Business On Purpose Conversations

Is marketing your business inherently worldly? Or can Christian business owners faithfully market, advertise and promote their businesses? In this episode, the interview tables are turned: Ken Kinard and Mike Boyes of the Workwise podcast delve into this issue with Aaron Groen as the guest. We examine biblical wisdom for the issue of marketing in a world that has devalued truth and integrity. We talk about the biblical concept of stewardship and how a framework of stewardship informs our approach to marketing.

Conversation notes:

--Does marketing simply appeal to our vices?

--Can your business be a success if it isn't growing?

--If you aim to be a faithful steward, could it be malpractice to not have a marketing strategy?

--Good, true and beautiful as a framework for marketing.

--Before you start marketing you need to know backwards and forwards what problem your business is solving and who you are solving it for. Part of good marketing is ensuring you have the right audience and that people who you don't want to target can easily self-identify away from your products and services.

--I Corinthians 15:58: always abound in the work of the Lord.

--The redeeming purpose of your business: not simply profits. Your labor is not in vain.

--Is the Great Commission a call to marketing? What's your conversion rate? Do you have any brand evangelists?

Learn more:

Check out the Workwise podcast.

Connect with Mike or Ken on LinkedIn.

How Did Jesus View Business & Economics?

Did you miss our September webinar with economist and author Jerry Bowyer? It's now available for replay.

In our conversation we dug into why we should pay attention to the time and place in which Jesus did some of his most well-known teaching on business and economics. We considered Jesus's sophisticated business case studies (He called them parables), talked about how God thinks about entrepreneurs and much, much more.

Listen in and you will be challenged to revisit and reflect on the teachings of Jesus about wealth, business and economics.

And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast to be automatically notified of future episodes like this.

Do you have feedback on this episode, or ideas for future guests or topics? We'd love to hear your thoughts. Email Aaron to share your feedback: [email protected].

Conversation highlights:

-Pay close attention to details in the gospel accounts of Jesus ministry. Who was he talking to? What town or region did the events take place? Who else was present?

-Are you a business owner? Here's Jerry's encouragement to you from this webinar: "You are mimicking most of Jesus's life by being an entrepreneur. Most of the time Jesus spent on earth, was in entrepreneurship."

-"The state grows in the gaps left behind by the church."

-Christian business owners and entrepreneurs are one of God's the main solutions to many of the problems facing society. Not simply the church or the state.

-Want to dig into Jerry's reference to Issachar and Zebulun? Listen to the podcast we recorded on this topic earlier this year.

Connect with Jerry Bowyer on LinkedIn.

Is your business positioned to make disciples? Mark Thayer, who is a Field Partner with CBMC and overseas CBMC trusted advisor forums in Maryland, says it is. Together we explore why business is a powerful platform for disciple-making and how Christian business owners are in a position to flourish in obeying the Great Commission commands of Christ. We also talk about what it looks like for those leading business to not just disciple others but also to ensure they are being discipled.

Conversation Highlights:

-One-on-one discipleship (Christ-centered relationship building) is where life change happens for most believers. As a result, business owners have tremendous opportunity to engage people throughout their business in meaningful discipleship relationships.

-Matthew 28:18-20: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

-Who is your Timothy? Who is your Paul?

-What are the new challenges and opportunities that business owners have in tumultuous business environments?

-Business concerns naturally crowd out spiritual opportunities for business owners. How do we develop the habits to keep financial or business concerns from distracting us from the call to discipleship?

-Are business owners often skilled at making disciples, but not so skilled at being discipled?

Learn more about CMBC Maryland: https://md.cbmc.com/

Check out CBMC's Operation Timothy: https://www.operationtimothy.com/

Want to learn more? Get in touch with Mark on LinkedIn.

10530356-06-20

Risk-taking is inherent to business. But with risk often comes worry, or even paralysis. Our guest, Neal Rice, is a business attorney and entrepreneur who talks with us about how Christian business owners (and potential business owners) can draw on biblical truth to think clearly about risk-taking and the worry that often accompanies it. We talk about how fear and worry can keep even good business ideas from seeing the light of day, or worse, achieving their potential for Kingdom impact. Then we delve into how Christians can hold onto the truth about who God is and how He's made us to prudently take risks.

Conversation Highlights:

--Are you passionate about starting a new business or taking some new risks in your current business but haven't taken any steps to pursue this? Why not? Fear of failure keeps many from taking risks. This fear is often financial, but sometimes it's simply fear of how we might be perceived by others if our idea doesn't succeed.

--Question: do you want your fears about real risks to snuff out your best ideas?

--Prudence requires understanding risks and taking steps to improve them. It also means contextualizing risks within the scope of God's Kingdom and sovereign rule. (Matthew 16:25)

--How does risk-taking interact with the potential for God-honoring business impact? Do you believe that your business or business idea can have Kingdom impact/purpose? If not, you can expect that your risk analysis lacks perspective.

--If you are uncertain whether or not your business idea is any good, start by asking the question, "what is the potential Kingdom impact or Kingdom purpose of this idea or this risk I want to take?"

-- "Worry is a natural human condition." The path to success is almost never a straight line. You will suffer setbacks and experience trials in business. It's normal.

--How can we have joy (and peace) when we experience business setbacks or simply when we are tempted to worry about the inherent risks of pursuing a business idea? (James 1)

--Battlefield lessons for business owners: What's the most dangerous course of action?

Learn more about Neal Rice and Legacy Law: https://www.legacylawadvisors.com/neal-rice/

Learn about Profit & Honor: https://www.profitandhonor.com/

Connect with Neal on LinkedIn.

The opinions expressed on the podcast are the views of the presenters and not necessarily the views of the presenters' employers or affiliates. The information and opinions provided are for informational purposes only and are intended to be educational in nature.

Ken Kinard, founder of Accent Interactive, reviews three ways that businesses and business owners are responding to the COVID-19 crisis. Then we pivot to a discussion of the creative process and how to ensure you are creating the time and space to be creative. Are you embracing your God-given creativity and building habits that foster creativity?

Conversation Highlights:

-Are you collapsing, containing or creating?

-Give yourself space to be creative.

-Establish habits or patterns for creativity. Start with Input (fill the well). Proceed to Output (make drafts and create). Then move to Refinement (get feedback, make changes, iterate, revisit previous creative work). This can foster a good creative process for you.

-Concerning the Input step, beware of "garbage in, garbage out." (Although one man's trash can be another man's treasure!)

-The posture of a creative is to be open to new things, but to also be discerning and wise about the sources of our input.

-Harness and develop your inner voice. Carefully curate your sources of input—so that you can trust your output.

-Stick with an idea or project long enough to test its effectiveness. At the same time, make sure you have an honest coach who can give you feedback that helps make sense of your creative output and nurture your good ideas to fruition.

Connect with Ken on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenkinard/

Accent Interactive: https://accentinteractive.com/

This conversation was recorded in April 2020.

Michael Crawford returns to the podcast to reflect on the role of preparedness for Christian business owners, or really anyone who follows Christ. We discuss how the story of Joseph shows this, but even more importantly, how God's plan of salvation is a grace-filled model for Christian preparedness. Whether your business was prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, or not, this conversation about a grace-based approach to preparing for the unknown is for you.

Conversation Highlights:

-Some people are predisposed to being prepared, others aren't. But life doesn't go well if you aren't prepared.

-Preparedness is a biblical theme.

-What does it look like to have storehouses (like Joseph filled for Pharaoh) that are more than just financial? What is the state of your spiritual, emotional, physical storehouses?

-In what areas of your life have you been redlining, that have been exposed by stress or crisis?

-What should a Christian do if if she or he has prepared well, but others haven't? Look at the example of Joseph and how he treated his brothers (who had betrayed him and sold him into slavery).

-Reflect on the reason for abundance. Why has God entrusted some people with more than they need?

-What is the role of preparedness in the Gospel message?

-Every Christian is a beneficiary of God's preparedness expressed in Christ. How can God's people model this to the world?

-Reflecting the outrageous generosity of the gospel, the abundant preparedness of Christ, motivates God's children to open up the storehouse and share with others.

-Reminder: There are enough resources in the world to do God's will.

Mike is the Founder of the Subversive Institute and State Director of Mission at the BCMD.

The Subversive Institute: https://thesubversiveinstitute.org/

Follow Mike on Twitter: https://twitter.com/edward1758

10530356-06-20

In this conversation Jerry Bowyer argues that Christian business owners are not second-class citizens in God's kingdom.

Can Christian business owners learn anything from the ancient collaboration of the people of Issachar and Zebulun? We talked with Jerry, one of our keynote speakers at the next Business On Purpose conference, about how doers (entrepreneurs) and thinkers/theologians can work together to accomplish good during times of crisis.

Conversation Highlights:

-Business owners are world changers.

-Balancing thinking vs. doing.

-Issachar and Zebulun, shared the same tent (or cubicle!).

-Zebulun could make things happen and make profits, but they needed Issachar to help them spot changes and opportunities.

-The blessing of the relationship between these two types of people (business owners and Christian scholars/thinkers/clergy) should not be severed in the modern Church.

-Don't disdain those who are skilled and called to business or view them as simply people who can write checks to support the church.

This conversation was recorded in April 2020.

Follow Jerry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerry-bowyer-b5227a74/

Jerry's new book is The Maker Versus the Takers, available in September: https://www.amazon.com/Maker-Versus-Takers-Justice-Economics/dp/1642933708

Our guest in this episode is Becca Spradlin. Becca works with leaders to help them avoid mission drift and manage change. In our conversation we talk about the foundational importance of your spiritual health—your spiritual reserves—as you seek to lead your company through seasons of change without losing your sense of mission. Stay tuned to the end where we talk about this applies to your personal life and maybe even raising kids!

Conversation Highlights:

-Joshua's exhortation to the people he led through change: "don't depart from God's word."

-Spiritual health is just as important to financial health if your business is going to survive and maintain its sense of mission during times of change or upheaval.

-What are your sources of spiritual accountability?

-Most people experience change as loss. Good change management is an opportunity to shepherd people and shore up our Christian testimony

-What motivates you to love in the midst of difficult changes? Your expression of love is a doorway into sharing about the love of Christ.

-If your focus is almost exclusively on profits, are you missing out on an opportunity to share how Christ changes all of our lives?

-What are the business and spiritual risks of not doing change well?

-Assume resistance to change and plan for it.

-How do you help people cope with the process of change? How do you disciple people through change? What change have you been through that didn't work?

-One change management framework: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement

- Clear communication about change can be the difference between success and failure. The #1 cause of employee (and manager!) resistance to change is simply lack of awareness.

Learn more about Becca's work with On Mission at www.onmissionadvisors.com

The book Becca recommended during the podcast is Mission Drift by Peter Greer and Chris Horst of HOPE International. You can also visit HOPE International's website for additional Mission Drift resources and videos.

More information on Prosci and their ADKAR change management model can be found at www.prosci.com.

10530356-06-20

Five brothers (Cal, Del, Fenton, Keith & Warren), four of whom currently own and/or lead businesses, reflect on the biblical wisdom for business that they learned from their father, Klaas Groen, who was a small businessman dairy farmer.

These men, all in their 60's or 70's look back on their lives and how their success in business was shaped by the biblical worldview of their father. Whether you learned wisdom for business from your parents or not, these lessons transcend time, place and apply to any business owner.

Conversation Highlights:

-Honesty & trust: if your business dealings are conducted with honesty you will gain the trust of your employees, customers and vendors.

-Stewardship: sometimes this requires getting out of your personal comfort zone to make sure your business and your people are taken care of. Wise stewards make long-term investments that are good for the health of these businesses and their communities.

-Release your people: "Go be creative." Give your employees the space to act within their gifting: for instance, buying a welder for a 10-year-old to teach himself how to weld. It's risky, but it encourages people to grow, which in turn creates value for the enterprise.

-Faithfulness: Starting with your family, faithfulness means doing what is necessary to keep promises and set an example of the values you want to see emulated throughout your business and household. This also encompasses serving your neighbors, paying your taxes and simply meeting your obligations. Aside: your family and/or your business will be a legacy of your level of faithfulness in life.

-Determination & hard-work: "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your strength." (Ecclesiastes 9:10) Are the things you are building, built to last? Are you working hard towards the things God has called you to do? Are you planning and building for the future?

-These men are five of Klaas Groen's children. Klaas Groen ran a successful dairy farm for decades in southwest MN in the mid-20th century. He was married to Alice Groen for 66 years, together they had 15 children and nearly than 60 grandchildren. Klaas passed away in 2005.

Tim Samuel, CPA, the CFO at Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia, Maryland, explores how crisis pushes people and organizations towards innovation, accelerating the creative process. We also delve into communicating and listening to wise sources of counsel as you lead through especially uncertain times.

Conversation Highlights:

-Creativity doesn't always have to mean making something completely new, but can simply involve adjust existing process or technology to solve a new problem.

-Leading and ministering to your people in a crisis must include regular, clear communication. Things involves both mass communication to larger teams (congregations) and individual and targeted outreach.

-Be wise in choosing which voices you are listening to in a crisis. Start by listening to the voice of God, and then be intentional about seeking out additional trusted sources of counsel to inform your decision-making. While there is wisdom in multiple counselors (Prov. 11:14; 15:22) not every voice deserves your attention.

-Many business owners lead in isolation, which can make it difficult to maintain a grip on reality. This is an important time to not forsake your existing support network (whether formal or informal) to keep you from losing perspective and getting stuck.

Bridgeway Church: https://www.bridgeway.cc/

This conversation was recorded in April 2020.