A big hairy audacious goal

If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me – to paint the picture. So here’s my mission statement. NAOMI SIMSON

By Naomi Simson

When you start a business – it is all about survival, sharing the story, engaging people in what you are up to. You do a lot of hoping (praying), and there is a lot of hit and miss (trial and error) – two steps forward, one step back. You don’t know where you will end up, if anyone will ever visit your website – even if you are going to make it as a business.

But six years later the requirement has changed – my role is no longer to “do” all the work. (I often laugh that the only job I have not done in this business is be a web developer.) It is about creating the business bigger than I ever dared to dream in the beginning.

What drives me every day is my passion for changing gifting in Australia and New Zealand forever. Making it easy for people to give something that is truly memorable – something that shows they care. (Especially for corporations – how many businesses give gifts that really do not connect in anyway to employees, wine to non-drinkers, etc.)

I have a clear idea where we are going and why. I dream, imagine, and wish. But it is no use in my head. My job now is to get out of my people’s way so they can get on with achieving our Big Hairy Audacious Goal. Our BHAG of two million people having had a RedBalloon Day by 2015… seems very far away.

I pondered what will RedBalloon look like, be like, what will we sell. I needed something for the near future. Hence I sat down to paint the picture in words of what RedBalloon will look like in 2010.

I then gave it to the management team – to pull apart – but it remains my document. It is up to the founder and entrepreneur to create the picture – it is not a document to be word-smithed and edited by committee. It then becomes a document that acts as a guide for the managers before each planning meeting, to check where they are up to.

I have created the “what” – it is now up to the amazing people around me to work out the “how”.

I enclose a copy of my painted picture for your reference.