Although big businesses get most of the media coverage, the truth is in the United States, small businesses are the engines of job growth and economic growth. Let’s look at a few statistic about small businesses according to most recent date [1]:
In light of these statistics, what are the major implications for mission driven entrepreneurs? I believe they are at least 3-fold: financial, social, and spiritual.
So if God called you into business, He wants your business to make a major impact in the world. Just seek His direction for the specifics and watch your business do more than all you could ask, think, or imagine. ______________________________________________ [1] Sources: http://sbecouncil.org/about-us/facts-and-data/ and https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/FAQ_March_2014_0.pdf
God gives every man/person a purpose that comes gift-wrapped in a dream. Our marketplace assignment is one of the major strategies God uses for us to fulfill that purpose. These affirmations would help to reinforce who God has called you to be and what he has called you to accomplish for His glory through your business.
1) MY IDENTITY AFFIRMATION
2) MY INSIGHT AFFIRMATION
3) MY IMAGINATION AFFIRMATION
In the past as high school students were graduating from college, very few options were presented to them as it relates to starting a career. These options usually revolved around these three: 1) College, 2) Trade-related jobs, or 3) Military service. Fortunately today, with the advent of low-cost do-it-yourself technology, high school graduates who are deciding which direction to move forward in their work lives have a few more options to consider. Thinkific, a leading online course software platform, recently published an article that highlights the potential of anybody becoming an entrepreneur by launching an online business through creating and selling online courses even if around the typical high school graduation age. The article, Unsure About College? Be An Online Entrepreneur Instead, highlighted five considerations for this steadily increasing market opportunity:
Full disclosure: I am a customer of Thinkific. And this was one of the best business decisions I have ever made in my more than 10 years of being a full-time entrepreneur. Over the past 15 years I have traveled all over the United States and around the world teaching workshops and training leaders on how to start and grow businesses. However, this platform is revolutionizing my business because I am able to easily produce content that available immediately, I can quickly update and refresh any of my outdated curriculum, and I can increase my reach around the world exponentially. I currently host several of my business training courses on their platform (just here to access my courses). There's no better time than now to become an online entrepreneur, especially if you're not sure if college or a job is the right choice for you. However, like starting any business, becoming a profitable and sustainable online entrepreneur takes a lot of passion, patience, and perseverance. But the great thing is that all the tools are available and easily accessible to you to get it done.
*You can read the entire Thinkific article here: http://blog.thinkific.com/unsure-college-online-entrepreneur/ For many people going to work on Mondays is sort of like the opening line of the Charles Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities. "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times," as in it's great when it's pay day, but other than that there is little pleasure in getting up and going to work Monday morning. The main reason this is a reality for so many people is the fact that they have settled for this kind of work lifestyle. This only has to stay a reality for you if you choose for it to stay a reality. God intended so much more for you and I, but sometimes we can get stuck in the muck of our routines that prevents us from realizing better opportunities. In order to get to the place where you love your labor, I believe there are at least three necessities that must be incorporated into your work: It must be purposeful, pleasurable, and profitable. Here are a few quick questions to ask yourself to see how close you are to having these three areas covered in your work life: 1) Purposeful - How do you define your identity apart from your work? What qualities or characteristics do you possess that make you uniquely you? 2) Pleasurable - What did you love to do as a child that you stopped doing as an adult? What type of work gets you excited? What do you do that brings a sense of enjoyment even if there's no payment attached to it? 3) Profitable - How much are you worth in the marketplace and how can you validate that? What natural talents, skills, or hobbies do you have that you could get paid for? If you don't believe loving your labor can be a reality for you, then go back to doing whatever you were doing. However, if you're ready for a change, check out the resources I have available to assist in your transition. As a matter of fact I have a FREE course to help you navigate the path of starting your own business. Stop settling for loveless labor. You can do the work you've always dreamed about. You just have to embrace a new normal. Simone Biles just won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics to cement her status as arguably the best gymnast of all time. There are some critical lessons you can learn from her experiences to the top of her sport that you can apply to your business journey. 1) Believe in your potential more than what you have already accomplished. In an interview she stated she didn't want to be known as the next Usain Bolt or Michael, but instead she wanted to be know as the first Simone Biles. What you have already accomplished to this point is wonderful. However, you can't rest on that. You have the potential to do so much more and go so much further. 2) You are your greatest competition. Before the Rio Olympics Simone had already won more world gold medals than any gymnast ever. Yet she didn't allow that to cause her to relax or assume she would automatically win her next gold medal. The question you need to ask yourself every day is, "Am I getting better today than I was yesterday?" Keep raising the bar every day and you will see your improvement grow by leaps and bounds over time. 3) Practice like you're the best in private so you can perform as the best in public. She practices 6 days a week for approximately 32 hours. And she almost always stays on a strict diet of chicken and broccoli. Behind the scenes is where the real work of building a legacy takes place. The public stage becomes the place to demonstrate what you were working on while nobody was watching. Take the time to perfect your talents and gifts. There are no shortcuts and no one can do that for you. 4) Leave your past in the past. Simone wasn't born with a silver spoon (or any kind of spoons) in her mouth so to speak. She came from a very difficult background and the odds were majorly stacked against her. However, she didn't use that as an excuse to stop her from pursuing her goals. Even now she doesn't dwell on what she couldn't control back then. The more you look backwards with a negative mindset the easier it is to make excuses. Learn from your past circumstances and mistakes but don't get stuck there. 5) Block out the negative noise. At her first World Championship gold-medal win in 2013 she was able to move past a racist comment by one of her competitors without flinching. If you took the time to address every critic or hater you won't have any time to work on your business. Stay focused by keeping your attention on you, not on any negative things people have to say about you. 6) Do it all with a big smile. Simone's smile is electric and her attitude makes you want to root for her even more. Although she and others know she's the best you can tell she doesn't throw it in their faces and her teammates genuinely enjoy being around her. You don't have to be mean or cutthroat to do major deals and make big things happen in your business. As a matter of fact you'll go much further treating people with respect and gratitude than being someone people want to avoid. Simone Biles has shown us what excellence looks like by maximizing her potential in her field. Now it's your turn!
Listen to these inspiring words from Steve Harvey as he encourages his guest how important it is to take a leap of faith into her dream business.
For those of you who are contemplating whether to make the jump into entrepreneurship, I want to encourage you that this leap of faith shouldn't be taken lightly or without preparation. I have a free e-course that can help you decide when and how you should make the jump from employee to entrepreneur. Just click the link below to find out more... It's that time of year when school is starting again all over the country. Parents are ushering their little prodigies into learning environments where hopefully they will be encouraged to dream big and to believe they can be anything they want to be in life. They are inspired and pushed to use their imaginations to the fullest extent. And they should be! It's interesting, though, that for too many children that message changes the closer they get to high school graduation. Subtle shifts in language suggest teens "stop daydreaming" and "grow up," often times translates in their minds to "become a boring adult like me." And then when they become adults they figure that new responsibilities somehow force them to put their dreams on the shelf of life only to be admired from afar. I would argue, especially for you entrepreneurs, that your imagination is critical to your creativity, which is essential to your business growth. You can't allow the pressures of business and life to snuff out your imagination. Daydreaming is just as important now - maybe even moreso - than it was when you were in grade school. My friend Patrice Tsague, Chief Servant Officer of entrepreneurship training organization Nehemiah Project, says about dreaming: "Dreaming is giving our imagination the freedom to conceive future possibilities that are not bound by our current reality. It is the freedom to explore without having to worry about the cost or consequences because you have not involved intellect in the process. Dreaming is freedom, and if you never dream, you will never do great things." You absolutely need your imagination to develop one-of-a-kind products, create innovative marketing campaigns, provide your customers with unforgettable service, and many more things that can distinguish your business from all others. Your imagination can be a competitive advantage if you use it the right way.
I encourage you to take some time today to daydream about your business. It could be just what you need to grow like never before! Risk is inherent to entrepreneurship. Therefore faith - i.e. belief or confidence - must also become an integral part of an entrepreneur's mindset. However, did you know that faith is amoral? That is, faith is neither good nor bad.
Whether you realize it or not your faith is always at work - either for or against you. How is that? You have more power than you think you do. Whatever you believe about yourself long enough will become a realty. Since that's true, how can you ensure that your faith is working for your benefit? 1) Focus: Faith was never meant to be some ambiguous cosmic slot machine. As an entrepreneur your faith is a force meant to be targeted at specific goals and objectives. Faith helps you clarify your vision and filter your thoughts to concentrate only on what's most relevant to accomplishing your dreams. 2) Fear Repellant: As I mentioned earlier, your faith feeds off your beliefs. This means you must use your faith to block self-destructive thoughts of failure, disappointment, defeat, etc. If you're going to succeed in business your belief in your success must be stronger than your fear of failure or anything else that tries to stop your progress. 3) Failure Bounceback: Unexpected disappointments are inevitable in business. The issue is not if you will fail. The issue is how you will respond when you fail at something. When your faith is locked on the right things, you are able to learn from failure and use it as a stepping stone to your success. As you can see faith is not some supersecret Jedi mind trick. Entrepreneurs can use their faith as a resource to manifest your business dreams into reality. So don't waste this God-given gift!
Over my 15 years of coaching small business, I have observed certain consistent themes. One of the biggest challenges small businesses face is the issue of capacity. It's hard to grow when you don't have the financial or human resources. One of the keys to growth is developing systems that will allow you to build capacity that will position you for profitable growth and sustainability.
That's why I'm excited to share some best practices that will help your business grow. Please join me for a FREE webinar Monday, July 25th at 7 PM where I will share with you:
See you there!
As a Christian entrepreneur living in this world sometimes it can be easy to get off course due to different pressures that we all face in business and in life. However, it's wonderful when we can have those pivotal moments where we wake up and realize what we're really in business to do. Our business has a much greater purpose than money...
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