David Green, founder of Hobby Lobby, desired to maintain his commitment to be a steward of his business, rather than an owner. David says, the business is like a tree that bears fruit. If you believe you own the tree, you may decide to break-off the branches to give to your heirs after your death. Family feuds can then destroy ...
In the 1880s, Henry Crowell bought an oat mill to provide feed for horses. The business was struggling when Henry turned to God in prayer for a creative solution for his business woes. God led Henry to begin selling his oats to people as a breakfast cereal. This was an unconventional strategy, because oats were sold from insect infested barrels ...
According to the Wall Street Journal, researchers Nina Mazar and her associates studied cheating. These researchers gave the same tests to three groups of students. The first group was paid $.50 for each right answer. The second group took the same test, but graded their tests themselves. The final group signed an honor code prior to the test, but they ...
Bruce was meeting with Terry, whom he had not seen since Terry had launched a new business. When Bruce asked Terry how the new business was going, Terry quietly said, “It didn’t make it.” Bruce was crushed! “What are you going to do?” he asked. Terry said, “I’m going to pray and trust God for what’s next.” In that moment, ...
According to Wikipedia, Cyber Monday online sales have grown since 2006 from $610 million to over $3 billion in 2016. This has come at the expense, however, of many workplaces. According to comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni, “Cyber Monday online sales have always been driven by considerable buying activity from work locations.” Some workplaces have chosen to crack down on employees ...
A family member was having trouble with their car lender so I researched the company who loaned them the money. The lender’s website claimed many awards for being one of the best workplaces in the nation, yet this didn’t line up with customer reviews. The average customer review, from hundreds of customers, was only 1 on a 5 point scale! ...
Although we don’t always get it right, over the years we’ve tried as a ministry to partner with like-minded faith at work organizations. Some leaders, however, view us as competition and refuse to work with us. At times, ministries fear they are competing for the same donor dollars. Likewise, many businesses fear if they don’t win every job, then there ...
Years ago, two friends came in for some counsel. They desired to start a partnership to rehab houses, and they wanted to do it carefully. Knowing that conflicts are inevitable, I recommended that they formalize a partnership agreement before buying any houses. In addition, I encouraged the two friends to address how they would handle any future conflicts. After leaving ...
In business, there are many opportunities to lie or cut corners to try and make more money. Sales people sell features that don’t really exist, or production people shortchange quality in pursuit of profits. In Acts 5, Ananias sold some property to provide funds for the community treasury. But, he decided to lie about how much he received so that ...
Faith and Action Years ago, I launched a consulting practice and determined to build it without debt. I believed that God could provide all the necessary business funds if I trusted Him. Eventually, we experienced a lean season. During a weak moment, I established a home equity line of credit “just in case.” That line of credit became a huge ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
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