Search results for "leadership"

I have to admit that I let my business be guided by market trends, what my competitors are doing and, sadly, chasing after profits. I let outside factors determine the direction of my company sometimes. Other times, I’m guided by an internal compass and a desire to please God. It’s a constant battle. Whenever we entrepreneurs talk about our business plans and activities, we use terms like “my aims, my ambitions, my goals, my desires.” Some of us do things purely for ourselves, but most of us, unconsciously, perform with an eye of approval of some audience or other; Our parents, our staff, our competitors, our clients. The question is not whether or not we have an audience, but which audience we have. Only one audience matters:  God. An entrepreneurial career lived listening to the decisive call of God is a life lived before one audience that trumps all others – the Audience of One. Imagine running your business to only please one person.  Imagine doing everything with such perfection because you work for God, for His purpose and calling in your life. Imagine a world where every entrepreneur lived to please God.  I’m not saying everyone drops what they are doing to become a pastor.  No.  Right where you are, in your current industry, what if you worked to only please God. That’s my mission in life… showing entrepreneurs what it’s like to run a business for an Audience of One. I’m trying daily. #SharpenLeadership

I don’t like conflict. I avoid it. I do everything in my power to block it from my mind. Sometimes I’ll stay in a hurtful business relationship simply because I don’t want to have the conversation.  It happens with partners, employees, contractors, vendors and clients. I guess I just want the problem to disappear on its own. I want the relationship to fizzle out and make itself disappear. The problem with this strategy is that it takes time and leaves too many lose ends untied. Worst case is that the relationship doesn’t fizzle and next thing I know it’s 1 year later and I’m still involved. I believe relationships are a temporary assignment by God to help two people achieve a purpose in a season of both people’s lives.  How temporary?  It could be seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, even decades.  It’s not up to us.  We just need to recognize that it’s temporary. (PS I’m not talking about your marriage, that’s something God brought together and you need to work through it until death do you part.  Some of you readers were getting really excited where I was going with this, I could tell.) We want relationships to work, and I think we all have a tendency to avoid conflict and stay together because it’s our instinct (survival by numbers) and it’s God’s intention for us to be in community and communication with others so we can grow. In Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas got into a dispute about where to go next with the gospel, their mission in growing the church.  There’s no detail on how the dispute went down, but in the end, they went separate ways to accomplish whatever their spirit was insisting they do. "They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches." Acts 15:39‭-‬41 NIV God had them both together for a season. They needed each other. But now God was ready for them to go their separate ways…to accomplish more separately than they could together. Maybe you’re in a relationship that it’s time to recognize that the season was great together, but now it’s time to go and accomplish your hearts missions on your own. This is an easy conversation to have when you speak from a perspective of “what does God want us to do?” It’s a matter of two people reflecting on their goals, visions, and missions that God has for them and recognizing that the two might not align anymore and it’s time to move on. Imagine the strife we could all avoid if everyone was focused on the mission God has set out for each of us individually. We would recognize seasons endings much faster so we could all accomplish God’s purposes sooner. Godpreneur Rule #84: Godpreneurs recognize that relationships are seasonal and gracefully communicate that when wanting to part ways. #EnhanceFocus #BusinessPartnerships

I started my Instagram account @dailygodpreneur as a way to remember all of the little things that God teaches me about entrepreneurship. There are tons of nuggets of wisdom and I have a strange funny feeling I’ll never be done penning all the knowledge for as long as I keep seeking it. I need all of this wisdom because, quite frankly, entrepreneurship is TOUGH WORK!  If you’ve owned a business for 1 day, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The way I see it, by seeking out wisdom and adapting the principles I learn from the bible, I’m putting on a bullet proof vest.  Each month, that vest is able to get stronger and resist bigger bullets. Godpreneurs will succeed by attending to the many seemingly small principles for life’s success offered by God. The bible says "My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord , and you will gain knowledge of God". Proverbs 2:1‭-‬5 NLT These principles will be like the bulletproof vest making it impervious to being overpowered by outside forces. A foolish person relies on individual gifts and personal strength; however, this is the epitome of weakness, because there is no unity of purpose supporting his efforts. Therefore, he stands alone. Godpreneurs find their strength by reinforcing their bulletproof vests. Godpreneur Rule: Don’t look merely to your natural gifts, but focus your energy on marshaling all available resources. #SharpenLeadership #ShareYourTestimony

As an entrepreneur, I’m living in a constant state of awareness that a product launch might not be a hit, a big client could leave me, an employee could steal from me, or a lawsuit could fall on me. Although all of these things have happened to me in my businesses already, as a Godpreneur, I’m still supposed to look up to God and trust that He’s got a plan for all of the twists and turns in my business. It’s not easy for us to trust God always. Especially when the bank account inches closer to zero and we’re not sure how to cover payroll on the 15th. For most people, trust is a delicate subject and extremely difficult to find given our past hurts and experiences. We’ve all been burnt by the stove of lies, disappointments, and let-downs by people or circumstances. We’ve trusted people in our business and have been betrayed. We put all our hopes into a certain product, service, or marketing campaign, and it flopped. It doesn’t matter how big or small the company is; I’ve witnessed entrepreneurs who are insanely skeptical, to the point where it paralyzes them. Trust is one of the most important pillars of the Christian entrepreneur’s walk. Trusting the processes that God takes us through, and having faith that he’s in charge regardless of the outcome, is key to the success of our businesses. But for many of us, the past experiences leave us scared, unsure, and insecure to make a move. Luckily, God’s given us a whole bunch of encouragement on the is of trust. Let’s first understand WHY entrepreneurs need to trust. The Bible says: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones". Proverbs 3:5‭-‬8 NIV This Proverb explains why you need to trust God. God is like the Chairman of the Board of Directors of your company. You’re the “president” of the company, He’s the CEO. In this posture, you acknowledge that He’s powerful, deep, and perfect in His plans. Close your eyes and imagine you’re walking into His office in the morning and trusting that whatever has already happened, His plans are in motion to course-correct; and He’s going to use You to see the plan though. When you can embrace that His plan and process for your business, you’ll be headed in the right direction for something great to happen, and the direction will be towards what you were born to do. As Godpreneurs, we put God in front of and connected to the word entrepreneur because there’s a direct correlation between acknowledging Him and the direction of our businesses. I know it’s hard for us to trust what we can’t see or put an ROI on, but we must use the power of trust in God. When we don’t trust God in our day-to-day business lives, we are taking the future circumstances out of God’s control and leaving things up to the marketplace to decide our fate; the marketplace doesn’t want you to exist, that’s a bad place to be guided by. Today, take some time to visualize God as the CEO, and you as the President. Trust Him, even if He doesn’t draw out the plan for you to fully understand. Wait and see that God will come through more than you’ve imagined. Trust in God’s processes, regardless of the waiting period or situation. This is business; we don’t understand or know what will happen…ever! Godpreneurs must trust. Period. It’s not something we do once. It’s an every second of the day thing. We must constantly be aware that God has a plan for our business in the marketplace. God’s 100% in control, even when we’re not. Let’s trust in Him. #WhatBusinessIShouldStart

At one point in my branding agency, I was building my business around trying to impress potential clients with bigger jobs so I charge a whole lot more. I wanted to be dealing with rich, wealthy people that had big budgets. I wanted to be rich like them. After a year, I ended up discovering that the I didn’t like working with these clients. They are a ROYAL PAIN! The richer they got, the more they demanded and the smaller I felt. It was like working with a ‘know it all’ that had no clue at all. The bible says "Don’t eat with people who are stingy; don’t desire their delicacies. They are always thinking about how much it costs. “Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it. You will throw up what little you’ve eaten, and your compliments will be wasted". Proverbs 23:6‭-‬8 NLT I decided I wasn’t going to build my business around trying to impress those who have power and riches or hoping to become one of the elites of our society. Underneath the surface, we are all equal entrepreneurs before God. So I stopped trying to gauge the success of my branding agency by how big of a fish I could catch, but instead on how deep of an impact I could make. This kept me humble and always in the mindset of trying to figure out how I could help more people, faster, and more profoundly. See, trying to go after the big money accounts was not only more work for me, but it was also misleading from my calling. Instead, I had to brand the REAL ME. I must constantly be bringing to light the identity I was born to be. The One whose appearances are real has chosen to be humble and meek—His name is Jesus. Yes, every knee will bow and every tongue confesses that He is Lord. But He called us friends and laid aside the prerogatives of royalty when He tore down the curtain of separation in the Temple and gave us direct access to His Father by faith through His death and resurrection. Weak entrepreneurs may insist on status, formality, and appearances, but God sees us for what we are. Wise Godpreneurs follow the example of Christ’s humility. You are aware that under the surface you are just like everyone else—no better and no worse. We Godpreneurs look beneath the surface—people and circumstances are not always what they appear to be. #DifferentiatingMyself #SharpenLeadership

I put a lot of pressure on my co-laborers. If you’re working with me, I ask for solutions, not problems. I demand excellence and specialization. And I go fast, so keep up! If I’m going to have these high levels of quality individuals working with me, I need to train and discipline them into this. Trust me, they don’t come born this way. It is in this correcting process where I continue to learn how to be a great leader. The value in owning a business isn’t producing great workers, but that the workers are producing a great leader in me. Leading others isn’t meant to make me happy, it’s meant to make me holy. For me, this was especially true in the area of disciplining and training those that work with me. I was terrible at it. I would ignore issue, sweep them under the rug, make excuses for them, and let anything slide. I probably did these things to save time. I didn’t want to stop and discipline and re-train. The bible says "A servant pampered from childhood will become a rebel". Proverbs 29:21 NLT Sometimes there are tricks of the trade that others are willing to pass on to save a little time and energy along the way. But when it comes to leading others, there aren’t any shortcuts. Great training coupled with immidiate corrective disciplining will make your employees, vendors, contractors and even clients into the best partners you want them to be. It is not easy to say “no” to those under my authority, especially if I care about them. But their short-term gratification is not worth the long-term disappointment of a ruined business relationship and a hardened heart. Only God can help you do what is right and pass on a blessing to those you co-labor with in business that will last a lifetime. Trying to take any shortcuts in this process of training will only prove to be frustrating. Dead ends often look like shortcuts, but you can’t get where you want to be by taking them. An effective Godpreneur leader knows how to manage those under his authority and has the will to do what is right for them. #BecomeDisciplined #SharpenLeadership

"Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." (Proverbs 3:9-10) When you tithe, you are showing God that we have our priorities straight in our finances.  You are letting Him that you and your business are committed to keeping the lights on at HIS place of worship – your church.  What God uses your business supports your church. The reason I bring up the tithe as a “membership fee” is so that you would possibly think differently about it.  You’ve probably heard the pastor at your church give all the various verses of tithing, but maybe nobody’s ever put it to you in this way. Personally, if I want to make a change of habit in my life, I have to think differently than I did before to jolt my brain into a new pattern. The same way we put aside money to pay for critical things like rent, cell phone, and car, we need to plan for the tithe in our financial budget. It should be a line item expense that we can’t operate our business without paying. Godpreneur Money Rule #16: Godpreneurs honor God’s plan and purpose for tithing. We allow God to use our business to support our church and it’s growth. #BusinessBibleStudy #BecomeDisciplined #GodpreneurAcademy The 19 Rules of Money Management for Christian Entrepreneurs This course will help you develop a better sense of money management God’s way. 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 lot of areas in my agency where my team can make costly mistakes. A project manager can miss a due task date and delay a project. A graphic designer can lose a major change and mess up a client’s marketing campaign. A developer can forget a major update, and an entire site can go down on a client for a few days. When these mistakes can cost me a contract with a client, it makes my blood boil. My immidiate instinct is to raise my voice, blame, point fingers, and make the person feel the same pain I feel. I feel like FIRING THEM on the spot! Yes, my mind goes to these places sometimes. An error by someone on my team has cost me money and reputation points in the past. The scars of these past experiences have caused me to lash out at anyone that threatens my business and livelihood. Showing Mercy in Business As entrepreneurs will always be surrounded by people in some way, shape, or form. And these people will undoubtedly anger us at one point or another. People make mistakes. People don’t always follow instructions. People aren’t perfect, and when that imperfection affects a critical part of our business, we can’t help but put our defense mechanisms up. We have many people that could do us wrong in business. Vendors can not follow through with what they promised. Contractors can delay projects by weeks if they make a mistake. Employees can have a lapse in judgment and do something hurtful. Partners can selfishly betray us. Clients can say hurtful things. The great battle for us Godpreneurs isn’t avoiding sin, but instead, avoiding our sin in response to someone else’s sin. Our greatest struggle for holiness as Christian entrepreneurs is being able to be Christ-like, even when we’re wronged against in our business. How do we become the type of Godpreneurs that can handle the wrongs against us in a way that builds our businesses and breaks us free from the anger that could be holding us back from more in our businesses? God’s POV on Mercy In the most famous preaching ever given on the planet, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount lays out the eight beatitudes, which are qualities of the people that enjoy special favor from God. I believe these qualities are the keys to unlocking the next levels of achievements in our businesses. In the fifth beatitude, Jesus reminds of why mercy is so important for entrepreneurs to practice. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:7 NIV) Mercy for business owners means treating the people we do business with better than they deserve. A type of mercy is forgiveness, and so is helping someone we’re not obligated to help. The reason Jesus says the merciful are blessed is that mercy is the entire reason for Christ’s incarnation, death, and Resurrection. It’s through Jesus that a business owner’s sins in business are forgiven, and he receives help by the gift of God’s spirit. 7 Practical Ways to Show Mercy Today Mercy can be very practical to you, especially as the leader of people. You’re supposed to help others attain their outcomes, regardless of how you feel about them. When you help a client, who you may not even like and who wronged you in the past, you are showing mercy and being the light of Christ in that person’s life. When you do this, you will be shown mercy. Although mercy sometimes feels like you’re losing or giving up a favorable position, you could have rightly taken, showing it benefits the outcome as a whole as well as the other person. Mercy is Being patient with a partner’s differences Helping employees around us that are hurting Giving a vendor a second chance Doing good to those clients who hurt us. Being kind to competitors who offend us Building bridges of love to prospects who can’t afford us Valuing relationships of strategic alliances over the rules of the marketplace When we Godpreneurs can create an environment of forgiveness, organizational performance improves. Why? Because people won’t feel like they walk on eggshells. When people are allowed to make mistakes, they take risks necessary to break through to innovations in business that will set the business apart. So, who do you need to show mercy to this week? A Prayer for More Mercy in Business Father, thank you for Jesus and the mercy You demonstrated for us on the cross by giving us your one and only Son so that we could have a life with You. Draw Godpreneurs worldwide into a deeper understanding of Your mercy. #StrengthenIntegrity

As a branding agency, my job is to launch people’s business ideas. Being in this position gives me a lot of influence in the entrepreneur’s life because what I say and do has a direct impact on the success (or failure) of the business. Understanding this power I have is really what’s led me for most of my walk as a Christian entrepreneur. Knowing that I could point someone in the direction of their calling – regardless of their faith – has driven me to study anything and everything the bible has to say on the matter of discovering people’s calling and launching THAT business for them. My insatiable desire to launch the “right” business for someone is what led me to create Launch in 2 Days, a groundbreaking way of bringing a brand to life in 48 hours or less. This is a true market-disrupter. The branding world doesn’t like me right now. Other people that do logos and websites aren’t really happy with me. Customers love it, but my colleagues are hating. Why? They mainly say that there’s no possible way to come up with a great brand for someone in such a short time. They say that you need time to massage a brand’s message and that creativity can’t be rushed. And while I can see the value in taking time for many things, and that rushing in some situations is terrible, the act of bringing someone’s calling to life is something that needs to be done fast because the devil doesn’t want that product or service to existing. See, I’ve made my Launch in 2 Days service a product that stands against Satan and his lies that keep entrepreneurs from doing what they were born to do. And because I’ve made the brand of my business something that opposes the forces of darkness in this world, therefore, I will be persecuted by anything and everyone around me that isn’t on my side. Haters Come with the Entrepreneurship Game We, Godpreneurs, will all be persecuted for standing up for what we believe in our businesses. The policies we implement, our plans, our prices, our products – it will all be used against us because we’re purposing to do God’s will in the marketplace. But how do we suffer well? How can we keep going when even the ones we love the most are against us? How can we keep fighting for what we believe is right, also when we’re alone in our battle? Welcome to every Godpreneur’s dilemma! And who knew this was going to happen even before we would suffer? Jesus did. In the most famous preaching ever given on the planet, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount lays out the eight beatitudes, which are qualities of the people that enjoy special favor from God. I believe these qualities are the keys to unlocking the next levels of achievements in our businesses. But the eighth and final beatitude is different than the rest. The first seven beatitudes focused on humility, meekness, right relationships, mercy, purity of heart, and peacemaking. These were all positive qualities. But Jesus foreshadows the possibility of “persecution for righteousness’ sake.” The bible says, Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10‭-‬12 NIV) Jesus knew that if you follow the first seven beatitudes, you’ll see your life change and achieve more. But because you’ll see more success, you’ll also see persecution. Haters will hate because the forces that oppose God’s ways in the business world still hold great power in the marketplace. It sounds contrarian, but Jesus is talking about the blessing of being persecuted for doing right in business! Why There’s Persecution in Business But why would you be persecuted for righteousness? The reality is many will reject us Godpreneurs because we’re in a fallen world! Jesus points out that any entrepreneur who announces God’s kingdom through their brand will be persecuted (Matt. 5:11-12). As Godpreneurs, we may be subjected to active, even severe persecution if we stand up against injustices in the marketplace. For me, I feel it’s an injustice for a branding agency to launch an entrepreneur’s business just because they pay me, and not take into account if this business is even the business they should be going into. Others in my industry disagree, and that’s when I get persecuted. The good news is that my clients don’t mind it at all. Once I explain my logic to them, they agree with me! And because my clients agree with me, they bless me with their business, and I keep on doing more launches! Bring On The Haters Our blessing is that active persecution for the right reasons is an indication that the powers of darkness believe we are succeeding in furthering God’s kingdom! In other words, more suffering and persecution means we’re on the right track! Hallelujah 🙌 Imagine if we all had the courage to look our haters straight in the eye and love them even more because they are helping us live out all of the qualities described in the beatitudes in our marketplaces. Jesus, I pray for the courage to run my business in humility, meekness, right relationships, mercy, and purity of heart. Please give me the strength to be a peacemaking Godpreneur who hungers for righteousness and answers the call to reflect your kingdom’s values in my marketplace. If I am persecuted for these things by my partners, employees, clients, or anyone I do business with, may You be my comfort. #SharpenLeadership

In Joshua 4:1-9, under the guidance of God and the leadership of Joshua, Israel was now on the other

I have a big struggle when it comes to hiring employees and delegating work to them. Let’s get one thing straight. I’m good at what I do. I know I was gifted with the abilities I have to brand and launch businesses. Are there others that can do what I do? Yes, of course. But I’m very talented at it, so it’s very difficult for me to let it go… We entrepreneurs always struggle with this tug of war of letting go more and more of the company in order to grow. But how do we balance this out? When have we let go too much? Just how much is too much? God provided me some insight today and I’ve been struggling with this. In the book of John, Jesus is in the middle of the parable of the good shepherd and his sheep. Jesus says: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. (John 10:11‭-‬13 NIV) Here’s the reality. Nobody is going to care as much about my business as me (and a business partner if I have one). My role in the company is to be like Jesus and be a shepherd to the people I’m bringing on board. That’s the ultimate role and responsibility as a Godpreneur. That’s our primary calling: leading people like Christ would so they can see Christ in and through us. I may be a genius at my gifting, but the reality is that someone else is better than me. My job is to find that person and help mold and shape him or her. Like Jesus, I’m the Shepherd, and that’s what I’ve been called to do as an entrepreneur. #SharpenLeadership #BusinessBibleStudy

When I first stayed my agency with my partners, the agreement was to split the company 3 ways. We’d each get 33%, which in all of our minds meant that we’d each put in equal parts work. Seems fair, right? The problem is that we each have a different definition of work and value, therefore there is no equal scale to evaluate sweat equity work put in. This expectation isn’t real, and it led to many disappointments and struggles in my business partnership. When we experience disappointment in business and it’s no one’s fault (such as a hurricane or loss of contract due to a client closing their business), we generally get upset and figure out how to move on. It’s the disappointments that point back to our unrealistic expectations for each other that tend to be stickier. These hard-to-shake disappointments can sometimes be described as disordered attachments—misplaced desires that compete with God for our heart. By following the thread that runs through our disappointments and our persistent anger, we can uncover their origin. My business partners and I have had our share of sticky disappointments; that’s part of what broke us up in 2013. When we got together to create our agency, naïve optimism overshadowed the reality that one of them was ambivalent if we grew or not, the other had a very short fuse, and neither liked doing the sales. That same optimism obscured the reality that I struggle to need them, I am too quick to judge, and prefer doing the selling! These partnership speed bumps were definitely not marked with fluorescent orange paint or signage of any sort. After we twisted and turned and experienced whiplash on the roller-coaster of entrepreneurship more times than I care to admit, it began to dawn on me that perhaps I needed to find a more productive, less destructive path through my disappointments. I asked probing questions such as, What if rather than blaming each other for our disappointments, I confessed my failures and owned my areas of weakness? What if I looked at the disappointments to discern if they revealed any egocentric expectations, disordered attachments, or misplaced hopes? Once I stopped avoiding these seemingly problematic feelings and started investigating them, something shifted. We’ve all been to weddings and heard 1 Corinthians 13 over and over. Did you know that this verse was not written for husband’s and wives. It’s for all of us. You love your business partner, right? I do. Not the same love as my wife, but brotherly love. Now read this verse with them in mind: "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance". 1 Corinthians 13:4‭-‬7 NLT Again, this verse was written for all of us. We just have been acclimated to attach it to married couples. Rather than continuing to blame my partners for my disappointment, I started asking God to help me do three things: repent of any unfair expectations appreciate my partner’s strengths, and develop reality-based expectations. Of these three objectives, developing reality-based expectations has been the most difficult. My unrealistic expectation of everyone working equal amounts died a slow death because I clung on to it. Clinging is a form of denial that masquerades as hope. We persist in clinging because it gives us something to hold on to and allows us to sidestep the hard work of changing what we have control over: ourselves. You are learning to let go of your unrealistic expectations by choosing an internal posture of holy resignation. Practically speaking, holy resignation means accepting and loving your business partners without demanding that he or she change, resisting the vortex of despair and blame, and standing in faith that God will complete a good work in the business—regardless of current circumstances. Imagine if everyone in the partnership had this holy resignation? Businesses that we do business with would produce a great experience because there would be this culture of love and respect that would start at the top, permeate through the employees, and make it down to me and you – the consumer. #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 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

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