While coaching a young entrepreneur recently, I was reminded of several common mistakes made by new business owners. The first mistake I’ve seen many times is the impact of taxes on a small business. When you collect money from customers, it’s easy to assume it’s all yours. But it’s not all your money! The biggest mistake for many is to ...
Recently, I met with a retired businessman. While discussing his future this man shared, “I’ve made enough money to care for my wife and I, my kids, and my grandkids for their lifetime.” He continued, “God’s made it clear that He wants me to give away my excess to advance God’s kingdom.” Jesus told a parable about a rich man ...
When business is booming, it’s tempting to pour your profits back into the business for the sake of expansion. There is a tension, however, in also keeping an eye towards the future. In Genesis 41, Joseph not only translated Pharaoh’s dream, predicting seven years of prosperity to be followed by seven years of famine, he also wisely told the king ...
As we near the record for the longest economic expansion in US history, many forward-thinking leaders are beginning to prepare accordingly. With almost 10 years of upward momentum it’s easy to begin feeling invincible and not fully understand what may be coming. Recently, I’ve had more conversations with wise leaders who do have experience with recessions. Many of these leaders ...
In the 90s I owned a consulting practice. I often stayed late on New Year’s Eve because I wanted to tally up our final profit and loss numbers! It wasn’t to greedily examine my profits. Instead, it was to determine how much extra I could give to charity before the tax year ended. Joy would fill my heart as I ...
According to Mobilecause.com, 12% of total annual giving is done in the last three days of the year and 30% is done in the month of December. This begs the question, “Why?” Taxes is certainly a part of the answer, but as I work with many generous business leaders, I have realized that December is much like the harvest season ...
When my son was young, I watched Muppet’s Christmas Carol often. In the movie, Scrooge has a remarkable transformation from a greedy miser to a generous employer. Scrooge’s transformation came in part from being shown his miserly life through a different lens. I believe it also came from his sudden understanding of the value of generosity. When Scrooge realized that ...
When my son was young, I watched Muppet’s Christmas Carol more times than I can count. In the movie, Scrooge has a remarkable transformation from a greedy miser to a generous employer. If you’ve ever been an employer who has had to cover payroll, you can probably relate somewhat to Scrooge’s view on Christmas. Scrooge believed being forced to give ...
Sometimes God limits our resources. You might ask, “Why would God limit what’s needed to accomplish my goals?” God gave Adam and Eve unlimited resources, with one restriction; they were not to eat from the tree of good or evil. When the serpent convinced them they could be like God if they violated God’s one restriction, they later discovered God ...
Whether it’s one large customer or one significant donor, when your revenue comes significantly from one person, your organization faces danger. Real trouble can come if anything goes wrong with that relationship. Another pitfall of having too much dependence upon one customer is the influence they might have. As your revenue becomes dependent upon one customer, you can be pressured ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
