Crisis

The Benefits of Unforeseen Change

2020-06-11T23:56:46-05:00June 11th, 2020|Tags: , , |

According to the Census bureau, 5.2% of workers worked from home prior to the pandemic. Global Workplace Analytics believes that by the end of 2021, 25-30% of the workforce will be working multiple days remotely. This can be good for business. A recent survey by digital.com discovered that 70% of remote workers feel more productive working from home. An unforeseen ...

Reopening, Part V: Model Your Cash Flow

2020-06-05T10:31:47-05:00June 5th, 2020|Tags: , , |

In this series, we are looking at what we can learn from entrepreneurs about restarting our businesses post-lockdown. Sadly, many of us don’t know whether our businesses can survive this restart. That is why many startups use bottoms-up financial models to quickly test new scenarios and whether they have enough cash to survive. They make decisions to increase cash, reduce burn ...

Reopening, Part IV: Customers First

2020-06-03T22:12:45-05:00June 4th, 2020|Tags: , , |

In this series, we are looking at what we can learn from entrepreneurs about restarting our businesses post-lockdown. Many startups have adopted Design Thinking. The shortest definition of design thinking is to focus on the needs of the people you serve. Jesus reminded us in Matthew 22:39 to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Some startups use a process called Customer Discovery. This requires ...

Reopening Part III: Restart Your Business Model

2020-06-02T22:14:06-05:00June 2nd, 2020|Tags: , , |

In this series, we are looking at what we can learn from entrepreneurs about restarting our businesses post-lockdown. A business model is “a representation of how an organization makes money." Startups focus on business models because they need to find a way to be profitable. The business model your company established long ago may now no longer work. A business ...

Reopening, Part II: Testing Your Hypotheses

2020-06-01T17:30:41-05:00June 2nd, 2020|Tags: , , |

In this series we are examining what we can learn from entrepreneurs about restarting our businesses post-lockdown. Yesterday, we learned that startups test hypotheses and adapt as necessary. But, what does that look like? Some entrepreneurs identify their most critical hypothesis and design a low-cost experiment to test it. They iterate through a “build-measure-learn” loop as rapidly as possible, zeroing ...

Reopening, Part I: Restart Like a Startup

2020-05-31T23:55:52-05:00June 1st, 2020|Tags: , , |

A Praxis Labs article described our post-lockdown situation as “every business is now a startup.” In this series let’s take a look at what Christians in business can learn from other entrepreneurs. One thing startups do is to treat ideas as a hypothesis until proven true. Right now, you may think that everything will return to normal. That’s only a ...

Transparency in a Crisis

2020-04-02T14:38:16-05:00April 6th, 2020|Tags: , , |

When China discovered the coronavirus in December 2019, they had a choice to make. They could try to bury the news, or they could be transparent and address the problem publicly. Unfortunately, they decided to try to bury the virus for six weeks. If handled transparently, those six weeks could have prevented thousands of lost lives. When crises surface in ...

Fear and Panic

2020-04-02T08:00:13-05:00April 3rd, 2020|Tags: , , |

Some friends of ours were struggling in their business enough that they were considering bankruptcy. They prayerfully chose instead to push forward. Just as they were beginning to experience a measure of business success, the coronavirus devastated their industry and some future opportunities. Fear and panic overwhelmed them. Many small business owners live on the edge with very little margin. ...

Seeing Opportunities During a Crisis

2020-04-02T07:56:30-05:00April 2nd, 2020|Tags: , , |

Visionaries sometimes identify opportunities when everyone else only sees a crisis. For instance, according to a Harvard Business Review article, the SARS outbreak of 2003 is often credited with the adoption of online shopping among Chinese consumers, accelerating Alibaba’s online store. School closings due to the coronavirus could become a catalyst for accelerating online education. New opportunities will emerge from ...

Sudden Disaster

2020-04-02T07:51:58-05:00April 1st, 2020|Tags: , , |

Kathy and I began this ministry in 2001. Since then, we watched the United States change when two planes crashed into the World Trade Center. While the stock market was crashing in 2008, we hosted an event in Dallas. Fear overwhelmed many leaders attending that day. This year, the coronavirus has engulfed the world with fear. The stock market collapsed ...

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