Most entrepreneurs want to build a big business, but they are often focused on temporal measures of success that won't stand the tests of time. However, a “B.I.G.” (Bold, Innovative, God-Inspired) business is one that focuses on building significance, i.e. the ultimate legacy that you want to create based on how you and your business impacts people and communities. Significance happens by helping others achieve success. If you focus your efforts on building a significant business, you will definitely reap success along the way.

Here are 13 B.I.G. ideas to propel you to have a significant championship year personally and professionally in 2013:

1. Write a life championship speech – your eulogy – as if you were going to die 50 years from now. Then write what would you need to start doing in 2013 to eventually live up to your future legacy.
   


2. Choose a daily reading plan to read through the entire Bible in 365 days. This is your spiritual playbook. If you have already done this previously, choose a different version of the Bible than you normally read.
   


3. Pray constantly for your customers, competitors, strategic partners, and employees. The Holy Spirit is your competitive advantage, so ask God for the specific wisdom for how to most effectively deal with each of these groups. Also ask Him for divine alliances. 
   


4. On a monthly basis study the business characteristics of Biblical leaders such as Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, Paul, and others.
   


5. Choose a community group or charity in which to volunteer your time serving on a monthly basis.
   


6. Choose a community group or charity in which to invest a percentage of your company's profits on a monthly basis.
   


7. Choose a community or non-profit organization that needs your expertise and offer one of your products or services pro bono. Ask God for creative wisdom so that all parties involved will be able to benefit over a long period of time.
   


8. Join a business-focused Bible study group where you can get strengthened spiritually and naturally in living out your faith while growing a sustainable business. There is safety in wise council.
   


9. Facilitate 12 information interviews (one per month) with a successful expert in your industry and draw out the transferable principles that you can apply to your business and life.
   


10. Facilitate 12 information interviews (one per month) with a successful expert in a different industry than yours and draw out the transferable principles that you can apply to your business and life.
    


11. Take a calculated business risk in an area that is outside of your natural comfort zone. Allow the Holy Spirit to inspire and direct your steps.
    


12. Plan an international business missions trip to be completed in either 2013 or 2014. The purpose of this B.I.G. adventure is to have a three-cord impact on the foreign community you choose to engage: social, spiritual, and financial.
    


13. Rest, relax, and recreate regularly. Your health is your greatest wealth. Take care of your spirit, soul, and body so you can enjoy the fruit of your bountiful harvest.
    

Champions prepare with the expectation that they are going to win. You will have a Bold, Innovative, God-Inspired year personally and professionally in 2013 when you plan your work and then work your plan. The significance you achieve will be worth exponentially more than any trophy. And you will have a great cloud of witnesses who will be cheering on your victories.

What are some of your B.I.G. ideas for 2013? Leave your comments below...

Start your new year off right with Inc. My Dream!  Business Planning System. Click below to learn more...

This week we celebrate a hostile takeover. Now most people don't typically associate the birth of Jesus with a term usually referencing corporate business wheeling and dealing. However, the arrival of Jesus in Bethlehem was very much a divinely orchestrated power play to return control of the earth to its rightful shareholders.

Don't get it twisted. Although he showed up as sweet baby Jesus, he arrived in the earthly boardroom with an agenda of eternal proportions. He came to implement a regime change. He came to restore a Kingdom that was lost in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned. He came to snatch back dominion from our common enemy and return it to those whom God had intended to have it in the first place. And although he may not have come with a sword-wielding, horse-riding army (that will be the next time), nevertheless he came with unquestionable power and authority.

Not only did Jesus come to reestablish his Kingdom on earth, he came to re-delegate the responsibility of running that Kingdom to us. As executors of his earthly estate, his expectation is that we will expand his Kingdom exponentially before he returns for his final eternal rule. Of course this Kingdom expansion is not about gaining more land, it's about growing his family through spiritually transformed lives. 

Fortunately for us Jesus has already done the heavy lifting. His marvelous victory on the cross conquered ALL of our enemies and resulted in us becoming royal heirs of an infinite, immeasurable inheritance. He made us kings and priests unto God. He made us governmental ambassadors with divine rights. He gave us everything we need for life in godliness. He gave us every spiritual blessing. He gave us powerful weapons to claim our victory. And he gave us a comforter and counselor in the Holy Spirit to direct our decisions and empower us to manifest his promises. 

As wise investors, if you want to profit from this heaven-directed hostile takeover all you have to do is receive what Jesus has already done. You don't have to be in the 1%. You don't have to be rich or have the inside scoop on the IPO. You don't have to know the right people or work for the right company. All you have to do is receive the gift that's been freely given to you. And he promised that the profits you receive from that transaction will be exceedingly and abundantly far beyond all that you can ask think or imagine.

If Jesus is not the CEO of your life it's time for a personal regime change. You will know if he's your real CEO based on how you treat other people, the content of your thoughts, how you spend your time, how you apply your talents, and how you spend your money. If you don't acknowledge and obey him in all of your ways he's not the CEO. And although he was hostile in taking control of the earth back from the enemy, he won't be hostile in taking control of your life. He will only do that with your permission.

The greatest profit you can receive in your life is to allow Jesus to become your personal CEO. And now is the perfect time for a change.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

The holiday shopping season is in full swing. Businesses,  are pulling out all the stops to woo customers into buying gifts for themselves, their friends and loved ones. Unfortunately, many of them attempt to apply uncomfortable pressure tactics to get customers to indulge in impulse purchases. Salespeople feel the pressure of getting sales and they transfer that pressure to their potential customers. It is unfortunate because they don't realize that they could have tons of customers year round - not just during the holidays - if they operated more like farmers and less like desperate potion pushers.

Due to the fact that more than 80% of Americans live in urban areas, sometimes it’s difficult for us to relate to the habits and lifestyles of those who live in agricultural areas of our nation and world. Nevertheless, one can extract key lessons from agricultural best practices that can be used as transformational business and life principles.

In order to get the greatest yield from the land, farmers understand they must plan for several factors, including available resources and constraints, geography and climate of the farm, and their own philosophy and culture among other things.

Farmers also understand that different strategies are used at different times of the year to reap the best harvest based upon the types of crops they are producing. Likewise, entrepreneurs must plan and adjust their actions to harvest different business opportunities, because like crops they also come and go in cycles or seasons. Entrepreneurs must become keenly aware of the season/cycle in which their opportunities exist, so they can increase the size, frequency and quality of their harvest.

Let’s dig a little deeper as we consider different types of “opportunity seasons” and how you can plan for them in your business.

1. Prepare the ground (Customer not ready to purchase): Externally, educate yourself on your target customers, market conditions, future opportunities and potential threats to your business. Internally, assess your company for ways to improve your current designs, performance, processes, customer service, etc (a SWOT Analysis tool is great for this). This season may also involve focusing on your own personal development.
   
   
2. Plant the seeds (Customer interested in learning more): Focus on marketing, brand building, and networking. Reach out and connect with target customers. Demonstrate your expertise and value in the marketplace through several platforms (i.e. free seminars, social networks, blogging, articles, podcasting, email newsletters, interviews, free samples).
   
   
3. Nurture the growth (Customer considering a purchase): Build relationships with priority customers. Focus on educating and equipping them with valuable knowledge and specific information that will benefit them. Assess customer relationships to determine whether they are hot, warm, or cold – this will dictate how quickly you move to the next stage.
   
   
4. Reap the harvest (Customer ready to purchase): Be confident and close the deal. It’s critical to know when your customer is ready to purchase. If you try to close too early or too late you could lose them.

You must recognize that different opportunities avail themselves in different seasons of a business cycle. Therefore, you can’t use the same approach for each opportunity. You need to know what stage it’s in – preparing, planting, nurturing, or reaping – so that you can determine how to strategically seize it.

Although the country may be still struggling to come out of the recession your business doesn’t have to be. You can still grow in this environment. You just have to be more strategic, discerning, values-driven, and Holy Spirit-led than ever before. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to think like a farmer.

What are your thoughts about the pressure tactics salespeople use? Please leave your comments below...

Are you frustrated with of your lack of financial fruitfulness? Are you tired of your job that doesn't value your purpose and talents? Are you ready to be break the mental and financial shackles off your life so you can get to your financial promise land? 

One big reason for this is because you have not yet learned how to turn your ideas into income.

Inc. My Dream! is the career transition program you need to maximize your financial potential and change your lifestyle. This self-study business planning system provides Biblical insights, practical instructions, and inspirational energy to help you get your business dream out of your head and into business. Your business system planning kit includes:

• My Father's Business Teaching Series: 5 instructional MP3s that will help you understand the divine purpose of entrepreneurship and the Biblical strategies to help you succeed in any economy.
• Inc. My Dream! Business Planning Workbook, which will help you create a functional strategic plan.
• My book Dream B.I.G. in 3D, which is a life planning workbook that helps you affirm and confirm your life purpose and career calling.
• Kingdom Business Success Tips: Volumes 1 & 2, two ebooks packed with over 700 tips and ideas to help you thrive as a Christian entrepreneur

The dynamic audio and written materials jam packed in this kit will provide at least these three major benefits: 

1. Align your life purpose with your business vision
2. Refine your business idea
   
3. Define your strategic plan to turn your ideas into income

The online release date for this kit is next Monday, December 17, so for only one week we are offering this incredible collection of invaluable resources at a pre-release 50% discount!  This will be a great Christmas gift for yourself or someone you know who needs a spiritual and professional boost.

This thought-provoking video is presented as part of Redeemer Presbyterian Church's Gospel & Culture Lecture series. The speaker is Jeff Van Duzer, Dean of the School of Business and Economics at Seattle Pacific University and author of Why Business Matters to God. He states:

Enjoy this powerful teaching!