It takes faith to run a business. There I said it.
If your goal is to be a Christian entrepreneur, then you’re going to have to live a life of faith to go with it.
Because you don’t see an immediate return on most of the actions you take.
It’s not an easy trade of time for dollars. If you’re working a job and you work for 40 hours, then you’re paid for 40 hours (at least areas of the world you are).
As an entrepreneur you could work 60 hours next week and not see a single penny back immediately.
You may see a return 2 weeks later…or a year down the road…or not at all.
Your paycheck may not be seen for quite a while!
And many people give up before they get their return.
You’re investing in the future. You’re building something that can’t fully see yet.
In fact I always tell people to think about the lifestyle they want to design from day one. What is it you’re building? What will your business look like when it’s fully grown?
Some are after a small business that maybe is part-time for the owner with a few outsourced workers. Others have a goal of a large company, full staffing, and busy office. That’s their goal.
What’s your goal? There’s no right or wrong answer because no one else knows what God has put in your heart.
Keep that vision and that goal in your mind. Write it down on paper. And keep moving towards it on step at a time.
You will have trials and tribulations before you get to the goal.
You will have opportunities to give up and quit.
The question is how you react to them.
I often joke that when I first came online, I systematically discovered everything that didn’t work first.
Eventually by testing enough different ways to build an online business, I stumbled upon what worked for me.
You don’t have to go through that much, but you will have failures. You will have projects that just seem to go in circles. And you will have websites that simply don’t work because they didn’t fit what the prospects were willing to spend their money on.
Are you willing and able to overcome these problems?
Let’s say you put together your first web project. You come up with a unique idea for a product. You do the work to put it together. You get a nice website designed for it. You buy an ad and send traffic there.
Nothing happens. All you here is silence.
After you go beat your head against the wall for a few minutes, you then pray.
And you try something else. Maybe you modify the web page. You try a different ad. You get some feedback from others.
But you do what it takes to get the project to work. And even through all of that you’re still going to have some projects that aren’t big winners. They just kind of limp along and do OK.
Do you have faith enough in God’s plan for you to TRY AGAIN?
Are you willing to keep going even when things don’t look like they’re working.
Some scriptures are hard to swallow. How about this one?
Count it joy when you face trials! It’s a whole lot easier to count it joy when everything is working well.
But you end up learning more when you have to overcome some difficulties…when things don’t go as planned…and it’s more difficult than you expected it to be.
I think that’s a general rule for most people who start their first business. They didn’t expect it to be this difficult.
All they heard was everyone talking about how easy it was. The reality is it’s easier to just let the general negative current of the world float you down river. It’s easier to just coast.
Working against the current is hard. You find out if you have faith in God’s plan for you when the going gets tough.
And if you’re going to be a Christian entrepreneur, you’re going to have to learn how to overcome challenges. That’s what you do as an entrepeneur.
You help others overcome problems. And you will experience many problems of your own along the way.
Faith is a key ingredient in running a Christian Business, or being a Christian in business.
Realize His plan is for you to succeed so you can help others.
It’s like the parable of the mustard seed Matthew 17:20…so tiny, the smallest of all seeds, but produces the larges of all herbs.
A strong goal and mission statement is key to a direction in any business.
Do your clients know where you’re going?
Does God know you’re in aignment where He wants you to go with your business?
With God and Faith we too can overcome our own problems.
@Scott Vogel – Excellent additions Scott!
Great Post Terry!!! The more I read the more I enjoy these blogging posts.Listen and learn what others know.
Great post Terry! With God as our mentor and partner, we can stand firm in our faith knowing that we are guided by the Great I Am who is Victorious in all things.
Wow excellent comment and a way of thinking with God intended to be in your thoughts. The bible says that God can read our thoughts. ‘That” being said and knowing that the lord wants you to prosper in the physical as well as in the spiritual so that you give him glory. I am new to the internet marketing business. For 2 years i have been searching for the right fit for me. God did not intent for mothers and fathers to work so much that we may lack in our children or family members. families are torn because fathers or mothers work so hard and lack presence in there children`s lives. Well the lord has placed it in my heart and my grand desire to work at home at a business that is fit for me. I am still marketing my business and still learning how to market. But i have faith in the lord that he will show me the way. I praise the lord Jesus for at least getting me this far and showing me this things that have faith in. MY goal, is that when i learn the home business, i will teach others to have success.
@Lynn Rios – We know the “end” of the Book and we win.
You’re bang on about having faith when you own a business, especially for the Christian. I’ve had my website open for about 2 months now and still haven’t seen a penny of income (working part time on it). This is my first internet business project, and it’s cost me over $1000 just to get running and is still going to cost more if I want to execute this properly.
It’s important thing is to have faith that you’re business will succeed, just like Terry said in his post. One thing that I’ve found important is that any Christian business owner should pray for their business to help the most people it can, instead of praying that it prospers. Zig Ziglar wasn’t kidding when he said “you can get what you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want first.” I believe this is God’s model, and any business that sets out to help others first will find that they will prosper because of it.
@James Zedd | bodyweightexerciseblog.com – Well if you think about it, $1,000 is cheap compared to a brick and mortar business. Their sign out front might cost that much or more. The main issue online is there are so many people telling you how fast and easy it is. The reality is business isn’t easy.
You’re right Terry. There were a lot of gurus whom I heard back in 2006 who were saying that internet business was simple, and I don’t doubt that there are even more around today then there were then.
I’ve owned a business for about 5 years now (not an internet based business) and it’s been a struggle with everything involved. With my new online business, there’s a lot of learning curves, and the last thing I would call it is easy! Bottom line is that any new business will not be easy, and you will have to work hard to get it where you want it to be.
I do encourage everyone though to persist in your learning and make the most of your business.
With time, diligence, and persistence, you will be able to master your business and make it profitable. It’s been a long journey for me, but I’m still praying that God might use this to help me grow and learn, and most of all, to bring me closer to Him.
What can I say? You seem to know exactly where I am, especially in my Internet Business[s]!
Thanks Terry, you are “Blessed, to be a Blessing” to us and the rest of the IM world.
Sometimes we forget that it takes ‘time’ for things to come to fruition. That’s where we have to “stand in faith” [diligence] and “keep-on-keeping-on” [diligence].
Much more that this, but not enough room here – Prayer is the essential thing!!
There is an old saying that is credited to Charles FInney at times, “I’m going to pray like it all depends on God and then work like it all depends on me.” It definitely fits in this situation of being in business.
Thanks to you and rest of brothers!