Search this site

I was sitting in my office with one of my partners when my phone rang with an opportunity of a lifetime. A successful company had relocated to Miami, and they were looking to hire consultants to help them with out-of-the-box marketing ideas and strategic thinking. My kind of client! It happens to be that I noticed they didn’t really have a strong brand story. They were ready for what we had to offer. But the timing of the call was what piqued my curiosity. See, my partner wasn’t supposed to be at my office at that time. Also, we hadn’t done a project together in a while. We were meeting for something related to Daily Godpreneur, and this excellent branding opportunity popped up out of nowhere. No business partnership reaches its destiny in a single leap. Instead, we fulfill God’s purpose for our partnership by putting one foot in front of the other, moving in the marketplace as God directs us, and by continually evaluating, “What has God called us to in the business world? What has He promised us Godpreneurs? And where is He leading our business?” Easier said than done, of course. As entrepreneurs, we’re always running so fast that we never stop to think about these things. And if we do ask, we doubt our ability to recognize the answer. Amazingly enough, we serve a God that is NOT in the business of deception or trickery. Our God reinforces His directions for our businesses clearly, confidently, and concisely. I’ve learned 3 truths about how God operates that keeps me believing and growing in my partnerships: He will reveal His purpose for your business partnership through His Word. He will confirm His plan for your partnership with your business circumstances. He will affirm ongoing direction through people – employees, vendors, contractors, prospects, clients, and yes, your business partner. The Bible says: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2 Timothy 3:16 KJV) If you get in a great habit of reading the Bible every morning, you’ll begin to notice that God’s Word provides directions. It gives directions for your business, the purpose for your entrepreneurial life, and the measuring stick to discern whether what we’re thinking about our business is His idea, our idea, or something for someone else to do in the marketplace. You can trust this: God will never instruct you to do something in your business contrary to the Bible. His Word leads you, instructs you, and serves to affirm our daily walk as Godpreneurs so we can press on. And as you’re developing a daily habit of reading the Bible, you’ll notice that God used circumstances and people to continue to guide us in His purpose for us. Mary was comforted when John the Baptist leaped in Elizabeth’s womb Joseph was reassured through his dreams Moses saw a burning bush and his staff turn into a rod, confirming that God was with Him in the ultimate purpose He had for him. We entrepreneurs are details people. Seeing is believing for us. We plan, and we like to see the numbers add up. Things need to make sense, so walking a journey of faith is a tough ask. But if we stick to our business partnerships in faith, and faithfully follow Him, He will confirm the purpose of our partnerships through His Word, and He’ll affirm His purpose for our coming together through our circumstances. Godpreneur Rule: Godpreneurs in partnerships know that God is speaking to us through His Word, confirming our purpose through our circumstances in business and affirming our partnership through others. #BusinessBibleStudy #BusinessPartnerships Finding Purpose In Your Business Partnership You and your business partner are unique individuals and God is creative in the way He wants to use both of your gifts together. 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

I’ve had some terrible experiences hiring people. It all starts off great. I’m excited to share my knowledge, they’re eager to grab the ball and run. But somewhere halfway down the field, they fumble the ball. I’m cool with mistakes, we learn from them and move on. But when mistakes start stacking up, I get frustrated. My mind immediately starts to doubt the partnership with this employee. I begin to sabotage the relationship by focusing on all of the problems, and eventually, I get fed up and want to let the person go. That’s the old Alex. I’m a Godpreneur now. I’ve learned from this mistake, and I choose to operate from a different mindset now. Now, instead of focusing on the problem, I ask myself “what is this person’s personality in life, and how does our union fit into God’s purpose, my own purpose, and the business’s purpose?” And guess what happened when you ask a question like that: You find what you are looking for. We entrepreneurs have read enough books on mindset and the power of thoughts. We can all agree that we become what we think about, we get from business what we expect, and we find what we’re looking for. One of the most profound revelations we can have in our business partnerships is applying this Purposed-Focused mindset to the relationship. King Solomon, the wisest Godpreneur who ever lived, said it this way: “As a man thinks in his heart, so he is” (Proverbs 23:7). The outcome of your partnerships begins with your mindset. If you constantly focus on your issues, past mistakes, hurts, and failures, then you make the problems even bigger; and you didn’t even know it was happening. Out of control and totally unaware of your actions, you sabotage the relationship – like I used to. Instead, you need to HARNESS the way you think to align with God’s EMBRACE the truth that you and your business partner were created on purpose and the business was created for a purpose REAP the benefits of running a business fully and powerfully in the design He ordained for your lives and joint venture. Listen, problems will always happen in business. You’ll always have a conflict with your business partner. That’s by design, too. Adversity is part of every Godpreneur’s relationship. The solution, though, depends on your ability to shift your focus from your partner is on the other team to be on your team, and that the team has a reason for existing, and that’s what needs to be kept in sight at all times. That’s how you triumph in victory in every business partnership. God’s power and purpose for our business partnerships are magnificent. When Godpreneur business partnerships begin to shift our attention from the problem and focus on living God’s purpose in our business, amazing purpose-focused business happens. Romans 12:1 encourages us to not be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Ephesians 4:22-24 says we need to put off the old man with all its deceitful ways and be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Philippians 4:8 says “if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” As a Godpreneurs in partnership, we are not powerless to our thoughts (2 Timothy 1:7). We marketplace ministers can demolish every lie in business opposing who God says we are by capturing our thoughts and making them obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5−6). Take a moment to ask yourself: Do I live problem-focused or purpose-focused in my business partnership? Imagine a day where both you and your partner fully embraced the mindset that God designed you both distinctly for a purpose and equipped you with everything you need to fulfill your business partnership purpose. Godpreneur Rule: Godpreneurs focus our attention on God’s intention for our business partnerships and exchange our problems for His purpose. #BusinessPartnerships #BusinessBibleStudy Finding Purpose In Your Business Partnership You and your business partner are unique individuals and God is creative in the way He wants to use both of your gifts together. 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

There’s a whole bunch of reasons why people partner together to form a business. It could be a husband and wife that are looking to work on their own terms. I’ve seen complementing partnerships between two realtors wanting to handle separate parts of the same transaction each is more suited for. I’ve branded best friends, brothers, and partnerships of 5 entrepreneurs coming together to form a conglomerate. Although we come together in business for a variety of reasons, God has established 3 main purposes for business partnerships. Regardless of the circumstances, relationship, industry, or opportunity, God had already established even higher purposes for the coming together with our partners. All business partnerships exist for the same exact reason under God’s eyes. The Bible says: "For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen". (Romans 11:36 NLT) See, from God’s point of view, He’s looking at the bigger picture of how our coming together relates to His purposes established by Him and for Him. For you and me, it’s important to understand that there are 3 main purposes God established business partnerships for. God intended for every business partnership to make Him known to employees, clients and all those that will do business with you guys. As Godpreneurs, we are light to the business world. That light will start in our own place of business and then radiate from there. The Bible says: “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (Matthew 5:14‭-‬16 NLT) It all starts with the way you treat each other and your employees. What happens behind closed doors at your office will eventually be revealed to the marketplace. How you respond to each other, and your employees will be a clear indication of what prospects, vendors, contractors, and clients will get. God wants to use your partnership to be a light to the marketplace. When you understand this principle, you realize that your coming together was much bigger than the widgets and gadgets you sell. God Intended for every business partnership to bring Him pleasure in as you succeed (and fail). When you are living out your purpose, and giving back to Him through tithes or donations to charity, we are bringing God pleasure. The Bible says: "for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him". (Colossians 1:16 NLT) This is why the husband and wife leading a church or a real estate office can both bring the exact same pleasure to God. Neither is above the other because God isn’t looking at what they are doing, God is simply asking that we are doing the thing we were born to do and pouring back into our communities. God Intended for every business partnership to show the world what His unconditional love looks like. Every business partnership starts off fantastic. There’s usually a high level of respect and love (brotherly love) for each other. But our love has conditions going into the partnership. Our past hurts, previously failed partnerships, and expectations for success all muddy the concept of showing unconditional love. We all have conditions entering partnerships. But your individual expectations will obstruct the ability to show unconditional love to your business partner. And this directly opposes one of God’s greatest to love as He loves us. The Bible says "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other". (John 13:34 NLT) Our business partnerships serve as another relationship where we can practice and perfect the greatest commandment Jesus left us: love one another. As we continue to seek out the purpose and meaning behind our business partnerships, remember: every joining up of two or more Godpreneurs to do business together will make God known, bring Him pleasure, and give us the opportunity to show unconditional love. Imagine a marketplace where all we sought to do was to live for God’s purposes, and through that, find our specific partnership purposes. #BusinessBibleStudy #BusinessPartnerships Finding Purpose In Your Business Partnership You and your business partner are unique individuals and God is creative in the way He wants to use both of your gifts together. 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

The toughest branding jobs I have been in are business partnerships. Do you think agreeing on where to eat lunch is hard? Try deciding on a logo and website when you’ve got two visionaries with unique views. I’ve had clients literally fight in front of me. Arguments got so heated where I felt this was the day they would finally break the partnership. I’ve seen statistics suggesting that 95 percent of people struggle to identify their God-given purpose. I can back this up from personal experience because I meet with entrepreneurs every day who haven’t figured it out yet. Now throw in the fact that two people don’t know their own purposes; how could they possibly see their combined purpose? The chances just got exponentially worse for them finding it. Living out our purposes as individual entrepreneurs is hard enough, let alone combining it with someone else’s. Employees, market struggles, and our everyday demands in and outside the office clarity, make the business even more uncertain. Yet God’s big vision, His single purpose for your business partnership, will be accomplished. The Bible says: "Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. I will call a swift bird of prey from the east— a leader from a distant land to come and do my bidding. I have said what I would do, and I will do it". (Isaiah 46:10‭-‬11 NLT) God declares His plans for your partnership even before the guys signed the business documents and ensured they will be done. And although partnerships are rough at times, like marriages, they are meant to have a great purpose. So, what is God’s big idea for your business partnership? In Genesis, we read: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule…'” (Genesis 1:26). Typically we think of this passage in the form of husband and wife. But I believe this can also be the case for business partnerships. God’s big idea is that He created you and your partner to bear His image in the marketplace. He destined Adam and Eve’s union like He destined your joint venture. Then He invites the new partnership to “fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). This is the business framework for every existing partnership and presents a prerequisite for accomplishment. God’s purpose for you and your partner can only be completed if you fulfill it together. Since the time of Adam and Eve, nothing has changed. You both are still to govern over your company, dominate in your marketplace, and multiply yourselves and your products and services, both physically and spiritually—just like Adam and Eve (without the sex, unless you’re married, of course!) God created our business partners and us for a product or service that only the two of us could accomplish the marketplace together. He knew all our differences in business and combined them perfectly to mesh together. With the perfection only He could only have done, he made our gifts and talents and common interest line up for a time like we’re in right now. And with even more precision, our partnerships serve God’s greater purpose of being His light in our industries. Ecclesiastes 4:9−12 reminds us, two are better than one. Together, we will accomplish more in business than either of us could on our own. We need to invite God to reveal His purpose for our partnership and take steps toward living purpose-driven business partnerships. Could you imagine if all Godpreneurs knew exactly why our partnerships existed? How much less fighting would we have? How much would more meaning our products and services have? How much better would our employees and clients be? I pray for all Godpreneur Partnerships to discover their purpose and invite you to continue reading this series as we explore the purpose of business partnerships. #BusinessPartnerships #BusinessBibleStudy Finding Purpose In Your Business Partnership You and your business partner are unique individuals, and God is creative in the way He wants to use both of your gifts together. 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

The other day I went to visit one of my ex business partners at an event he was producing.  He loves putting events together and marketing them.  I was happy to see him in his element. Guess who else was there? The 3rd partner. The 3 of us, together again like we used to be. It’s amazing to spend time together, sometimes joking about the past. But there’s a sadness that comes over me. Where would we be if we stayed together? Could I have something different go impact the outcome? I know God’s plans are greater than mine and we broke up for a reason, but I can’t help to wish we could go back to day 1….knowing what I know today. Coming into a relationship with God half way through our partnership definitely did help the partnership. It could have ended in a very bad way had I not implemented some of the things I’ve been teaching here. We entrepreneurs all have regrets, things we wish we could go back and change knowing what we know now, especially in our business partnerships. We can choose to harp on the past and let that depress us, or we can do the one secret I’ve found that helped me in my business partnerships and lets me be totally happy today even through the breakup. Most entrepreneurs have been in a difficult time in your partnership. Some of us have reached the brink of ending, some are just starting to experience some strife, and others of us are taking proactive measures to avoid even getting to these points. Wherever we’re at in our partnerships, God will do amazing things in and through you if we can do this…. God’s word says in Romans 8:26-28 "Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good." The spirit keeps us present before God. Why is this important? The secret to success in business partnerships lies more with the relationship between you and God than in changing your partners or circumstances. So if you’re focused on the situation you’re in or what’s in it for you in this partnership, then you’re doomed to continue along the same path you’re on. At this point you’re asking “Ok Alex, that’s awesome, but I can’t stand my partners and this sound like I have a lot of spiritual growing to do and I don’t have the time…I need a dose of something for today.” Here is the secret to being all your partners needs you to be… It is easy to put our own needs before the partnership, or to put business before God. It’s even possible to put “personal holiness” before following God and doing what He asks us to do for others. The greatest discoveries you can make as an entrepreneur is focusing on what God has already done for you. This is what makes you a more perfect partner. When you’re focused on God, you don’t care so much about what you’re getting out of the partnership. Instead, I believe and know, you care more deeply about what your partnership is receiving. I read a marriage book by Gary Thomas and in his book he asks asks, “What if God designed marriage not to make us happy, but to make us holy?” The fights that we experience with our partners are opportunities for us to lay down our own desires and serve someone else. Maybe that’s what God intended for business partnerships. When we do this, maybe we’ll experience radical growth we could never have imagined. My hope in writing ‘Fixing Business Partnerships Gone Wrong’ was for you to learn from my mistakes, realize God is in control, and focus on serving your partners like Christ served us. When I began to realize this concept and apply it to my partnerships, the relationship definitely improved. I’ve noticed positive changes in myself since being in partnerships. I believe great partnerships, in good times and in bad, teach us about keeping the focus on God and His love for others. Your Entrepreneur Compass, Alex Miranda. ——— #BusinessPartnerships #BuildMyPersonalBrand

When I got into my first business partnership we didn’t exchange vows or perform any ritualistic ceremony. We signed some papers at Bank of America and had lunch afterwards. That was it. There aren’t any “till death do us part” type of transactions between business partners.  But maybe there should be!  I know there are legal documents partners sign, but none go deep into what’s necessary to keep and grow a partnership. I propose there are 5 essential promises we should make as business partners. we’ll pursue each other: remember the convincing it took to even make them your partner?  Remember the wining and dining, the drinks at the bar, the things you did to sell the vision? We got to keep doing those things. we’ll keep one partnership: I don’t know what it’s like to be in two partnerships at the same time. If ONE was more work than I could handle, I came imagine two. You can ‘invest’ in other businesses, do joint ventures, dabble in real estate and trade stocks all at the same time…but its going to be challenging to have multiple proper business partnerships and a private life.  Something is going to fail. we’ll believe the best of each other: we’re all a piece of artwork being sculpted until the day we die. It means we’re going to be better tomorrow than today. Just because I didn’t like some of my partners traits today doesn’t mean I shouldn’t believe the best for him today. With this attitude, then I will treat him great today. If not, I’ll have anger and resentment towards him. we will be the definition of partners: first off, we signed a partnership agreement. That needs to always be honored. Second, we share equally in the work, success and failure. the partnership is my 2nd or 3rd priority:  after your relationship with God, the partnership with your spouse is next. If there’s no spouse, then you’re married to the business partners you’re with. And just like we give God priority in our lives, your partners get your priority. You pick up their calls always, ask how they are doing, care about them more than the business itself, and want to serve them wholeheartedly. Consider each of these promises as you work through the issues of your partnership. If you have problems today its likely because one or all of the promises above have not been addressed and/or kept. Imagine a world where we actually incorporate tangible ways to live out these promises.  Each represent areas of potential growth in the business partnership if you can master them. We might be strong in one or two, but there’s always improvements than can be made. Remember, we’re all sculptures being fashioned daily. #SharpenLeadership #BusinessPartnerships

I was very selfish in the first 5 years of my partnership. It was truly all about me and how I could benefit from the company. I used my Ivy League status, my interpersonal skills, and my sales ability to bully my way through decisions in the company. I cared about my partners, but to the extent in which it helped me. I loved my bros, but I loved myself more. I remember one of my partners reminding me constantly of my selfishness, but I didn’t see it. I thought I was the nicest guy ever…that’s what my mom told me! Although our partnership is over now, I wonder if things would be different had I known the things I know today. You see, what I’ve learned is that we are naturally selfish. We’re born selfish. It’s our instinct of survival to think of ourselves first. We all enter partnerships with a ‘what’s in it for me’ mentality. If we’re honest with each other, we all suffer from this selfish condition (if you don’t anymore, kudos!).  So how do we identify and remove this selfishness? What I’ve learned now that I wish I knew before is that there are 8 keys to removing selfishness and we can find them in the bible in Philippians 2:1-8. "If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care — then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human !  Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion." The keys are this: Agree with each other Love each other Be deep-spirited friends Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. This isn’t a call for you to lay down your visions, not lead, let yourself be abused, or not defend what you feel strongly about. The irony is that if you can follow the steps above, you’ll actually become even more powerful and influential in your partnership. You’ll be able to win your partners over to your vision much easier.  They will know your heart and trust you more. If all of us can be Christ in our partnerships, we’re truly living out the gospel in our businesses. #BusinessPartnerships #SharpenLeadership #GainConfidence

My partner and I have an 8:30 am call every Tuesday to connect and game plan.  It’s the best spent 30 minutes of the week. There isn’t always an agenda, but there’s always something to talk about. Last talk we identified a major hiccup in our process and I was able to fix it.  A previous call we simply talked about life and we vented out some frustrations that didn’t even have to do with work. Something I know now that I didn’t know back in my previous partnership was the need for regular meetings between the partners.  I would have meetings, but they weren’t intentional but more reactions to a certain crisis going on. In hind sight, this is probably the biggest reason we failed as a partnership.  I think we all felt lonely and that we each were running the company on our own.  If you asked each of us individually, you’d hear that the biggest weight of the company was on that person being asked. This lack of meeting caused distrust in the accounting, no single vision for the future, no way of venting and no clear leadership. What happens when we don’t meet regularly is that we’re not giving ourselves time to connect with one another. Connections are formed with time spent together.  I’m not talking about a company dinner with all the employees or going to happy hour with friends.  I’m talking about just the partners. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says "It’s better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps, But if there’s no one to help, tough! Two in a bed warm each other. Alone, you shiver all night. By yourself you’re unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped." You might be at a point in your partnership where you just want to quit and do it alone. You figure that you’ve already been doing it alone, why not make it easier for everyone and just dismantle the partnership agreement. That’s not God’s design. I’d be surprised to find any hugely successful businesses out there that are 100% owned by one person only.  God’s design is for community to be formed and for one hand to wash the other. Pull out your calendar and set a weekly catch up meeting. This can be on the phone. Set up a monthly dinner where you talk in a relaxed environment. Then set up an annual planning meeting. You can do this quarterly, every 6 months or every year.  There is no such thing as connecting too much.  Things move so fast in business that the more we can communicate the faster we can grow. We can let our selfish pride, greed and ambitions rule our lives and make us a LONER in business, or we can choose to embrace the design of connecting with one another regularly. #BecomeDisciplined #SharpenLeadership #BusinessPartnerships

My partner and I would frequently get in email battles and heated arguments in front of employees. The biggest problems my partners and I had was not knowing how to communicate properly. Notice I didn’t say ‘a lack of communication’. I communicated a lot…I worked in the same small office. We all get into arguments with our partners. But what’s it all for? Can we even remember WHY the last argument started? The way to a restored and happy business partnership is through good communication, but we don’t know how to speak what matters, let alone to listen well and respond. The Bible says in Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." God wants us to be great communicators by listening and really knowing your partners needs. I believe God wants us to 1) Think about this greater purpose next time you’re talking with your partners. 2)While most daily talk is simply to share information or discuss less-than vital decisions, try to be fully present with your business partners even when discussing the most mundane of details. 3) Make it a practice to share with each other when you’re stressed or excited about. 4) Make the goal of communication with your partners developing greater compassion for one another. What I learned over the years is that communication isn’t just the act of speaking.  Communication is also listening and empathizing its really a self-less act. We all start out born knowing how to communicate one way….cry to get fed. But if we want real change in our partnerships, we have to learn the other side of communication: listening. #BusinessPartnerships #ShareYourTestimony #EnhanceFocus

In 2008, just 3 years after starting my partnership, I began my spiritual revolution.  I grew up Catholic, and after confirmation I really didn’t have much interest in church. Like most boys growing up in Miami, the girls and nightclubs are more tantalizing to our souls. But in 2008 a friend of mine invited me to a Christian non-denominational church and I was hooked! I started growing in my relationship with God. My heart was changing, my thoughts were changing, and the way I viewed people and my business were changing. I’d like to tell you that my partners were happy for me and everything was peaches and cream, but nothing could be further from the truth. Because I was walking in one direction and the other was walking opposite, making business decisions became challenging. I was serving a new CEO above me that wanted things to be different. To please my partners, I sacrificed my new thoughts in hopes of keeping the peace and moving forward. I convinced myself that when its business, God is out, but for my personal life, I was going to grow with God. Essentially, I was living a double life. Sometimes in partnerships we’re put into situations where one person is a believer and the other isn’t.  Or maybe it’s two Christians, but one isn’t walking as close to God as the other. We begin to experience moral and ethical problems.  Business is like a marriage, and being married to someone that’s reading a different book can be challenging! So where do we go from here? Certainly we don’t just bow out and give up the business, right? We can’t just sacrifice all we’ve done to create the business, correct? God’s ways are different, contrariant in nature. The opposite is true. In fact, God wants you to get deeper into the business partnership, but He wants it done out of sacrifice to Him. Romans 12:2 says "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." This verse is TOP 5 verses of the Bible that I hold on to and live by every day.  Wherever we are at in our lives, God wants us to think like him and sacrifice the old ways in which we thought. The relational problems that arise from my business partnerships used to deeply trouble me until I wrapped my head around the concept of sacrificing everything I used to think in order to think like Jesus would. This helped me to see my partners not as ‘opposite’ of me, but as brothers that I love. You can choose to focus on your partners and the problems, or you can choose to focus on sacrificing your thoughts and replacing them with God’s thoughts. Let love shine through from God to your business, your partnership, your clients, your services, and your employees. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, genuine love is all about giving of oneself. However, the pattern of capitalism in the business world is selfish. If we’re conformed to it, we might try “sacrificing” to gain something, be it happiness, acclaim, self-worth, or in my case keeping peace with my partners. But true sacrifice involves giving up selfish desire for selfless love. Sacrifice in business requires balancing our hopes of success and wealth with the understanding that those hopes are not the focus. True sacrifice involves a greater goal than we gain personally or relationally. As Jesus’ life demonstrates, sacrificing must be about living to serve God, even as we seek to serve our business partners and others for him. #WorkLifeBalance #SharpenLeadership #BusinessPartnership

The first year or two of owning a business with my friends was so exciting!  We were kicking butt, hiring people, got a cool office on South Beach and doing work with some high profile clients.  We were 25 and 26 year old entrepreneurs starting an agency in Miami…doesn’t it sound like a movie?!?! Well, it was everything you can imagine plus more! One day something happened that started a heated argument between myself and one of my partners.  We exchanged abusive emails for 1/2 a day, even copying our 3rd partner in who had nothing to do with it. The emails got longer and longer, more bitter after each send. In the early days when I first started the business, I thought I would have a perfect partnership automatically. Oh boy was in for a ride for the next years. I knew at this point the honeymoon period was over. Remember MTV’s The Real World? I love how the opening statement goes:  ‘When people stop being fake and start becoming real’. That’s what happens in a partnership. We all enter in with high hopes and expectations from our partners, and almost certainly go through seasons of disappointed, let downs, back stabbing, gossiping, side-taking, finger pointing, verbal and even physical abuse. Experience tells us business partnerships are harder than we think. As we grow in clients and revenue, eventually, we realize our initial ideas about business and management aren’t realistic and something needs to change or someone needs to leave this partnership. The truth is that this disconnect in expectations is NOT A SURPRISE TO GOD.  You think he would make everyone different and not have lessons for us to break free from these great expectations? The bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:11 "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." In essence, Paul (the writer of Corinthians) is telling us that when our businesses were in their infancy, we thought one way. But now that the enterprise is growing, its time to put those thought behind because God has so much more in store for us. Our initial expectations must be replaced with biblical truth. Your business partner’s ideas about communication, conflict resolution, management of people, spirituality, job roles, time off, pay structure, accounting, and myriad other business things were determined long before you came on the scene. But most partners never deeply explore these concepts intentionally. I’m not an emotional intelligence expert and I don’t resolve conflict for partners for a living. I can only share my experiences both in marriage and in business partnerships (which are identical by the way). What I know is that there has to be a pow wow to let this concept of expectations be known and to explore ideas about how you connect with your partners. What areas of disagreement or difference do you have in connecting, communicating, and the list of other ideas I mention 2 paragraphs before? We can allow God to shape our great expectations for business in partnership so we can experience co-working in which God intended for us to interact and prosper. #TimeManagement #GainConfidence

In 2005 I formed a 3-way partnership with two of my really good friends.  One was a graphic designer, one was a website developer, and I was the Cornell University business graduate that was supposed to know what he was doing when it came to running a business. So naïve yet full of energy and excitement, the three of us desired to leave the corporate life and take control of our lives. We had visions of growing an agency full of the best creatives and doing amazing work for our clients.  The name of the company spoke our hearts desire: The Creative Complex. We sought to build, literally, a fun place to work with ping pong tables and games and a relaxed working atmosphere. We really did want it to work out….but…. You can probably fill in the story from here based on your experience in partnerships. We all desire one thing when we start, but things change. People change. Visions change.  Plans change.  Circumstances change.  We change.  And when you start making money, hearts change. So what happens when partnerships go bad? What can we do to bring them back to life?  How can we….just go back to when we first started? What I’ve discovered over repeated failed and successful partnerships is a key to cracking the partnership code. This key, when applied, can help unlock restoration and a renewed sense of hope in the business. Revelation 2:4 in the bible says "But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!  Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand and from its place among the churches." The key I’ve found is that we have to go back to the basics, back to why we started this, back to our first days of excitement. In your marriage, you reminisce on the dating, wedding and honeymoon and all of the sudden the fighting stops and there’s peace (for a little). It’s the similar concept in business. So here are some practical steps to going back. Re-reading the business plan together: Where you start in business largely determines where you’ll end up. You can make significant progress and possibly avoid conflict if you spend some time thinking about what you hoped for most at the start.  (And if you don’t have a business plan, well now you know why the partnership is failing.  How can we expect the business to fulfill our dreams and expectations if they aren’t articulated or well defined? Create a business plan together.) Dream brainstorm: after the meeting above, then dream together of the future.  See yourselves succeeding.  The Bible says God has plans for you to prosper.  This is true for your partnerships too! The process of investigating and sharing our deepest desires for business is on-going.  We need to make it a habit to do a periodic mental exploration together to think about the dream you had of what business would be like when you were starting. Add a RECURRING event in your calendar to at least have a yearly looking back meeting followed up by a looking forward meeting.  And if you can do it 2-4 times a year, EVEN BETTER!  The more we get to know each other and communicate, the better chance we have at restoring and strengthening our business partnerships. #DifferentiatingMyself #FindMyCalling

Balance means keeping all the parts of my life in their proper places In my business partnerships, what happened outside of the office would creep its way into the office and into the dynamics between me and my partners. If I partied too much, played too much golf, had a bad girlfriend, or focused on Crossfit too much, the business would see the effects of that eventually. Balance is one of my favorite words, probably because I have to work so hard to keep my life in balance. Businesses are negatively affected by partners who are living chaotic, unbalanced lives. In order for a partnership to run smoothly, all partners need to regain balance in their personal lives. Balance means keeping all the parts of my life in their proper places. It means giving priority to what matters most. For me, that means my relationship with God comes first, my family second, my business third. Business life really runs great for me when I prioritize this way; and it really can spiral downward quickly when I do not. Often life itself and the demands that come to me each day knock me out of balance, so I have to take many “time-outs” to make sure that I am in balance. The bible says Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 2 Peter 3:17 NIV What does the balance in your business partnership mean to you? What are your priorities, and what prevents you from keeping them in the right order? Here’s a suggestion for balancing your business life: Write out your list of priorities in the order of importance to you. Then make a list of all the things that can get you off balance. Keep your lists together in a place where you will see them often. Make a habit of taking a “time-out” each week to look at your lists. I think by doing that, you will be amazed at how much easier it is to stay in balance with your partners. Taking a “time-out” to set priorities straight is important for regaining balance in your business partnership. Godpreneur Rule: Godpreneurs take “time-out” to add more balance to our lives! #BusinessBibleStudy #WorkLifeBalance #BusinessPartnerships

The reality is that a partner is not designed to meet every need—that job is already taken by God What would make me happy in a business partnership? I would want my partners to think and act like me. I would want them to be committed, hard-working, type-a personality, strong work ethic, willingness to learn and grow always, treat people well, and just be totally sold out to the cause. This would make me very happy! We’d have the perfect partnership and a real chance at making it big. Right? We all have painted a picture of the perfect partnership. Yours is likely different than mine, but you have expectations when entering a venture with someone. What happens when they don’t meet those expectations? What do we do when we’ve invested so much time and possibly even money into a partnership that is not meeting your expectations and you’re no longer happy. I’ve learned from God that I can’t put all of these expectations on business partners. It’s not right for me to think that my partner will be like me…they won’t. What if God designed business partnerships as a tool to actually reveal our need for Him? What is the very conflict I experience with my partners that was meant to help bring the partnership to a whole new level? The bible says But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV There was a time in business where I thought having a business partner was supposed to make me happier, less lonely, and less stressed because I would be splitting responsibilities. I was wrong! This thought killed my partnerships. Finally, I got it. I realized that my expectations had been unrealistic. In my business, if I looked at my partners to complete me – to make me happy – I would fail. There were times when they did make me happy, but not all the time. They are human and they make a lot of mistakes. Sometimes they hit home runs and sometimes they strikeout. The reality is that a partner is not designed to meet every need—that job is already taken by God. Expecting my partners to meet all my needs sets them up for failure. But if I let God meet all the needs that He wants to meet in my life, then that allows my partners to meet the needs He has designed them to meet in the business. That works. That is the way God designed it. Think about what you can do today to begin allowing God to meet the needs of your business that He wants to meet. #BusinessPartnerships #BusinessBibleStudy

I’m in a business partnership with another Godpreneur. It’s a beautiful thing because we go to the same church, we complement each other in the branding process, we bring God into our projects, and we’re both on the same page as to why we exist. But it wasn’t always this way for me. I was in a partnership before where we were NOT equally yoked. We both didn’t tap into the power of God, so there were weak spots in the partnership that eventually led to us going our separate ways. How do we get the most out of a Godpreneur partnership? How can we really do business God’s way as two or more people pursuing a venture? It comes down to making sure everyone is plugged into the source: the power of God. In my business, we have a number of electrical outlets. Many of them have the cords of electric lamps plugged into them. Behind those electrical outlets is all the power of our electric company. The amount of power that is there is incredible. But if I do not turn on a light switch, the office remains dark. With all that power, nothing happens until I do something. The same is true in your business partnerships. You have all the power of the God who created the universe. His power is endless. He designed partnerships in general and your joint venture in particular. He can make your business into something truly amazing, but you both have to invite Him in. The bible says: “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work". 2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV God has a plan for your season together as partners. He has the answers that you do not have. He wants to be the center of your business deals. Are you allowing Him to do that? Or are there things that are keeping you from putting God at the center? Are you ready as a partnership to invite Him in and see what He will do? If so, there are some practical things you can do to get started: Find a good church and go—every week. If possible, go to the same church as your partner. Pray for your partnership and for each other every day. Keep it simple. You can pray together at the office or separately—just focus on the same things. Read the Bible together. You do not have to be Bible scholars. Pick a book and read a few verses together. Talk together about what you read. Lead a bible study together with other Godpreneurs. Who knows, God might have some Divine connections there. That’s it. Try these things for sixty days and see what happens. I promise you that God will show up. God wants to be a part of your venture together. Now is the time to begin to let Him do that. It will grow you closer to each other and to Him. Are you ready to see what God will do in your business? Godpreneur Rule: God shows up in business partnerships when both of you invite Him in. #BusinessPartnerships #BusinessBibleStudy Finding Purpose In Your Business Partnership You and your business partner are unique individuals and God is creative in the way He wants to use both of your gifts together. 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