A Remarkable Tool For Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision of the Future
by: Cameron Herold
“Picture this. You’re a CEO of a company. Your product is a leader in a growing market. You’ve got a great team. Your customers love you. You are perfectly set up to explode, and you’re ready to lead this growth. You know exactly what has to happen, who needs to do what, and how to get to the next level. There’s just one problem: no one in the organization can read your mind. Just because you know what needs to happen doesn’t mean that anyone else does.”
This book, and more specifically this quote, really spoke to us. As a husband and wife team, we want our vision for our business to be aligned, and we have learned by now that we can't read each others minds. We also know that if we don't have a plan for where we want our business to go, we won't be making the best use of our time. We sat down (in the beautiful mountains of Big Sur none the less) to cast our Vivid Vision for LTG Investments. The purpose behind creating a Vivid Visions is to "focus on where you intend to be three years down the road, regardless of where you might be now." Below is what we envision LTG investments being three years from now.
We have built a company that is the most influential house flipping company in Waco Texas. People know us because we are so active in the market and because we have communicated our mission, to fight human trafficking through real estate investing, clearly, persistently, and with vigor. Every time we make a connection, we speak life and love into that individual’s situation. We set the standard for generosity, not just in our giving but in our treatment of others. LTG Investments feels light. It feels like a feather due to how much time we initially invested into people, systems, and our niche which is flipping single family homes and building from scratch in Waco TX. We are able to effortlessly balance the Marine Corps and LTG because we have a team of high performers handling the details. Lindsey and I make the big decisions and cast vision for the team and they are able to carry it out because there are as passionate about supporting the fight as we are. We don’t carry work home with us because we are organized and intentional with our time. We love seeing the impact we are having on the community and others, spreading hope and security. Our foundation is deep, rooted in the knowledge that God has called us to the work and that we lean on his plan when we are feeling doubtful. Investors and investments are plentiful and our giving is substantial. We love what we do.
We have exploded with success. Our revenue for year three was 300k and due to the way we have structured the business with our accountants and bankers we are seeing a significant portion of that 300k as profits. We have been diligent in recording our processes so that we have the ability to truly automate the mundane aspects of the business. We consistently network with other likeminded investors who are implementing our “endowment fund concept” in the markets they operate in.
We feel the pressure of success in a positive way. We know that God has commissioned this undertaking and that he will accomplish what he needs to be done. Our marriage is stronger than ever and we genuinely love the work involved for the business. We are energized by this endeavor and sleep well at night.
Other than God, the reason for our success are the mentors in our lives. Lindsey and I have weekly calls with trusted advisors who love us and pour into our lives. We know that our success is traced back through those relationships. We are both involved in masterminds for business and small groups for our faith. We grow weekly in those areas and it has been incredible to look back across the past 3 years and see the growth that has come from being intentional in our personal and spiritual development. Because of our success we have 1 mentee each, who we pour our lives into. These people are action takers who want to change the world. We are able to give them the tools to lift themselves up and pay it forward. This is one of the most rewarding areas in our lives.
Our culture and spirit are our core values, people first, transparency, and generosity. Those values are living and breathing things that people who come into contact with us know and feel immediately. Everyone on our team lives those values out, both in their personal lives and in their dealings at work. People are positive at LTG. We do not have a victim mentality. Instead, we and all our partners take extreme ownership of everything we do and because of that we have some of the most confident and driven individuals partnered with us. We are a magnet for high achievers and that shows in the quality of the work we perform on each and every job.
We are the closers. We are the most passionate. We are the people that when an LTG member walks into the room there are audible sighs of relief, the A Team has shown up. We market Unbound Now relentlessly. Unbound has been able to reach new areas because of our connections in the world of real estate. LTG is synonymous with the big names in Waco TX. People have heard of us and always in a positive light.
We are clear on our vision. We know where we are going, which is 1 million in active donations a year and 100k in passive donations. This clarity allows us to drive the bus to where it needs to go. Because our people are well led, they take initiative. They know what to do and how to do it with minimal guidance from us because we have taken so much time to share our hearts with them. Podcasts regularly ask us to be guests and we are considered leaders in the REI community for generosity and giving.
Because we are so distanced from areas we do business in we have become MASTERS of communication. All of our processes are video documented and clear. When our team has a question, we not only answer it, we are able to create a new video to explain and illustrate the solution for them so that they can be more efficient in the future. We set all expectations up front and that allows everyone to be on the same page. Our contracts are fair and clear, we never give openings to get taken advantage of and we also reward those who we partner with abundantly.
Our investors feel like shareholders. They know us personally and they are our biggest fans. We are so up front and honest that even on the rare occurrence that we do not meet our projections they are still clawing to get to the top of our list. We have to do zero marketing for investors because our referral network is so strong. We routinely outperform our projections and because of that we consider our partners family.
Our business is systemized. We have our focus programs, Residential Real Estate in Waco TX, and Giving. Waco has the following programs inside: Deal Finding, Deal Offering, Deal Funding, Deal Managing, and Deal Closing. (The 5 Ds). Each one of the Ds is systematized and has checklists with videos explaining each step. Giving has the following programs under it: charity relations, tax and accounting, and marketing. We use our deals as a way to provide free marketing for Unbound Now and by being smart with our taxes and accounting we are able to give more.
We are focused on video. We do such a good job with video that we have no need for typed articles. The few articles that we have are typically written by others. We document EVERYTHING and because of that people build trust with us before we even meet. People like and trust LTG without ever knowing us.
We generated 300k in revenue from year 3. From that number we are able to efficiently put all the revenue back to work paying minimal taxes. This is leading us into opening a new market in 2025 where we expect to 1 st years profits to be 200k. This ability to be smart and steward our profits wisely is creating a massive jumping off point, and we anticipate being able to open a new market every 18 months across the United States.
We have an unbelievable relationship with our family and friends. Because of our success we are able to fly friends and family in to visit whenever we want and we are able to visit them whenever we want. We do not work past 6 pm unless it is for a Mastermind Meeting or similar personal development type meeting. We guard our time and protect our marriage and because of that we are always in sync with one another. We love each other more today than we thought was possible.
This is not a category under Cameron Harold's Vivid Vision outline. However, generosity is a huge part of our business so it is a part of ours.
Our business is marked by generosity. Giving a percentage of our profits comes naturally to us. Each year we are planning on how we can do more and give more. We see how our money has been put to good use.