 and a beat-up old pickup truck. In the fi rst fi ve years he
grew revenues from $201,532 to $8,057,563. The secret behind
his overwhelming success? “Have a clear vision,” Scudamore
says. “Know what your future looks like, feels like, and acts
like. . . . Latch onto that picture as though it has already hap-
pened. . . . [Then] share it with your team so they can see it and
5
do what it takes to achieve it.” In other words, draw a picture
of your goal.
One way Scudamore brings his visions to life is through the
use of a “Vision Wall,” a space that claims some major wall real
estate at 1-800-Got-Junk’s home offi ce, or the Junktion, as it’s
called. “If you can’t see your vision come true, you’ll never have
enough faith in it to achieve it,” Scudamore told Profi t magazine
in 2008. Company aspirations posted on the 1-800-Got-Junk’s
Vision Wall have included a goal for the company to appear on
“Oprah”—something many small business owners dream of,
but which Scudamore actually made happen.
And it’s not just the CEO’s ideas that are posted under the
sign that reads, “Can You Imagine?” Employees are encouraged
to submit their visions as well. Marketing manager Andrea
Baxter had to campaign to get her idea of “Can you imagine
our brand appearing on Starbucks cups everywhere?” on the
wall. It seemed an impossible quest, a HARD Goal that even
Scudamore thought was too diffi cult to achieve. But Baxter
persisted that she saw it happening, and so up on the wall it
went.