In this series, we’re discussing seven keys to successful business startups. The final key to success is to be generous.  One of the paradoxical concepts in the Bible is that if you generously give away money for God’s work, He, then, can trust you with more, sometimes replacing far more than you gave.   Bob faithfully ...

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In this series we’re discussing seven keys to successful business startups. The sixth key is to know the condition of your business.  The owner of a chain of retail stores hired my consulting practice years ago to help their struggling business. This was a $5 million a year operation, yet, when I asked for financial ...

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In this series, we’re discussing seven keys to successful business startups. The fifth key to success is to trust God rather than lenders for your funding.  If God desires you to start a business, He has the ability to fund it in multiple and creative ways. Assuming that you need to borrow money, before exploring ...

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In this series we’re discussing seven keys to successful business startups. The fourth key is counting the cost.  As a commercial lender, very few budding entrepreneurs came to me with an actual budget for their new business idea. Yet, one of the most common reasons for business failure is being undercapitalized and overextended.  Most entrepreneurs ...

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In this series, we’re discussing seven keys to successful startups. The third key is to under promise and over deliver.  Trust is the backbone of commerce. Many new entrepreneurs undermine trust by not being reliable.   For the first meeting with a new client, try showing up early. Then, at that meeting, make a commitment to ...

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In this series we’re discussing seven keys to successful startup businesses. The second key to success is deciding how you will set yourself apart from any competition.  Years ago, I helped launch a coffeehouse. We could have competed by having better or cheaper coffee, but we set ourselves apart by focusing on building community and ...

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I’ve personally been involved in at least seven business startups. In this series, let me share seven keys to success for aspiring entrepreneurs.   Legendary consultant, Peter Drucker, wrote, “There is nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency something that should not be done at all.”   In my opinion, the first key to success ...

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Years ago, Dean purchased his father’s company and took over the day-to-day leadership. Dean shared with me his fears about whether he would be able to lead his father’s company as successfully as his father.   He also expressed fear that the wealth he was coming into might tempt him into actions he would later regret. ...

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When I was twenty-five, I started my first business. One year later I liquidated the business and felt like a failure. That led to a fear of ever starting another business.  Yet, in 1995, God called me to start a new business. My fear of failure caused me to wrestle with God, doubting that I ...

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A common fear in business is the fear of rejection. Many people avoid making sales calls out of a fear of rejection.   Avoidance seems to be a common approach to addressing possible rejection. Author and speaker, Jia Jiang, however, took a different approach.   Jia performed a 100-day rejection experiment where he sought out rejection each ...

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