In my experience, patience doesn’t seem to be a virtue of many aspiring entrepreneurs. When someone gets an idea to launch a new business, they often want to start today, even though they don’t have the necessary funding to see it through to profitability. Sometimes God gives us an idea in advance so that we can save and prepare for […]

When I was a banker, I met with hundreds of entrepreneurs. It was not uncommon when I asked how much they needed to fund their new business, to hear, “How much will you give me?” This usually meant they had no plan. Kent was different. He knew exactly how much it was going to cost to build his manufacturing business, […]

In business you need to answer the question, “What will you provide customers that no one else provides?” A friend was describing for me his niche in providing retirement plans for Christian organizations. His firm has specialized in developing investment options for their clients that screen out the stocks that are not in alignment with Biblical values. He took a […]

After my son was diagnosed with autism, a group of parents and I decided to start a school for children with special needs. Some professionals told us we could serve learning disabilities or autism, but we couldn’t serve both. As parents we fought that conclusion. It took several months, but eventually we concluded the professionals were right. We developed a […]

When I was 25 years old, I left public accounting and struggled to determine what I wanted to do next. I read about a new concept called Rent-a-Wreck. It sounded like a groundbreaking idea, so I started my own used car rental agency. Looking back, my only real objective was to make lots of money. I had no knowledge or […]

If you don’t count the greeting cards, ice scrapers or Grit newspapers I sold as a child, my first business startup was a car rental agency. After I liquidated that business, I made a commitment to myself to never launch another startup. If you want to give God a good laugh, tell Him your plans. Since that time, I have […]

John Mark Comer, in his book Garden City wrote, “We were put on earth―because the entire cosmos is God’s temple—to make visible the invisible God. To show the world what God is like. We are the Creator’s representatives to his creation.” The invisible God is visible all around through his handiwork of creation. Human beings work and create because God […]

Steve Garber, in his book, Visions of Vocation said, “In the context of one’s calling, how does one learn to see with the eyes of the heart, to see oneself as responsible for the way the world is and isn’t?” Responsibility for the way the world is rests on the shoulders of all human beings. Yet, as followers of Jesus […]

Veterans Day is a day to celebrate those who served our nation honorably in the military―both the living and dead. Some voluntarily served, others were drafted and served involuntarily, but all still served and helped protect our nation. Some may have been less than model soldiers. Yet, we celebrate all veterans to honor them and their service. In business, most […]

Brad is a CFO who believed that his CEO was being deceptive with an investor. Brad believed that since the projections for the project didn’t materialize as planned that the CEO was deceiving the investor. After listening, I suspected that Brad’s CEO was a big picture person that just viewed it as a missed estimate. While Brad’s rigid outlook assumed […]