I've just finished your Roadmap and will be sending it shortly then sitting down with you to discuss it in detail.

A warning before I send it over:

Some of the recommendations I make are going to floor you. They are edgy, risky, hard to do, even crazy. You'll read some and wonder what planet I'm on. You'll roll your eyes, you'll be inclined to scoff "that'll never work" or "we can't do that, are you nuts?" And the truth is, maybe I am. But maybe I'm not. Actually, I'm confident these recommendations will help you stand out from the pack and really zoom ahead. But not just that, I'm confident that without them, you're doomed.

They may not appear that way at first. Or even after careful consideration. That's because all of us, as people, businesses, those who have achieved a little success are naturally averse to "risk," to change, to being bold, to pioneering. There exists a great fear of screwing up the status quo, which while not perfect, is "good enough." The problem however, is that good enough is not near as good as you could be. And good enough, in time, will be swallowed up by your competitors that deliver more, and your customers who expect more.

So I want to warn you, I'm not coming to you with suggestions to support the status quo. I'll be recommending things that will challenge the status quo, make you nervous, even freak you out. I'll suggest you push forward at what might feel like a reckless pace. Your initial reaction is going to be to resist. You'll want to take it slow, safe and careful.  But that's not what I recommend. The market forces pushing against you are too great.

I hope you aren’t overwhelmed or frightened by any of the ideas. You can’t address all of them right away, some ideas will be thrown out, and some will be altered and enhanced. However, I hope that you never discard an idea because you want to play it safe. You haven’t accomplished your current success by playing it safe. Espousing the methods that got you to where you are, i.e. being bold, new, fresh, exciting and remarkable will help you grow even more. Safe is actually risky because safe is invisible, easy to catch, easy to beat and the path failure. In a competitive market, safe is death. Take some bold moves. Do things others won’t. Champion a cause, help as many people as you can in your pursuit of that cause, invite others to participate and your bottom line will take care of itself.

Thank you for the opportunity to help you with this. I’ve enjoyed the experience. I have faith in your company and what it can do. I look forward to discussing it further with you.

Carson

P.S. I draw inspiration from these words by Mark Twain, I hope you can too.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.