So, you have a dream to start a business or grow a business you already have. To reach what’s in your heart, you must first use what’s in your hand. In other words, before you can see your business purpose fulfilled, you must work hard with the resources available. Before you can pursue purpose head-on, you need money to run and grow your organization effectively.
Many nonprofit organizations miss this. They direct all their focus on their mission to make a difference. However, they don’t take the time to learn finance or develop good systems and procedures. You must have both the transactional and the transformational to succeed.
The entrepreneur’s ladder of desire describes four major goals and benefits of business: money, time, relationships, and purpose. This blog post will teach you how to climb the entrepreneurial ladder of desire so that you can feel fulfilled, successful, and reach maximum business purpose.
Desire #1: Money
A major motivator for the majority of entrepreneurs is money. They crave financial freedom and want to be masters of their schedule and workload. Entrepreneurship provides flexibility, but only if that business is profitable. So, making money is the first thing you must accomplish to reach your business purpose.
A major mistake new entrepreneurs make is trying to be fruitful before multiplying. In other words, they scale too quickly when they don’t have the money to fund those additional activities and employees.
So, set trackable and achievable financial goals at this rung of the entrepreneurial ladder of desire. Maybe your first goal is to be profitable and pay yourself a reasonable salary. Then, you might want to have plans for additional revenue streams (every business should have at least two) or hiring out certain roles. Once you start thinking about the latter, you’re already well on your way to the second rung: time.
Desire #2: Time
As an entrepreneur, time is your most valuable resource. Your goal is to be able to work on your business more than you work in your business. Once your business makes enough money, you can start delegating tasks that take too much of your time. Then, you can focus on building the business, strategic direction, and leadership.
So, as you progress on your financial journey, look for ways to increase and maximize your time. The adage is true– time is your most valuable asset. Here are three ways you can leverage your time:
- Adopt & Create Good Systems: In our digital age, there is no shortage of product management software to help you manage your time. There are tools to maximize your effectiveness on any task, from email communication to social media marketing. As an entrepreneur, your challenge is to spend more of your time creating systems than working inside of them. After all, that’s why you became an entrepreneur, right?
- Hone Your Focus: List everything that needs to get done in your business. These are your key activities. Take note of the key activities that only you can do. Consider your high-impact tasks– what activities will make your business the most money and influence the most people? Pray and ask God for discernment between which tasks you should focus on and which tasks you should empower others to complete.
- Hire a Great Team: Behind every successful entrepreneur is a great team. As an entrepreneur, part of your business purpose is replicating your company’s culture in your team. You must be able to communicate your God-given vision and inspire others to join in the mission. A great team helps you maximize your time in obvious ways. If you have just five employees, your team can accomplish a week’s work in just one day.
Desire #3: Relationships
Once you have a profitable business and margin in your schedule, you can focus on developing relationships that will help you grow your business. Relationships are invaluable and a big part of God’s business purpose for you. Every time God does something major in your life, it will involve other people. As you grow your business and walk in God’s favor, He will bring you divine connections who are running toward the same purpose.
This phase of the entrepreneur’s ladder of desire is exhilarating. You get to see God work in real-time as He brings people along your path. Incredible friendships and supernatural business partnerships will be forged when you do business God’s way.
To fulfill your business purpose, you must intentionally grow your business relationships. Prioritize networking and practice humility. Any plan God has for your business will be bigger than you, requiring people with different gifts and strengths. Your business can be a great opportunity to see the Body of Christ at work!
Desire #4: Purpose
At the height of the entrepreneurial ladder of desire, you have the money, time, and relationships required to be successful. You can now allocate most of your headspace to living out your business purpose. For Christians in business, our purpose is always to serve and be a blessing to others.
Here’s the thrilling part– As your network and experience grow, you will have a greater perspective on what God is doing in your industry and how He wants your business to influence the marketplace. You have the joy of co-laboring with God in a greater capacity. He will empower you to identify and funnel resources toward Kingdom purpose.
