Search results for "leadership"

I’m convinced that I stay “on purpose” because I read the Bible every morning, first thing before anything. There’s a strong foundation being built in my life. Additionally, there’s a framework I’m staying within. Both the foundation and framework help me grow within my calling to stay focused on my purpose. If we Godpreneurs don’t have this strong foundation, we might be able to build a small business, but it could never grow because the foundation is bad. If we entrepreneurs don’t have the right framework around our calling, we’ll also fall for anything coming our way. That framework is: Connect regularly with your CEO (God) Involve other Christian entrepreneurs in your growth (community) Control your business thoughts (get on my daily email devotional) Control your media consumption (get off social media, news, and email) Say “NO” to opportunities that don’t make your spirit dance. We Godpreneurs want to build a strong business on a firm foundation like Matthew wrote about in Jesus’ words: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." (Matthew 7:24‭-‬25 NIV) If you’re constantly going from idea to idea, and not finding meaning and purpose in your unique calling, either the foundation is bad, or the framework is bad…or both. Purpose-focused Godpreneurs have: A God-First view of God in their business A clear understanding of their identity in Christ A commitment to the seriousness of being out of line from our calling A sober realization of our weaknesses Vigilance to the ideas and thoughts that most tempt us off our path A strong understanding of what they are born to do Great relationships and accountability with other Godpreneurs who can encourage and challenge them An opportunistic mindset A positive attitude towards business, the marketplace A growing spiritual walk Constant vigilance on our thoughts, and being able to change them quickly A way to weed out people who won’t contribute to your calling The understanding that our calling is more important than any other seemingly great money-making idea out there If everything above checks off and you do have a great foundation and a strong framework, but you’re not living in your purpose, then your calling is sitting right in front of you…you just haven’t pulled the trigger. So, are you ready to finally say YES to your calling… And ONLY your calling? Imagine if we Godpreneurs all trusted that God would provide in our calling and that we wouldn’t need the other distractions?! If you need more help discovering your calling, I wrote a book called Discover Your Calling as an Entrepreneur. It’s available on Amazon. Also, I invite you to be a member of the Godpreneur Academy where I have daily devotional plans on all business subject matters. #BusinessBibleStudy #FindMyCalling

My marketing agency used to do work for nightclubs and strip clubs across the world. I had the best graphic designers in the world working on the top hot spots from Vegas to Miami. Then from one day to the next, I quit it all. I didn’t want to be in that world anymore. I didn’t want to be helping the dark in my business and seeking the light in my personal life. But do you think the leads just stopped coming in for more work? Nope, we had developed a reputation over the years. People would still reach out to me about doing work, and I had two choices. I could take the work and continue to show our amazing ability to produce a quality product in a timely manner, or I had the choice to respectfully decline. J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, said “It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” I have the choice of what type of work I do and what clients I let into my company. My choices affect my relationship with God and the outcome of everything I do in my business. The Bible says: “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion.  To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.  Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight, I have power.  By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just;  by me princes govern, and nobles—all who rule on earth". Proverbs 8:12‭-‬16 NIV I respectfully decline all nightclub work that comes my way. We still have the ability to do amazing designs, but I’m choosing to flex my character, the new person God’s wisdom is shaping. Choices—we all make them every day in our businesses. But in the end, they make us. Godpreneur Rule: Choose to cultivate your inner Godpreneur, and don’t sacrifice your character on the road to success. #StrengthenIntegrity #WorkLifeBalance #SharpenLeadership

When clients come to me for rebranding, I love to send them ours before and after look book. In the PDF we have compiled the best transformations that we feel will prove to potential clients that we are the firm they should choose to redo their logo and website with. As consumers, we want to believe that the service or product we’re purchasing is going to provide a real change in our lives. Whatever it is we're buying, we are looking for it to take us from one mental state to another. We look for proof of that by going to Yelp or reading reviews on Amazon. And when we find an amazing product, we can’t help but to SPREAD THE WORD!, Right? We are naturally born to tell others of the great service we just purchased! We are a people seeking transformation, but we seek proof to back it up. We are people finding transformation, and we can’t help but to tell everyone. This is why testimonials are very important in business. They give witness to the transformation. I’m reading the book of Acts in the Bible with some friends and we’re on chapter 4. Here we see Peter and John being taken to jail and judged the next day for performing miracles in the name of Jesus. Peter and John both experienced Jesus, saw miracles, received the Holy Spirit, and now they can’t help but to tell everyone about it. "As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20) How can we create raving fans in our businesses? I believe that happens once we realize how our business fits into the bigger picture God has for us and His mission in this world: spreading the gospel of Jesus. Once I began to align my company mission with the mission of the church, my business began to change. I treated clients differently, I put more love into my work, I provided more value to my customers, I cared more about their success. I literally transformed in front of many of my clients, who knew that my level of service wasn’t like this before. Now is when I’m beginning to experience true testimonials from my clients. They are genuine and heartfelt. They will refer me clients and help grow my business the natural way. All I have to do is keep on being the change. You too have the ability to do this in your business. Personally, I only know of one way of getting you there: through a true relationship with Christ. You can read my blogs until you’re blue, you can even memorize them. Heck, you can hire me to do your branding…but nothing will change without the power of the Holy Spirit within you that will reveal the true identity and purpose of your business. Imagine if we were all on the same page, of the same spirit, leading businesses of true transformation! Godpreneur Rule #25: A Godpreneur first seeks to be the change. #SharpenLeadership #BusinessBibleStudy

Remember when you were a kid, everyone was always cheering you on. In baseball, coach said I was most likely to improve. Although that was him telling me I suck in a nice way, it was still a Cheerful word to an 8-year-old. In school, my teachers confirmed I could be a lawyer. At home, my mom confirmed I would be an amazing sales person.  It seemed like everyone in the family knew.  In a nice way, they would tell me I can sell ice to an Eskimo. As a teenager, I embraced that and sold candy to my friends at school. And it was no coincidence that when I started at Cornell, I was studying to be a lawyer (what my teachers predicted).  I later changed to a business major (what my parents predicted). But where’s the coach now?  Where’s the teacher?  Where are Mom and Dad? Who’s cheering us on? They are on to the next child, they are worried about their own present problems, and too busy to cheer on a grown adult. As an entrepreneur, someone needs to be speaking into your life; a mentor, a business coach, a fellow entrepreneur. For me, God is where I get my love, acceptance, and value.  I love to read God’s promises to me in the bible. Worry weighs us down; a cheerful word picks us up. Your Entrepreneur Compass, Alex Miranda #SharpenLeadership

Choosing to be an entrepreneur means choosing to do one of the most difficult yet rewarding jobs in all possible career fields. When I left the corporate world in 2004 to start my own business, it was exciting. A young 22-year-old, naive and ambitious, Alex took it to the streets to hustle a buck. I would never have imagined all of the STRESS I would have to endure. But something amazing happened along the way. I became ‘born again’ and started going back to church. The implications this had on my business would almost immediately be evident. The biggest, and most glorious change, was that I now had the best business partner in the world, God! God came along for the rollercoaster ride, held my hand, and said to me, “Hold on, it's going to be rough, but I’m here to guide you along the way.” This was a huge turning point in my business because I now had a business partner. I could throw my stresses and worries onto…which is one of His main roles. Psalms 20 says: “May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests.” God has saved my business countless times. He answers my prayers as long as I continue to put my trust in Him. When I’m overstressed, that’s indicative of my lack of trust in God…while He's seeking His next move for me. Some put their trust in their bank accounts, but that fluctuates too much, so then your stress does too. If we want to live more stress-free on the rollercoaster, it’s important to trust in God’s role as your business partner. Others will be brought to their knees and fall, but we will rise and stand firm in our partnership with God. #SharpenLeadership #BusinessPartnerships

People who aren’t entrepreneurs that hear about the suffering that business owners go through and might be confused as to why they would put themselves through the torture. We’ve heard the saying “No pain, no gain.”. This is true for small business owners as well. We need the trials so that we can mature in our business lives…and in our spiritual lives. The bible says in Romans 8:37 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” I used to think that suffering was some kind of punishment. That’s one way to look at it. But I choose to look at it as an opportunity to grow because I have a great teacher to learn from. I have this mentality because I’m no longer running a business alone. I’ve partnered with God in my business. So when the suffering comes – and it will come – I can walk with Christ in assurance that I’ll be taken care of and a great lesson will come about. He will never leave us and never forsake us. We entrepreneurs may still suffer at times, but we have “the power that raised Christ from the dead” to enable us to overcome (Rom. 8:11). #SharpenLeadership #EnhanceFocus

Why is it that so called ‘successful’ entrepreneurs complain of headaches, ulcers, high blood pressure, alcoholism, drug abuse, obesity, insomnia, and you fill in the blanks with your own complaints? I’ll tell you why: They THINK they are in the business they should be in. They’re making money, they have customers…so this must mean this is where they are supposed to be. They think the business isn’t doing as well as it could BECAUSE of the headaches and insomnia. They think if they get to the doctor to fix this up, the business will get more of their 100% effort and things will improve. This was me. This was my story. And for years, I told myself that I could fix this on my own. This will come to a shock to you: You’re in the wrong business or role. You’re selling the wrong product, providing the wrong service, and in the wrong role within your organization. You’ve reached a level of incompetence, and its causing the health problems….not the other way around. You might be the boss, but you’re horrible at managing people, so they stress you out. Its time that you stop being the boss, hand that over to an operations person, and you go back to making cakes. Your might be the boss of a business your family has done for years, but you hate it and its stressing you out. Its time to move on. Why am I so passionate about entrepreneurs finding what God wants them to do in business? Because when we’re in line with God’s vision for our life, a sense of joy and happiness enters into our heart that is a medicine to our body. Stress is released. Problems will always surround you, but how you react internally changes now that you’re in line with God’s vision. So problems don’t affect you like they used to. Its time to do a sober exam of your business life. Do a health check up. How’s your health? That might be an indication that you’re not living in line with God’s vision for your entrepreneurial ventures. #SharpenLeadership #BecomeDisciplined

If we look at suffering or failure in our businesses as something to be avoided, we may miss some of God’s greatest work. Some suffering is God’s effort to correct business practices, remove people from around you to bring others in, take away service and replace it with another, or shut it down to start the one He wants for you. Proverbs 3:5-12 says, “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God ’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God ! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life! Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over. But don’t, dear friend, resent God ’s discipline; don’t sulk under his loving correction. It’s the child he loves that God corrects; a father’s delight is behind all this.” When you feel you were not cut out to be an entrepreneur, remember that when you are weak, God can fill you with His strength. When you rely on your power, there is no room for God. #EnhanceFocus #GainConfidence

Trouble comes in many colors in business. Outside factors come along and rock the very foundation of everything we’ve built. Divorce, key employee leaving or losing a big contract are only a few of the common bed rockers. I found this bible verse very comforting in times of trouble in my business. Psalms 71:20-21 says, “Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once more.” If you’re in troubled times right now you have two choices in mindset. First, you can be depressed and anxious and stressed out. I’m not sure if this is possible to avoid outright. But how long you stay in this state if mind is critical. The second choice needs to come as fast as possible, which is to worship God, seek Him more than ever before, and trust that’s he’s changing things around for your good. He will comfort you once more. P.S. I think its also fun to note that in the verse above, God MAKES us see trouble. When God gives you a vision, we always think its for something amazing, right? We associate vision with something positive. But in this case, God has us see times of trouble. Sometimes we can see it coming, sometimes we don’t see it until it snacks us in the face. But that’s a different blog post. #DifferentiatingMyself #StrengthenIntegrity

I’ve been through my shares of ups and downs in my business. And when the downs come, it seems like everything around me is crashing down. Bills get backed up, confidence is lost, a feeling of failure sets in, and the will to give up starts to creep into your mind. When we go through these times, it seems like we’re all alone. But we’re not alone. In Deuteronomy 8:6-9, Moses writes “Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.” You might not see it because your mind is clouded with the problems of the business and where the next checks will come in to pay the bills. You might not have the faith built up yet to immediately turn to prayer when troubled times come. But we have a God who has made a promise to us entrepreneurs….for the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land. #SharpenLeadership

I started hosting Meetup.com meetings at The Creative Complex. We specified that we were looking for ‘Creatives Only’ in the description. We meant to attract graphic designers, web developers, marketing people, etc.  But instead, what we got was a wizard, a network marketer, a financial planner, and a couple of creatives. Doesn’t that stink?  When you’ve set out to attract the perfect prospect, the right client, and you get a bunch of randoms?! But I’ve been struggling with this.  In my heart, I felt that everyone is God’s people, and who knows why God places people in our lives. As Godpreneurs, we’ve allowed God to be the CEO of our businesses, so we’ve also given Him the authority to bring us whomever of His children He wants us to interact with. Christ didn’t limit his interactions to the right type of people.  Why should we? But I’ll admit that I felt a difficulty interacting with those that showed up to my meetup that were out of my comfort zone. I was trying to bring around the people who think and act like me, and ultimately would buy from me.  Selfishness at its finest. Maybe I even think they are ‘beneath’ me and I was resentful that they took up our time. Although I am going to tighten up the description of the group, I pray that God removes any sense of entitlement I may have, and to allow me to embrace the unexpected people God brings to my entrepreneurial life. There’s a difference between interacting and actually doing business with.  I think its okay for us to choose to do business with those that are like-minded, but no one is beneath us for a discovery call or even a group Meetup. #FindingMyPurpose #BuildMyPersonalBrand #HiringtheRightPeople

I’ve had some bad clients do horrible things to me.  I’ve been stiffed for a $2500 invoice….still unpaid to today. I’ve been insulted, bad mouthed, degraded, lied to, betrayed, and mocked. The worst thing to ever happen to me was my biggest client going behind my back to offer my partner more money to go work directly for them. That was brutal. For weeks I plotted my revenge.  I schemed up ways to get back at the client. When someone has wronged us or our businesses, we are often tempted to seek revenge. We may gossip, give them the “silent treatment,” or even retaliate. We have a choice: 1) live our lives in the spirit 2) live our lives in the flesh In 1 Samuel 24:15 we read “May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.” David refused to fight in the flesh, and left Saul’s judgment to the Spirit of God. You’ll be tempted to seek revenge. Your blood will boil. The hurt will drive your mind to fantasize about 100 ways to retaliate. But remember, you serve an amazing boss that is waiting to see just how much love and compassion (or restraint) you’re going to show. Let it go. I ended up doing nothing to retaliate.  In fact it ended up being a huge blessing…the end of one season and the beginning of another in my entrepreneurial career. A couple of months after this client went behind my back to take my partner was out of a job.  Don’t know what he’s up to today, but praying for him. Imagine if we all just moved on and didn’t seek revenge and let God do His thing. Godpreneur Rule #22: Live in the Spirit and allow God to be the judge. #DifferentiatingMyself #StrengthenIntegrity

My company used to be heavily involved in nightlife marketing. Along with marketing nightclubs, we also helped some strip clubs with their flyer designs. It was easy and consistent money, and my designers were good at it! But as a growing Christian, I began to feel convicted about doing work for gentlemen’s clubs. So I began declining their work, even giving away that business to other companies. This really sparked some heated arguments in the company, so we kept doing the work. Over time, I couldn’t kick the conviction, so I made a solo decision to cut ties with the adult entertainment industry. My employees were furious. This was affecting their commissions!  But it was also affecting my conviction. As entrepreneurs, we’ll all face massive pressure from people close to you to do something in contradiction to what God is asking you to do. In the face of pressure, especially to pay bills, we may compromise our ethics and morals and stand in opposition to God’s desire for you. As a entrepreneurs, I’m sure you know about pressure. Our employees can be relentless in asking us to do things outside our value system, including clients they want to work with, marketing campaigns they want to execute on, and adding new people to the team. They can be every bit as demanding and intimidating as the 3 year old throwing a temper tantrum in the grocery store line for a piece of candy. When that happens, stand firm in your identity in Christ. Let your desire to be obedient to God give you strength, and lovingly explain why you’re not willing to compromise your beliefs. I explained my point of view to my team and they eventually understood my conviction for not wanting to do business with strip clubs. I had to let those employees go because we didn’t stand on the same moral grounds, among other things. Eventually God convicted me of the same when it came to doing business with nightclubs.  That was tough because it represented 90% of my business.  The letting go of employees on that one was one of the most difficult days of being an entrepreneur I had ever experienced. Godpreneur Rule #36: Godpreneurs seek to please one boss, one board of director member, the main investor:  God. #BusinessBibleStudy #WheretoStartFirst #HiringtheRightPeople The Business God Created You To Start Have you ever wondered why you received the talents and gifts you have been given? We, as entrepreneurs, were born to do. Heard of the Godpreneur Academy? Grow Your Business, God’s Way! Bible-Based Video Courses for Entrepreneurs Putting God First In their Businesses Click here to create a Free Account

My wife and I ran into big problems in our marriage because I worked so darn much.  Day and night, 25 hours a day, 8 days a week (that’s right, I worked so much I created days that didn’t exist). I think it’s a combination of 1) knowing there’s still a lot to be done to grow the business and putting in more time will get it done, 2) workaholics syndrome I inherited from mom, 3) wanting to prove my worth to my father by how much I work, 4) if I was broke, at least I was working and that felt good, and 5) sometimes I just wanted to escape home life and working is a safe refuge. All of these above excuses are lies that the enemy has lead me to believe.  Each statement above can be a whole chapter in a book. Working hard isn’t the problem.  Not resting is the issue. We entrepreneurs do have a lot of work, we do have great responsibilities, we do not follow the normal 9-5 schedule, but we’re also smarter than the average Joe and need to understand the tricks of the super successful who seem to be able to manufacture time at will. How can we beat the system and create more time?  The answer is a contradiction of the mind:  find a day of rest. In Mark 2:25-28 "Jesus said, “Really? Haven’t you ever read what David did when he was hungry, along with those who were with him? How he entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, with the Chief Priest Abiathar right there watching—holy bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat—and handed it out to his companions?” Then Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made to serve us; we weren’t made to serve the Sabbath. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath. He’s in charge!” I used to cringe when I heard the pastors preach about taking a full day of rest.  I imagined me sitting on a couch doing nothing for 24 hours and freaking out as if in an insane asylum. Worst is that I thought I was being a “bad Christian” for not taking a day off.  So then I would force myself to not work just to honor the day as if to say “ok God, I did it, are you proud of me?…”  See how even on the Sabbath I was still working for someone’s approval? The Sabbath isn’t an item on the Christian checklist of things that make God like you more.  The Sabbath is a day where you rest to RECHARGE, REBOOT, REJUVENATE, and RELAX. Imagine you’re working out at the gym.  Don’t you ‘rest’ between sets of exercises?  This time of rest actually strengthens you and you do even better the next set!  That’s how taking a day of rest works. We entrepreneurs need to be very conscious about taking this full day of rest so that our ideas for the following week ahead of us are at 100% and we’re full of the energy we need to tackle the challenges and excitement of owning a business. Your Entrepreneur Compass, Alex Miranda Do you think you’ll be bored on your rest day?  Here are  5 Things Successful Entrepreneurs Do on the Weekends. Comment below with some ideas on things you do on your rest day. #TimeManagement #WorkLifeBalance

In high school I was part of different cliques.  Since I played multiple sports, I had the Hispanic soccer players, the black football players and the nerdy chess players in my circles.  Because I had awesome grades, I had the smart, top of the class kids on my side.  I also associated with the rockers and punks because thats the music I identified with. So when it came time to run for President of the Student Council, it was a landslide victory.  I won, not because I had the best marketing plan or campaign slogan, but because I had deep relationships amongst almost every demographic in my school.  I became ‘one of them’ in every clique. We entrepreneurs have the ability to become one of our customers.  But it’s not enough to just pick one demographic or niche area.  Even within one group, there are different personality types and ways they like to be communicated with. It’s important that we have a desire to want to speak our customer’s language, walk in their shoes, and find out what keeps them up at night. Our customers want to feel like we know what they are talking about, what they go through.  But that can be so hard for us if we’re not truly looking to serve their needs over our own. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul describes his method of ‘winning souls’ as he’s on his missionary journeys.  He says in verses 19-23, "Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!" You and I are on a mission of our own.  God’s using you and me within our own markets, our own niches, to show others what being a Godpreneur is all about. We’re providing our service or product to a group of people that need to be able to relate to us so they can like, know and trust us. You can know your customers better by doing more surveys, asking them what they would like to see you provide.  You can also do quizzes and assessments to get to know their personality or buying behaviors to better speak their language. We, like Paul, would have much more success in the spreading of our company’s mission if we made it a point to become like our clients, think like they think, so we can serve them better. Godpreneur Rule #142: Godpreneurs are devoted to thinking like their clients so they can serve them better. #MakingMoreSales #TargetMarket&Niche