Archive for December 2021
Action Should Follow Good Advice!
Action Should Follow Good Advice
An Up and Coming young business woman approached a Savvy older entrepreneur to seek out advise about how to overcome her business growth problems.
“How can I grow my business?” Up and Coming asked.
“Have you done ___?” Savvy asked.
“Oh yeah, tried that – didn’t see much in the way of results.” Up and Coming replied.
“Have you done ___?” Savvy asked.
“Yeah, that was a dud.”
“Have you done ___?” Savvy asked.
“Yes, did that once. Nothing good came from it.”
“Have you done ___?” Savvy asked.
“Nah, sounded like too much work.”
Savvy sighed and said: “I don’t think I can help you, young friend.”
Up and Coming scowled and replied “I knew you wouldn’t have any new ideas for me. I don’t know why I bothered.”
Proverbs 26:16 reads:
“Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.”
Business is not now and never has been EASY.
Even businesses that can one day be run passively require a lot of hard work up front to develop.
Most of us have already received so much advise that we’re not following and we’re still out there seeking more of the same.
When you learn something good – put it to good use!
Action Should Follow Good Advice
Action Should Follow Good Advice
An Up and Coming young business woman approached a Savvy older entrepreneur to seek out advise about how to overcome her business growth problems.
“How can I grow my business?” Up and Coming asked.
“Have you done ___?” Savvy asked.
“Oh yeah, tried that – didn’t see much in the way of results.” Up and Coming replied.
“Have you done ___?” Savvy asked.
“Yeah, that was a dud.”
“Have you done ___?” Savvy asked.
“Yes, did that once. Nothing good came from it.”
“Have you done ___?” Savvy asked.
“Nah, sounded like too much work.”
Savvy sighed and said: “I don’t think I can help you, young friend.”
Up and Coming scowled and replied “I knew you wouldn’t have any new ideas for me. I don’t know why I bothered.”
Proverbs 26:16 reads:
“Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.”
Business is not now and never has been EASY.
Even businesses that can one day be run passively require a lot of hard work up front to develop.
Most of us have already received so much advise that we’re not following and we’re still out there seeking more of the same.
When you learn something good – put it to good use!
Wise Counsel
Wise Counselors
This week’s devotion is on the subject of finding and taking good counsel from others.
Proverbs 20:18 reads:
Plans succeed through good counsel; don’t go to war without wise advice.
Certainly, we’re not going to war – but some would say that business is a lot like warfare… do you sometimes feel that way?
I have thought up dozens of really great ideas in my head, grabbed a pad of paper and poured them out in excitement, bought domains and even started out with great momentum, only for things to flop.
I’ve learned over time that it pays to seek out an outside perspective before investing a lot of time and effort into a project.
Fresh eyes see things that we haven’t noticed yet.
Someone with more experience can spot the cracks in our idea’s foundations that we don’t know enough to recognize.
I embrace the opportunity to be completely wrong about something I’ve dreamed up – and honestly, this has been a big part of my moving forward.
You can’t be so in love with your own ideas that you refuse to ask others what they think.
Who are your wise counselors?
Are you taking the time to consult with them often enough to let them make a real impact on your business?
Maybe today is a good time to check in 🙂
Business Checkpoints
Some Business Checkpoints
Doing business ‘by the book’ is our goal, so let’s break that down into some practical bits.
Do you carefully consider the deadlines you promise to meet and then meet them?
Do you apologize quickly and without excuse when you have to miss a deadline?
Do you make your policies known and stand behind them?
Do you treat your clients, partners and colleagues like the precious children of God that you know they are?
Do you deal with conflict with patience and love?
Do you tell the truth?
Do you bill accurately?
Do you refund fairly?
Do you pay your taxes?
Do you keep your business in order – working as unto the Lord?
Do you control your attitude and represent your God in the marketplace with honor?
These areas put our faith on the line and call us to do more than just pray for our business but bring our entire business to the altar as an offering of obedience and good stewardship.
Pricing Yourself
Pricing Yourself
What are you worth?
Oooh… touchy question 🙂
Maybe I should ask, what is your time worth?
In a past devotion we established that we only have 24 hours in a day.
Some of those hours belong to our children.
Some to our spouse.
Some to ourselves.
Some to God.
Some to our church.
Some to our community.
The hours you spend at work – become hours that can’t be spent elsewhere so you must assign value to that time.
How do you decide your prices?
Outside of our faith, we should be pricing our products and services based on a variety of factors.
Competition, quality, specialization, experience, etc.
If you’re good at what you do and give great results, your prices should be higher than average.
If you’re new and learning, your prices should be lower than average.
But add our faith to the mix and things get complicated.
Are high prices prideful?
Are low prices holy?
No and No.
You’re not called to a life of poverty or low priced servitude and you’re not being ‘uppity’ if you’re especially gifted and can charge a premium for your products and services.