Business On Purpose Conversations

Capital is plentiful, great partners or co-owners, not so much.  In this conversation, Clint Park is back to offer biblical perspective on how to add, when to add and who to add into your business as an ownership partner. What are the big mistakes to avoid and what principles can guide our thinking?

We parse the potentials and pitfalls of co-owners and whether your business is ready to have additional owners.  Clint offers six ways to evaluate potential partners or co-owners, along with a wealth of wisdom drawn from God’s Word.  If you have business partners or are considering that ownership path, you don’t want to miss this conversation.   

Conversation highlights: 

–What are the table stakes for Christians who are thinking about bringing in a new partner (owner) into their business or who are considering starting a new business with partners?

–If you want something to be done for God’s glory you need to apply his principles.  

–A biblically and practically wise approach to forging partnerships. 

–The truth embedded in Psalm 24:1 and Job 41:11 (classic stewardship passages) inform how we view potential business partners/co-owners.  Will the average non-Christian embrace these truths?

–The role of values alignment in selecting our partners can’t be overstated.  Bonus pre-marriage advice too! 

–Why does traditional private equity have such a black eye?  …perhaps because of a lack of values alignment.  Capital is not the best starting point for partnerships!  

–Capital has influence. Are you inviting conflict in your partnerships with other owners?  

–Evaluating partners: 1. Values alignment 2. Define the ideal steward 3. Completing your team & complementing your weaknesses

–We discuss how to evaluate character to ensure your future partner has the depth of character to be an effective partner. 

–What is forward stewardship? Why does it matter for the future of your business?

–What are the red flags of a partnership that is not going to work?

–Clint addresses a really tough issue: disentangling a partnership that is not working.  

–Faith integration will be stymied when your co-owners are not values and faith aligned. 

–Be ready to take the low place.  Luke 14:10-11  

–Belief drives values.  Values drive actions.  

Continue the conversation: 

Connect with Clint: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clintpark/

Connect with Aaron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-groen/

How is disillusionment a gift? Christ Horst and Peter Greer talk about their latest book in which they show how Christian leaders from around the deal with setbacks, trials, suffering and failures in a way that demonstrates the hope of the gospel.  If you want to lead your business in a Christ-honoring way through both good times and hard times this conversation is for you. 

We’ll explore the meaning and value of disillusionment, the tension of suffering, the danger of comfort and the hope experienced by people like the prophet Jeremiah even in the midst of crushing disappointment or suffering.

Conversation highlights:

--Why is it important to reflect on the reality of disillusionment?  What is the antidote to disillusionment?

--Headlines and social media are dominated by bad news and disillusionment.  But the world (and history) is also full of leaders who live with hope despite deep suffering and trials.

--What is the biblical vision of hope?

--The prophet Jeremiah as a guide for modern Christian leaders.  Jeremiah did the opposite of “building a platform.”  Where did Jeremiah find his hope?

--Jeremiah 29:11 is the most quoted Old Testament verse.   Oops.  What is the real biblical narrative surrounding this passage?

--“Meme-ified Christianity” doesn’t actually address the frustrations and suffering in the world and in business.

--An illusion about leading and serving is that you won’t suffer, or that suffering isn’t bound up with great leadership. However, many global Christian leaders demonstrate lives that move towards suffering and away from comfort. 

--Jeremiah 17 is the centerpiece of the book, and it calls out the idol of self-reliance and calls every leader to trust in the LORD.  An important warning to Christians from a culture like the world of American business.

--“Comfort can become an idol when good things are happening and you are unable to see it or thank God for it or recognize it is not of your own doing.”

--Christian leaders who have navigated great difficulties and trials and who demonstrate great resiliency point to God as the source of their endurance, not themselves or their ‘grit’.

--“Don’t miss prosperity when it comes.”

--“The gift of presence in pain is so much better than prescription.” 

--Watch out for the kind of busyness that crowds out actually experiencing God and hearing from Him. 

Connect and Learn More:

Connect with Peter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterkgreer/

Learn more about Peter: https://www.peterkgreer.com/

Connect with Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrishorst/

Learn more about Chris: https://chris-horst.com/

Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Disillusionment-Enduring-Leaders-Idealism/dp/0764238264/

Connect with Aaron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-groen/

Is remote work here to stay?  Will it make your company and your employees more effective or less effective?  Rick DeJarnette, executive coach and executive in residence at the University of Richmond, joins us to provide a framework for how Christian business owners and entrepreneurs can think about remote vs. hybrid vs. on-site work. 

Listen to the end to hear Rick’s top lessons for Christian entrepreneurs from the world of mountaineering. 

Conversation highlights:

-The debate over remote work is a debate about a “complex” problem, not a “complicated” problem, which means trying to get to the one “right” answer may be the wrong way forward for your company. 

-Sometimes solving problems requires more wisdom than expertise.  With “complex” problems “it is less about finding the right answer it’s about trying to get to a best answer.”

-Succeeding in decision-making involves discerning what sort of issue you have and what sort of environment you are working within.

-What is the role of humility in business decision-making?  “You need to surrender the hubris of knowing everything and believing that you can determine the outcome.” 

-You have to be humble in environments filled with uncertainty (which is most environments!).

-Are you able to distinguish between productivity and efficiency in your business and how you evaluate remote work?  What is the relationship between hours worked and output in your business?

-You can’t make a good decision about what metrics related to remote work matter for your business if you don’t also have an iron grip on the mission of your business.

-“We have a responsibly and duty to create.”  But the tension enters in when we are tempted to do so with hubris.  Sometimes we don’t have all the knowledge, the perspective or the wisdom needed to nicely solve the problems we face.   COVID realities present us with a once in a lifetime opportunity to step back and acknowledge just how little control we have.

-Don’t miss Rick’s top lessons for confronting COVID-related business disruptions from his mountaineering experiences.

Connect and Learn More:

Connect with Rick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-dejarnette-43a4107/

Learn more about Rick: https://coachdejarnette.com/

Rick’s Book Recommendation: Thinking in Bets

Cynefin decision-making framework: https://hbr.org/2007/11/a-leaders-framework-for-decision-making

Connect with Aaron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-groen/

The 2021 Business On Purpose conference featured 10 great speakers addressing a multitude of topics with relevance for Christians who own businesses.  In this episode Ken Kinard, who led a breakout session at the conference, joins us to recap the lessons learned as well as main takeaway and conference highlights. 

If you attended Business On Purpose 2021, tune in to be reminded of some of the great encouragement and wisdom from our speakers.  And if you weren't able to make it, this recap of the conference should give to a great idea of our speakers' main ideas and maybe you'll even be convinced to join us next year!  

Jesus had a “disproportionate recruitment strategy” of calling entrepreneurs who were frontier risk-takers pursuing economic opportunity.  What do these facts say about how Jesus viewed businesspeople and entrepreneurs during his earthly ministry? 

Jerry Bowyer, economist and author of “The Maker Versus the Takers,” joins us to discuss why the details embedded in the gospels about where Jesus ministered, who he associated with and how he spoke with them informs us about his view of business and economics. 

Jerry is one of the keynote speakers at the October 28 Business On Purpose conference and in this episode we give you a sneak preview his conference talk.  (Register here: https://businessonpurposeconference.com/)

Conversation highlights:

-On biblical context: Historical and geographic details from the gospels matter “because they are in the Bible,” which almost every Christian says, but doesn’t always act on.

-What should we know about first century Galilee and its “frontier” culture, and how does that give us insight into Jesus’ affection for entrepreneurs? 

-Clues about an entrepreneurial culture that emerge from the plague of malaria in Galilee.

-Jesus had a “disproportionate recruitment strategy” of calling entrepreneurs (owners, rather than laborers) from the frontier, who were pursuing economic opportunity that entailed significant risk.

-The fisherman Jesus called were very likely not “subsistence” fishermen.  They were running fishing businesses.  (15:00)

-When Jesus is looking for people he thinks he can work with, he gravitates toward entrepreneurs. (16:15)  What does this mean for 21st century business owners?

-How to grapple with extra-biblical sources and better understand and love the Bible even when you aren’t an expert in these non-Bible sources.  A quick overview from Church history and even a plug from Jerry for learning biblical languages!

-For some people, “a lack of theological education might actually be an advantage” for growing in understanding of the Bible.  (22:45)

-We want to know the real, historical Jesus, as revealed in the Bible’s gospel accounts.  (28:30)

-The story of the rich young ruler and Jesus hints at the economic dynamics of Jesus time and how the ruling class exploited (defrauded) the people.  (Mark 10:17-27) 

Connect & Learn More: 

Register for Business On Purpose 2021: https://businessonpurposeconference.com/

Connect with Jerry: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerry-bowyer-b5227a74/

Check out Jerry’s podcast, Meeting Of Minds: https://www.meetingofmindspodcast.com/

Connect with Aaron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-groen/

Is your business about to get crushed by the Great Resignation? Is it even a real thing?  Maybe.  In this conversation, Chris Allen, the founder of Always About People and one of the keynote speakers at Business On Purpose 2021, examines what is really going on with the so-called Great Resignation.  We talk about what is behind these resignations and how Christian business owners have a unique set of advantages in addressing the concerns of employees.  

Chris says It boils down to fostering a culture of community.  More and more people are seeking community and human connections in their work—and they are gravitating towards companies that foster both of these.  What does the Bible have to say about this?  What do Christian business owners bring to the table?

Conversation highlights:

--Who’s at fault for the so-called Great Resignation? Is it even real?

--This problem has been developing for at least a decade.  Upwards of 2 in 3 workers aren’t really engaged in their work.

--What’s the deeper human need behind all of this?

--It started in the garden. “God put us here with unique gifts, strengths abilities and desires.”

--Culture has changed.  Society’s structures that have previously met human needs for relationship and human flourishing are broken.  As a result, people are looking to their jobs to meet these needs. 

--The church is God’s Plan A.  How do you connect to people who are missing out on Plan A and who don’t have structures for community in their lives?

--Do your employees leave work as better people?  Are your employees becoming more of who God created them to be?

--Christian business owners “need to seriously think about the environments we are creating for people.”

--The workplace can’t replace the church, but people sure do spend a lot of time at work. “We spend more time at work than with our family” to say nothing of our church family.

--You can’t have too much community.

--The church is not merely something outside of you.  You are taking Christ to every environment, every workplace that you are in. 

--Ever tempted to forget that PEOPLE work for your company and then treat them like machines or interchangeable cogs?  Chris talks about what’s behind that and how to move past it.

--“If we were to take the time now to care for, empower, develop, delegate, it would save us exponential time in the future.”

--Find out about the three ways that employees are committed to their jobs, their company.

  Connect & Learn more:

There is still time to register for the October 28 Business On Purpose Conference: https://businessonpurposeconference.com/

Connect with Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisallen3/

Check out Always About People: AlwaysAboutPeople.com

Connect with Aaron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-groen/

The latest from Gallup on workplace engagement.

In this conversation, Clint Park joins us to dig deeper in an exciting topic from a previous episode: radical generosity through the gifting of your business.  In a previous episode with Jeff Rutt, we discussed how and why Jeff was able to give his successful business away.  Jeff shared what made this possible for him and his company. In this follow up discussion, Clint Park takes us on a deep dive into this form of succession planning.

Along the way, Clint helps us unpack this strategy and we delve into how to make this strategy succeed and when to know if this strategy won’t work well for your business. 

Conversation highlights:

--What should business owners who are considering giving away their business think about first?

--Clint’s “going concern” test: Do you have independence from your business and does your business have independence from you?

--Why your financial finish line matters if you want to gift some or all of your business to ministry (which implies that you have a financial plan and know your finish line).

--If your financial plan depends on the sale of your business or distributions from your business, perhaps your business isn’t ready to be given away.

--Don’t give away a business that isn’t healthy.

--What are the 3 main hallmarks of a healthy business?

-- When you are focused on gifting the ownership of your business, you are also engaging in one of many different forms of succession planning.  Have you also considered the other options?  What will maximize your Kingdom impact?

--There is little point in gifting your business in order to invest in God’s Kingdom IF your business isn’t healthy.

Connect & Learn more:

Don’t have a healthy business? Connect with Clint: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clintpark/

Don’t have a financial plan for yourself or your business? Connect with Aaron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-groen/

Listen to the episode with Jeff Rutt: https://businessonpurposeconference.com/podcast/jeff-rutt-on-how-and-why-he-gave-away-his-company-keystone-custom-homes/

What’s the difference between your competitive advantage and your comparative advantage? Plus, does the praiseworthy woman of Proverbs 31 have something to teach us about business?  Hannah Stolze—one of our keynote speakers at the October 28 Business On Purpose conference—delves  into these questions and discusses her new book, Wisdom-Based Business in this episode.  We explore how the Bible’s wisdom literature can impact how you run your business and much more.

Hannah is the executive director at the Center for Faith and Innovation at Wheaton College and a professor of supply chain management at Lipscomb University. Her book, Wisdom-Based Business, was published in 2021.

Register for the Business On Purpose conference: https://businessonpurposeconference.com/

Conversation highlights:

-- Old Testament wisdom literature is a rich source of counsel for you and your business

--The data from success in the world of business is “building a case for why Christians should believe the Bible.”

--An alternative paradigm for viewing the woman of Proverbs 31: wisdom regarding entrepreneurialism, business, profits, supply chains, employees.

--Proverbs 31 paints more than a purely domestic picture and includes imagery of battle and heroism in the original ancient cultural context. 

--What’s the distinction between competitive advantage and comparative advantage and why does it matter for Christian business owners?

-- Is your advantage just your price, or is your advantage your reputation (your witness), your people or your process?  What are your company’s intangible resources?

--Hannah talks about how a purely competitive mindset (a purely cost focus) can weaken your business and your relationship with your suppliers, your customers and your employees. 

--What can Christian business owners learn from Trader Joe’s?  (Full disclosure: I had no idea what Hannah meant when she referred to TJ’s as “bougie food’)

--What happens when a company transitions leadership or ownership? Is there a risk to a company’s comparative advantage and firm culture during succession (sale or transition in leadership)?

--Matthew 25: how is your business preparing the world and others for the return of Christ?

--If you operate your business with a scarcity mindset, what can happen? 

--Two reasons to avoid a scarcity mindset

--The inventory miracles in the Bible

Connect & Learn more:

Connect with Hannah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-stolze/

Get the book, Wisdom-Based Business.

Get more details and Register for the Business On Purpose conference.

Connect with Aaron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-groen/

The philanthro-capitalists who funded the anti-slavery movement, and Christian CEOs in the 1600’s

Can business practices and profits change society? Alan Crippen, Executive Director of the Faith and Liberty Initiative talks with us about two little-known Christian business owner stories from early American history. 

We unpack how the Tappen brothers, Arthur and Lewis, helped to transform American society through their business practices and their radical generosity.  Then we discuss whether John Winthrop, perhaps one of the first Christian CEO’s in American history, helped cast a vision for what would later become the United States. 

Plus, listen in to hear what it means to create a city on a hill through your business.

Conversation highlights:

--How have Christian business owners contributed to the story of American liberty?

--Arthur and Lewis Tappen had a “bigger transformative effect on America than any other brothers in our history.” 

--The Tappen brothers took a radical approach to business, using their business to both lower the cost of goods, and to deploy their profits to bring about social change.

--Their business wasn’t without its struggles—they even experienced bankruptcy.  But they cared so much about business ethics that they started a business credit and reputational agency to improve business ethics and practices across the country.

--Arthur Tappen’s intense time-management strategy resulted in no seating in his office.

--“The Tappen brothers had big hearts in addition to keen business acumen.”

--They founded Oberlin College, which mandated racial integration and the admission of women, in the early 1800’s before the Civil. 

--Learn how the Tappen brothers bankrolled the early anti-slavery movement and funded the legal defense of the enslaved people on the Amistad, plus brought the gospel to their community in Africa.

--What price did the Tappen brothers pay for living out their faith and standing up for biblical principles in their business and with their wealth?

--Was John Winthrop one of the first great American CEOs?

--John Winthrop came to American in pursuit of religious freedom AND business profits, as leader of the Massachusetts Bay Company.

--He planted a business, a church and a state in the new world.

--Despite being a businessman and governor, some have said Winthrop preached the “most influential sermon of the millennium” in 1630 (despite being a lay person).

--His famous sermon was “casting a social vision of the possible.”  It contained within it “the DNA of what would become the United States of America.”

--Multiple American Presidents have cited and built up Winthrop’s sermon and his vision of what was possible in a just and harmonious society established upon God’s laws: a shining city on the hill.

--How we succeed (or fail) in business is of greater importance than whether we succeed (or fail).  Are you creating a city on a hill through your business?

Connect & Learn more:

Connect with Alan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alancrippen/

Learn more about the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center: https://www.faithandliberty.org/

Check out Alan’s podcast Faith and Liberty Rediscovered.

Read John Winthrop’s famous sermon.

Connect with Aaron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-groen/

Best-selling author Pete Scazzero joins us to talk about the epidemic of shallow discipleship and what it means for Christian business owners.  It might not be what you think it is. 

We talk about growing your business while embracing limitations, slowing down and avoiding “success-ism.”  If you want your business to reflect the ways of Jesus, listen in as Pete shares biblical wisdom and draws from his life’s experience, his failures and his successes.

Pete is the founder, along with his wife Geri, of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship.   We talk about his most recent book, Emotionally Healthy Discipleship.

Conversation highlights:

-What is “shallow discipleship” and why does it matter?  Why should Christians who own business care about emotionally healthy discipleship?

-Embracing limits and slowing down are at the core of healthy discipleship, two very difficult matters for people who own and lead businesses. 

-Two paths towards following Christ in an emotionally healthy way: Crisis vs. mentorship.  Which will you choose?

-“Good mentors are hard to find.”  Pete talks about identifying mentors and understanding the types of mentors and disciplers you might need in your life.  Get more than one!

-Do you reflect the broader culture, or do you reflect freedom as a follower Christ?

-If you aren’t emotionally healthy as a Christian, you will struggle to have a healthy business, healthy leadership and healthy relationships. 

--“My first invitation to business owners is to slow it down.”  Invest in “being.”  “You cast a shadow or you cast light to everyone around you.”

--God is the first worker, so we are created to work.  But are you working from a place of peace in Christ, or out of anxiety, striving and panic? 

--Jesus had a lot to do in 3 years.  But he worked from a place of peace.  “I have finished the work you gave me to do.” (John 17:4)

--You probably didn’t get into business to rest.  But you still need it.  “You were created for a rhythm in life.”  Do you make a priority of resting, or of a 24-hour period of actual rest and replenishment?

--"If all you do is work, you are a slave…Free people rest.”

--Success is the world’s universal religion.  God has a different definition of success, and you can easily succeed by the world’s metrics but fail by God’s measurement.

--Joyful, productive people are a gift to those around them.

--Don’t miss Pete’s free advice.  “This is better than hiring a strategic planner for a day.”

--The Bible has a theology of limitations.  Some limitations should be received and some should be broken through.  Emotionally healthy disciples can discern between the two types of limitations.

--How and why Pete intentionally decided not to grow his organization?  “What is your best contribution and gifting?”

Connect:

Connect with Pete: https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/about/about-pete/

Take the free assessment: https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/mature/

Check out Pete’s podcast, get the book.

Connect with Aaron: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-groen/