Earlier this week the music industry celebrated the 59th Grammy Awards. There were many dynamic performances, but the one that caught my attention and many others was Chance the Rapper. What impacted me the most was the fact that he was willing to use a secular platform to boldly proclaim his faith. And while many people are celebrating his rise in the industry, I also wonder how many people,though, have whittled down his elevation to a few familiar and overused buzzwords.

One of those buzzwords that typically gets thrown around around stories like his is "passion." With him being an independent artist it's easy to apply that label to him and say that's what caused him to be in the position he is in right now. It's hard enough becoming successful in the music industry with a major record label behind you. So it would have to be many times harder going the independent path to becoming a successful artist.

However, passion alone didn't win him those awards and accolades. Passion of course was part of the formula, but he had to be excellent at his craft in order to be recognized by the Industry as the best artist in his category.

It always irks me when people use passion as an oversimplified path to achieving your dreams. It's a waste to be very excited about what you do but not develop the character and discipline to grow into being very good at what you do.

If you want to get to the top of your industry you must realize that passion should push you become excellent at your craft, skill, or gift. But it's not enough by itself. Passion should give you the motivation to practice even when you don't feel like it. Passion should propel you past convenience and comfort. True passion will drive you to do your best even when no one is looking. If this doesn't describe you, then I would question whether you are as passionate about your dream as you say you are.
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​We can see his end results now, but very few people saw the money invested, long nights, early mornings, series of rejections, and painful experiences that led up to this point.

If you never demonstrate excellence in your supposed area of expertise, passion will become just another random word and empty promise.

So find something that you're passionate about and then become excellent doing it. Develop your skills. Build your expertise. Become the best at what you do.

And even if you're not celebrated on a stage like Chance the Rapper, you can still be confident that you have given the world your best and not just another buzzword.

When starting or running a business, you must realize that pressure is inevitable. So whether the pressure is financial, relational, social, political, or any other, it usually causes one of two reactions. It can cause you to either wilt under it or it can push you forward to your next level. Fortunately, you can choose how you will respond to it.

The state of entrepreneurship is at a very exciting stage in history in terms of having significant impact around the world. More people than ever are pursuing social enterprises or business as mission ventures as a way to fulfill their desire to transform communities, change lives, and leave a positive multi-generational legacy, among many other admirable reasons.

​The problem, though, is when people of great compassion lack some non-negotiable essentials to run a profitable business that has a major social impact. Compassion is necessary to run a mission driven business, but it can't make up for lack of a business plan, ineffective business practices, or flawed execution.

​So let's take a look at six issues that prevent mission driven businesses from having a major social impact in local communities:

1. Lack of Competencies. ​Every profitable business - no matter the type - must master certain business practices that are non-negotiable, such as marketing, sales, customer service, financial management, and more. If your business isn't competent in these areas then it won't be around for very long, which means you can't help anybody.
2. Lack of a Compelling Product or Service. Sometimes social entrepreneurs forget that the number one aspect of the business has to be offering something that people want to buy. People are not buying your product because you're connected to social cause, they're buying your product because it solves a problem for them. The social cause is just icing on the cake not the cake itself. So if you decide to go the route of having a mission driven business make sure your business deals with solving real problems and producing real solutions that people want to pay you market value for.
3. Lack of a Core Business Model. Without a proven business model, which means that you have a business operation that can consistently turn your product/service into revenues. For example, many entrepreneurs come up with great ideas, but they haven't identified the right target audience, or they don't have an efficient, convenient, and inexpensive model to deliver it to their customers. Your business model must be working before you can have the real long-term impact you're capable of.
4. ​Lack of a Concentrated Effort in One Direction. Another way to say this is a lack of focus. It can be very easy for mission driven entrepreneur to get caught up in caring for the needs of the community and not lock in on what is necessary to build a sustainable enterprise. And sometimes the needs in the community are so great and so diverse that the attention of the business owner is now spread out and the lack of focus causes them to not be effective at anything or very few things. Every successful business requires a business owner who can lock in and perform necessary business functions and activities at a high level over a sustained period of time. Without a sustained and concentrated effort, the business may be busy but it won't be productive or profitable.​
5. ​Lack of Consistency. Mission driven entrepreneurship is a marathon not a sprint. One of the critical things about having a comprehensive core business model is sticking to the execution of the model overtime, and not changing that model on a whim or at every point of adversity. Consistency over time with your business model and serving the community are required for you to have sustained impact. It's better to do one thing well for a long time than trying many things with good intentions and flailing all over the place.
6. Lack of a Connection to the Community. It's one thing to want to do something "for" a community of people, but it's a totally different thing to do something "with" a community of people. Again, compassion is a wonderful thing but not if it comes off as paternalistic. And just because you generate lot of profits and then donate a lot of money to a community doesn't mean you are having a deep social impact. So get into the habit of developing strong ties to the community of people you desire to serve through your business. The relationships will prove themselves more valuable than money over time.

If I'm honest it takes a while to master all of these areas. And some of these old habits have a tendency to try to creep back into my daily routines. But I realize as I continually get better in these areas I see our business improving and our impact increasing.

Did you identify any of these areas where you can make some improvements? If yes, I would love to assist you where you need some help. Check out my online business course, 7 Week Startup, which will help you launch a new mission driven business or restart your current one in 60 days or less. We will cover all the issues identified above to ensure you are equipped to run a profitable business and deeply impact the community God called you to reach.

Don't let any of these issues slow you down or stop you from fulfilling your dreams and reaching your destiny. I'll see you in class!

In today’s society the concept of vocation has lost much of its original meaning. Most people connect the word vocation to having a job. Interestingly, it originated in the 15th century from the Latin word, vocatio, which means summons or to call. So the essence of this word vocation is not a job, but a calling. Therefore, you should not look at the business God has called you to build as just the work you do. You should look at it as your God-given calling within His Kingdom.

There is no such thing as sacred and secular within the Kingdom of God. Work is sacred, just like what would be considered traditional ministry is sacred. Being a secretary is as sacred as being a pastor. Being an entrepreneur is just as sacred as being a prophet. When you understand working in all you do as unto the Lord, you come to the realization that anything you do for God is sacred. And although there are many different gifts, offices, and roles within the Body of Christ, each one of them is needed and necessary to bring the manifestation of God’s Kingdom to the earth.