4 Biblical Principles to Thrive in Entrepreneurship

If God has called you to be an entrepreneur, then He has called you to thrive in business. However, there is a big gap between ideas and thriving. If this gap is not closed, you will easily become frustrated with the idea and God. Let scripture guide you into learning 4 basic principles to thrive in entrepreneurship.

Principle # 1 — You Must Have Passion

Some entrepreneurs think that if a business has the potential for making money, one could have the drive to make money without having passion for the business itself. That is, however, extremely hard to do and most businesses end up in failure. Why? Because there is no passion for the business itself.

Passion creates enjoyment for what you are doing and allows you to ride out the normal difficulties in a business environment.

Passion ensures your customers that you will be around for the long haul, and when they do business with you, you will put forth your best efforts in delivering your product or service.

Passion is contagious, and your customers will catch it.

God has placed a godly passion in you for a particular business idea. Act on it today, passionately.

“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).

Principle # 2 — It’s Easier When People Are Already Spending Money

Instead of building His own synagogue, Jesus simply used the existing synagogues to spread His message. This was much easier than building a new synagogue and trying to get people to come to Him. He used the existing infrastructure where people already gathered.

In the same way, in terms of your business idea, if people are already spending money in a market, then it is easier for them to transfer that money to your business.

For example, if you consult to various companies and private organizations as a web technology specialist, they won’t have a problem to pay you for your service, because there is a need, and they are going to pay someone anyway for the service.

Alternatively, if you start a business and its products or services are so unique that it is not something that the average person is accustomed to spending money on, it would be exceedingly difficult to get them to adopt it.

Therefore, to thrive in entrepreneurship is to analyse the idea God has given and discover how you can place it in a marketplace where people are already spending money.

“He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone” (Luke 4:15 NLT).

Principle # 3 — Take Steps Not Leaps

Usually, God direct us in steps not leaps (Psalm 37:23 NKJV). He has anointed steps for you to take with the business idea He has given you.

When you first get an idea from God for business, don’t think about how to make a million Rand. If you follow that thought process, you will get frustrated and give up.

Instead, focus on taking one step at a time. Steps are doable, in reach, and it won’t over complicate your business and mind.

Is this a lack of faith or not ambitious enough?

Well, when God created the heavens and the earth on day one, He only did one thing. On day two He did a few more things, and over the process of a week, everything was done.

God could have done it all in one day, but He is God of steps not leaps and was showing us a model to follow as we create things. Your business will grow step by step; don’t rush it.

When you rush, you make mistakes, get frustrated with the hugeness of the goal, and then you give up.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way” (Psalm 37:23 NKJV).

Principle # 4 — “Good Enough” is Okay in the Beginning

You must start somewhere with the idea God has given you. The goal is not for the first version of your idea to be perfect. From the principles in Luke 16:10 and Zechariah 4:10, God shows us to start off small and then grow.

This means, in the beginning days of your business, don’t wait for your product or service to be perfect. If you wait for that, you will never get started in your business endeavours. The goal is to release a service or product that is “good enough” and keep refining it until it becomes perfect.

For example, the original iPad revolutionised the computer market, but it was missing some key features (e.g., a video camera and multitasking capability). However, the first-generation iPad was good enough for release, and Apple has since improved it with the release of each new generation of iPad.

Obviously, when we refer to “good enough”, we don’t mean your product or service should be inferior. It must still meet some basic standards, but it doesn’t have to have all the bells and whistles.

The goal is to release the product or service sooner rather than later, because later may never come if you are waiting on perfection.

“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities” (Luke 16:10 NLT).

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”

(The seven lamps represent the eyes of the Lord that search all around the world — Zechariah 4:10 NLT.)

This article was adapted from an article by Church for Entrepreneurs.