I’ve been doing logos and websites since 2005. We used to shoot first and ask later. In other words, I would take people’s money first, get started on projects, and then I would start asking questions as we were producing work. I needed the money, I had my eyes on the green, and I was willing to do whatever to get it as fast as possible. After all, most clients presumably needed their projects 911 fast! It’s no wonder projects took forever, there were tons of changes, and we spent a lot of time having to undo and redo tasks. We would eventually fix things, but it came to be done after a lot of time spent. Another unintended consequence of not planning was that I wasn’t taking the time to consult the client through the big decision they were about to invest in. After all, we’re talking about starting their business and giving them an identity. That’s a big deal for a new entrepreneur. Years later I realized that if I spent more time planning with the client before starting, I could save a lot of time and money not having to go back. Planning literally cut the time of project completion in half. Furthermore, the more time I spent planning with my client, the more I could consult them in the right direction. Before collecting deposits, I had to learn to stop, look, and listen. Do you have a tendency to leap into projects without weighing them carefully? That can be a good thing if the client is under the gun and needs their stuff for a trade show that’s this weekend. However, being impulsive can be fatal for your business if in your haste you are run over by oncoming traffic. Control your impulses and respond prudently. How? I started selling a strategy session BEFORE selling them logos and websites. I broke up projects into 2 parts. You first buy consulting and strategizing. We would work through all the possible scenarios, business options, and creative directions. This lets me slow down the process and intelligently enter the project. With a plan, the execution took HALF the time. Oh, and I got to make money upfront by providing my expertise on brand strategy. The Bible warns against being imprudent. "Don’t agree to guarantee another person’s debt or put up security for someone else. If you can’t pay it, even your bed will be snatched from under you". Proverbs 22:26‭-‬27 NLT A careful Godpreneur will not be right in every decision he or she makes, but will not enter into any decision too lightly either. The prudent business owner understands that everything does not turn out the way it seems it will at first glance. So we think our decisions through, especially the ones with wider implications. Godpreneurs weigh our decisions carefully so we can double our profits. We can smear all of our profit in a moment of haste. #SharpenLeadership

Today my company, The Creative Complex, turns 9 years old. I have a confession:  I’ve grown more int he last 9 months than I have in the last 8 years. I wish I could have known what I know today, 9 years ago. But the truth is this:  The Lord wants to teach us endurance. Like it or not, the ability to persist under difficult circumstances is an absolutely essential ingredient of the successful entrepreneur. Scripture tells us that “Tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope” (Rom. 5:3-4). Our business hardships are designed, not to crush us but to refine us into the image of the entrepreneur that God wants us to be…an entrepreneur that reflects Jesus. When we abide under the pressures of vision, sales, marketing, operations, finances, human resources, and all of the other hats we wear with complete reliance on the Lord for His strength and perspective, we come out of the process looking more like our Savior! If you’re struggling with vision in your life…if God hasn’t revealed the entrepreneurial vision clearly, maybe you need to stay exactly where you are, because God has some lessons he still needs you to discover. Stay hungry and thirsty for tribulation in your business life…that’s when God can do amazing things in and through you. #AgencyOwners #GainConfidence

When I first started my business, the partnership between the founders was great! Two of my best friends and I, coming together to take matters into our own hands and leave the corporate life. But as we grew, we experienced conflicts with various parts of the business. From money to marketing, and hiring and firing, we bumped heads on a lot of things. Attitudes flared, pride jumps in, one email would set a wildfire of email attacks, and we were back in conflict. As entrepreneurs, we all experience conflict in business partnerships much as we do in our personal relationships. Joint ventures gone wrong, teams that fall apart, we have times where we feel left out, singled out, treated unfairly, or undeserving of a harsh comment. As I grew closer to God in the years that my business grew, I would begin to handle these conflicts differently. The Bible verse I had to memorize was Romans 5:3-4: “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” You have to learn to stop and ask yourself “what can I do to grow (or help someone else grow) in the midst of these experiences? You should trust God to work through the situation. Just pray. God will teach you and your partners valuable business lessons through dealing with conflict in entrepreneurship. Godpreneur Rule #28: In times of conflict, Godpreneurs realize it’s a moment of potential growth and pray for God to work through the situation in hand. #BuildMyPersonalBrand #AgencyOwners #BusinessPartnerships

When my business is doing great, I’m like ‘Yes God, you are amazing! Thank you! You’re rewarding me and pouring your blessings!’ When my business is down, I’m like ‘What did I do God? I’ll never do that thing again, I promise! Please stop punishing me!…’ I tend to see God the same way my parents raised me; Good gets rewarded and bad gets the belt. What goes around, comes around. I know I’m not alone. I think we all think this in business. A downturn in the financials has us thinking about where we went wrong. A customer service complaint has us dwelling on the past mistakes we might have made. The problem with what-goes-around-comes-back-around thinking is that it constantly has us walking on eggshells. Analyzing past actions to course-correct in the future is amazing, but analyzing the past to beat yourself up is exactly what the enemy came to do. To live in guilt will destroy the visions God gave us and put up walls of fear that will keep us from living the ‘risk it all’ lifestyle that an entrepreneur must endure. God gave us Paul in the book of Acts as an example of a man that knows his past but only focuses on his future. He’s not walking around shamed by the things of his past but instead focuses on the hope of the visions come to life of his future. In Acts 27 and 28, we see Paul get caught in a huge rainstorm on his way to Rome. There were 276 men on board this ship and Paul somehow finds a way to make this an opportunity to show everyone who God is. All men on board were prisoners and the guards in charge of them. All of them should have died, but Paul had a vision he shared, so their lives were spared. Everyone at home hearing about a shipwreck would have been like ‘they deserved to die for the actions that got them to jail’ but what goes around didn’t come around. God was good. While shipwrecked on an island, they were building a fire, and a venomous snake bit Paul. The natives on the island immediately said ‘this guy must be a murderer, he’ll be dead in minutes for the crimes he committed. But Paul shook the snake off and was never ill. In fact, with that same hand, he healed the father of the chief of the island. You see, the world has us thinking that what goes around comes around. But this simply isn’t true…not under God’s economy…not under God’s business plans. Instead, if you stay focused on your gifts and talents, and keep believing you are on a mission for Christ, then you will be able to shake off the seemingly life-threatening setbacks that befuddle us and chain us to guilt that we were already forgiven of. Godpreneur Rule #60: Godpreneurs learn from their mistakes, but don’t live in their mistakes. #GodpreneurAcademy #BecomeDisciplined #EnhanceFocus

The most difficult moments for me as an entrepreneur are moments of darkness. When I can’t see the big picture and I can’t see the whole plan played out, I get anxious. Clarity isn’t always certain, and darkness will always come. In those moments of darkness, it's easy for us to lose sight of the vision and get frustrated, possibly even make bad decisions. But the hope for a Christian entrepreneur is that there is a LIGHT that is always on and forever shining a light at our feet. In Isaiah 50:10 we read “Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.” Maybe we’re not supposed to see visions all the time on purpose. Maybe God designed it this way so we can keep our eyes on the next step we’re taking, not the road 5 miles ahead. A runner needs to have two perspectives: the big picture glance, but the constant stare at the ground in front of him. Don’t get discouraged when the vision goes dark. Rely on God as the lamp on your feet. That’s God telling you he needs you focused on today…on the now. ACTION STEP: What’s the ONE THING you need to accomplish today? Forget the BIG goals, what’s the small objective you can today? Leave me a comment. Share this with someone you know that’s experiencing a season of darkness. #EnhanceFocus

I thought to myself, "man, Alex, you need to be praying moreover your own leadership and those of your

Have you ever heard someone say “I was born to do this!”? Why is it that some people have a knack for crunching numbers and others have a talent of throwing footballs? Here is the good news: be encouraged that God equips us specifically to do the things He has called us to do! That is the beauty of gifts and talents – they enable us to be the entrepreneurs God intended. Of course, the reverse is also true – when we try to start a business other than what God has enabled us to do, we fall outside His entrepreneurial design for us and we are destined to fall short. As Christian entrepreneurs, we should spend our lives discovering and using our spiritual gifts and business talents. This pursuit is essential if we are to accomplish God’s entrepreneurial purpose for us, because we can’t do anything for Him without the gifts He gave us. With those gifts, however, we can accomplish a lot in our businesses. I, Alex Miranda, have a spiritual gift of prophesy, exhortation and teaching to help entrepreneurs uncover their God-given gifts, cultivate them and help them put them to work, for the glory of the Lord. Actively finding out your gifts and talents will be the single most important thing you’ll do in your entrepreneurial career. Next most important is putting them to use. If you need help finding yours, please take my Entrepreneurial Vision Experience course. #EnhanceFocus #FindingMyPurpose

People might think I’m an extrovert that loves to go out and connect with people. Can I share a secret? I’m not a networking kinda guy…. Don’t get me wrong, I love to connect with people.  I can meet a stranger at a party and by the time we leave, I’ve inspired that person to think differently. However, do I PURPOSE to go out and connect? No. It’s just not in my nature to be intentional about it…yet. We’re all made to serve our marketplaces, and we can certainly make a great impact without intentionally going out to connect with people, but connecting with others is PARAMOUNT to building a Christian personal brand. We can’t build a personal brand without being…personable. We can’t be personable if….we’re not intentionally stepping out of our comfort zone to connect with others. God has so many great opportunities lined up for our calling, but He’s going to bring that about through us connecting with others. Who we connect with today will change the blog posts and videos and testimonial stories we share tomorrow! The Bible tells a great story of how one man’s intentional desire to connect with others changed the course of history! "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him." (Matthew 4:23‭-‬25 NIV) Jesus’s ascension from obscurity to authority started when he connects with people around Galilee and recruits his first disciples who begin to travel with him and eventually form the core of the early Church.  The next scene is Jesus connecting with more people, healing the sick, more people find out and come to where he’s at, and the rest is history. Jesus didn’t start out like a rockstar preacher.  He was called to this, but he wasn’t the authority on the scene…yet. Jesus had a plan to reach out to anyone who would give him a chance to share his newfound ministry. Jesus’s decision to connect didn’t just change his story; it changed history. You see, Jesus was 12 connections away from altering the course of his humanity. And those connections became the 12 disciples that started the Christian church you call home today. You may be one podcast interview away from changing your story.  Any opportunities that come your way, paid or not, that are anywhere near to being relevant to your personal development, take it.  God is lining connections up for you on your personal brand journey. We’re one friend away from a better client. You’re one reader away from your next business partner. You’re one conversation away from getting a coaching client. You’re one mentor away from understanding your gifts and becoming a better Christian business influencer. Let’s be intentional about connecting with the right people.  On the same coin, who do we need to DISCONNECT with to open up space for God’s connections? #FindMyCalling #NewEntrepreneurs #LaunchingMyBusiness #PersonalBranding 7 Steps to Launching Your Christian Personal Brand There are seven key factors for succeeding at launching the purpose God has placed in your heart for you to fulfill. 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

One of my biggest struggles in entrepreneurship is getting involved in too many things taking me in too many different directions. For me, it’s a blessing and a curse. My gifting is to activate, launch, press play, bring things to life, move forward despite all odds, and go into the unknown in faith. But if left unchecked, I can easily launch things that are out of line with where God wants me TODAY. I stress the word today because I’ve learned that just because I got a vision doesn’t mean that I need to press play today. Now I find myself going back and pausing (or even canceling) projects that I feel God may open up opportunities for later on. Christian entrepreneurs have good intentions or at least some kind of justification for the things we do in business. Most of us have this desire to do more and be more. God is so awesome to us that He’s given us the gift of vision – seeing our future in a different way. God has also deposited ambition in our hearts to fuel us along the journey of entrepreneurship. But too many times we take on projects we’re not meant to do right now, sacrificing the launch and focus of our God-First personal brand.  We don’t take the time to really stop, take a time-out, pray about it, sleep on it, or get guidance. And even though we had good, godly intentions behind our actions, we seem surprised when we find ourselves a long way from our goals and even further from the location where God wanted us to be today. How can we stop a train that’s already moving? How can we take time to really know what we’re supposed to focus on today? How do we develop the skill of easily dropping projects that, if we were honest, probably wasn’t the next step on our Godprenurial journey? The big changes in our business lives—both negative and positive—happen with a series of decisions we need to make as soon as possible. The Bible says "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1‭-‬2 NIV) God’s Word says to “throw off everything that hinders.” Hinders what? Hinders from running the race marked out for us! You have a calling from God to launch and grow your personal influence in business. He’s waiting to use you. There’s something that God has put on your heart, and although the other things may seem related or a building block, it’s really a distraction that’s entangling you. When you’re entangled in other projects or businesses not related to your personal brand calling, you’re in sin because it’s disobedience to what God wants you to do TODAY. I know it’s harsh. It’s harsh for me too. I’m with you on this sin. But when a project, business idea, or job is taking us in a direction we know is moving farther away from the business God has called us to personally do, we need to pause not only to consider the financial and strategic consequences but also to decide to stop traveling in the wrong direction. How Can We Turn From Non-Calling Projects? The Bible verse above starts out with “therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…” First, we need to realize that God didn’t design entrepreneurship to be a journey you travel on your own. He knew the enemy brings all these distractions and sins along the pilgrimage of your pursuing your personal calling. That’s why we have the Holy Spirit, the church, and a series of guides, coaches, consultants, and mentors along with way.  We might need to step toward accountability, a new partnership, or a new place to work from. Second, we have to “throw off everything that hinders” us from pursuing our calling.  We need to assess what’s taking us in a direction we don’t want to go or that God doesn’t want us to go? What do you need to stop completely?  What can we stop in order to move you closer to the business God created us to start? What we need to do to STOP distracting projects is Take a day or half-day. Fast and pray for guidance. Sleep on it. Get some godly wisdom from business people you trust. Picture the possible outcomes. Then, ask yourself, “Is this something I should stop completely?” The decision we make here is the next stepping-stone toward our destination!. In order to start on the journey of our personal brand calling in business, something else has to stop. It’s likely MANY things have to stop (especially if you’re a freak like me and love to launch things!). Although the word ‘stopping’ is usually seen as negative, it’s not so negative when we think of stopping to get gas. Stopping can be one of the most productive things we do in business! When we stop to take inventory of where we are and where we want to go, we can then decide how to move into our calling in business. In other words, stopping actually means stepping in a new direction in our entrepreneurial journey. What can you stop in order to move you closer to God’s divine direction?. My prayer for myself and for you is that we stop, repent, and turn away from anything that’s not serving our entrepreneurial calling and return to God and His path for our personal brand. #ChristianBloggers #SharpenLeadership 7 Steps to Launching Your Christian Personal Brand There are seven key factors for succeeding at launching the purpose God has placed in your heart for you to fulfill. 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 song I dedicated to my wife before we were married.  It’s a beautiful song that captured my emotions at the time I dedicated it. Later on, I took her to the concert and the band played "our song."  That song eventually became our wedding song. I also played our song on the car ride home from the hospital with our new baby boy.  It brought us both to tears. What's the song? It's called "Two is Better Than One" by Boys Like Girls. I love the song because it's a reminder of my commitment to her. Sometimes I’ll play it when I’m mad at her because I know it brings my heart back in alignment. Dedicating that song to her was powerful and has helped me in good times and bad. I think we all know the power of dedication because we’ve experienced this in the past. Whether it was a dedication to your wife or a song dedicated to someone that hurt you, hearing the song brings up strong emotions for us. We have the ability to have similar emotions in our businesses by dedicating our businesses to God.  We dedicate things so that we create a bond between the two subjects. How amazing would it be to dedicate your business to God so that there is an eternal bond and a higher sense of purpose and passion as you continue building? The Bible shows us what that looks like as we read the final chapters of Nehemiah. Nehemiah 12:27-30 reads "At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. The musicians also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem—from the villages of the Netophathites, from Beth Gilgal, and from the area of Geba and Azmaveth, for the musicians had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall." What´s going to happen now when people walk past the wall of Jerusalem? They will think of the time they dedicated it to God and the songs of praise and thanksgiving.  It will be a good memory impressed in their minds. Dedicating your business to God will add protection and align your heart with God’s.  It will give you a crutch to lean on during bad times. Similarly, it will give you a podium to speak from during the good times. When we dedicate something to God, we give it all to him. We hold nothing back. It is given in full and joyful surrender. It is all for God’s pleasure, all for his use, all for his glory. God’s desire is for us Godpreneurs to be like him…holy! (1 Peter 1.14-16). If we want to restore our businesses, we must first ask God to help us walk in holiness. Then, we will become “living stones being used to build a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2.5). How would you plan a dedication of your business to God? What elements would be included? What would such a celebration look like? A PRAYER OF BUSINESS DEDICATION God, we want to uplift your name among the people. Help us to dedicate ourselves and our businesses for your glory. Give us the encouragement we need, and remind us that you are always with us. I'm praying for you, too! All my best, Alex Miranda Get to know me at www.alexmiranda22.com Want to learn the book of Nehemiah from an Entrepreneur's point of view? In this business Bible study, we parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business. Check it out here: 40 DAYS TO RESTARTING YOUR BUSINESS, GOD'S WAY A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way! Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out. #EnhanceFocus #IncreaseEnergy

Leadership abilities are in the eye of the beholder.

At the end of 2014, I decided that I was going to go in a radically different direction with my business. I knew God wanted so much more for my business. I knew the company had a bigger purpose…and I was on a mission to discover it. I was led to read the book of Nehemiah in the Bible. It led me down the path of Restarting my business from the ground up. I spent all of 2015 rebuilding my company, Creative Complex. Towards the end of 2015, my church started a series on the book of Joshua from the Bible. At service, God spoke to me through the pastor that it was time for me to take what’s been built and go to market with it. It was time to conquer my niche, make a name for my company, expand my market, and step into the promises I KNOW God has for me and my business.  We entrepreneurs can spend a lot of time building our businesses. God has sustained us, but we know we’re meant for so much more. But we are cautious. We’ve been burnt in the past.  We’ve been down this road.  We’ve tried and failed in the past.  The road ahead is difficult, we know it. Maybe you’re a 9-5 employee and you’ve spent a lot of time writing your business plan, coming up with your invention, building your app, but you’re not sure when to pull the trigger to start the business. Maybe you started your business and have been cautiously growing, but you know you haven’t given it your all-out potential. Maybe you’re like me. You’re on version 4.0 of your business. You’ve learned a lot through this 10-year roller coaster ride. You’ve restructured the business, put God first, and now it’s time to grow. This can be a scary point for any entrepreneur. The risk is high. But I’ve discovered the blueprint to grow my business and conquer my market, God’s way. It’s the roadmap to success for any business looking to enter into financial freedom…the land of milk and honey for all entrepreneurs. The book of Joshua 1:1-5 starts out: "After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord , the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory." The first thing we see is that God will call you when it’s your time. I remember there being times when I was Restarting my business that I wanted to get out and start growing the business, but I didn’t feel it was the right time. I was waiting on God to let me know when. The second thing we see is that God keeps his promises. You may have started and failed a couple of times, but you know that you are supposed to make this work.  You know God has plans for you to prosper.  He’ll keep those plans. Third, we see that God is very specific in his visions for you, and they are BIG. I have a whole document written out of all the places I want my business to go. My visions are huge, but so is this land of Cannan that God is commanding Joshua to enter.  This is a land that covers 210 miles long and 120 miles wide. God has set everything up for a day like today. You’re ready. You’ve spent enough time building up the dream in your mind. If we trust that God has commanded us for a day like today. He’s asking you to rise up and take what is yours. #FindMyCalling #TargetMarketAndNiche

The Visionary Missionary Blog for The World Race Gabe Sanchez Meet my great friend Gabe Sanchez! I have the privilege to know Gabe as a brother in Christ, a friend, and a supporter of his mission field work. God has given him the spiritual gift of Vision, and his vision is HUGE! ENTREPRENEURS:  God has given you the ability to profit so you can be a blessing to the world.  It’s our duty, obligation and responsibility to have the best businesses possible so that we can continue to support the great commission.  If you need a pump up message on this concept, watch Peter J. Daniels. Gabe, I look forward to God using my tribe of entrepreneurs to support your vision! #SharpenLeadership

Is your vision to do good? When your customer gives a testimonial, will they satisfy your vision’s hunger? My vision is for my clients to discover what they were born to do, bring it to life, and tell the whole world! When they testify that I’ve helped clarify their calling in business, the vision is satisfied and my appetite is full. But if my vision is set on making money, possessing more territory or gaining more clients, we’ll always just want more and we won’t be satisfied. Money and territory goals are great, but they are goals and should not be mixed with the vision. Ask yourself: How can I make this world a better place? What will my product or service do for the GOOD of my clients. Start there when setting your entrepreneurial vision. An appetite for good brings much satisfaction! #BusinessBibleStudy #EnhanceFocus

One thing I’ve learned in the years of being an entrepreneur: I’m a horrible boss. No, really! I’m a great leader, I can instill Vision and confidence and trust like no other. I’m amazing with brainstorming, problem solving, branding and marketing. But when it comes to managing people, I stink. BUT WAIT…that’s just fine! For years I always thought that being an entrepreneur meant being the boss, and nothing could be further from the truth. Technically, the role of an entrepreneur can be ANYTHING. Here’s what the role of the entrepreneur is, and the same applies to everyone in your organization: everyone should be doing what that are COMPETENT at. If you love to bake, and you start a bakery, you will quickly realize that baking takes a back seat when you have to pay the bills, hire the employees and market your services and products. All of the sudden, the whole reason you started a business (to bake delicious delicacies) is now 4th on the list of priorities, and you find yourself stressed and about to give up. So here’s the solution: 1) make a list of what you love to do, and what you hate to do 2) as fast as possible, partner with or hire someone to do the things you hate doing As a baker, you should be coming up with new recipes, training other bakers, doing quality control, and always be in the kitchen while occasionally coming out to greet the customers only to take a quick survey of how they like the pastries you made. You’re the superstar!! We all need to stop living in levels of incompetence and start living lives of meaning. #SharpenLeadership