Marketplace Messengers

“God is moving in a powerful way in the marketplace”- Henry Blackaby

In this era of multimedia, the Christian entrepreneur has a plethora of information sources.  Many of these are exclusively online, but others are in print, on television, even the radio, and online.  These men and women offer insights and ideas on how the Christian can be a powerful vessel of God in the modern-day marketplace.


John C. Maxwell

Dave Ramsey

Ken Blanchard

Steve Marr

 

Zig Ziglar



Laurie Beth Jones
Henry Blackaby

Bob Briner



Larry Burkett 



Ron Blue

Delegate Authority

To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.- Matthew 25:15

This parable gives an account of how a man set out on a journey and gave authority to his servants.  It offers insight into some sound business practices from a biblical perspective.  The man is also known as the master of these servants in the context of this parable.  Look at how this man distributed and delegated among his servants.

The master prepared to go on his journey and left his servants in charge of what he owned.  Yet, the interesting thing here is that he gave to them "each according to his ability."  He distributed responsibility and authority based upon each person's ability. He did not do so based upon any other factor such as seniority or longevity.   He based their responsibility on their own ability.

In order to do likewise, you have to know your people.  You need to know their limitations.  You have to have a grasp of what each person can actually handle. There is no room for you to gamble.  If they can only handle some minor tasks, then that is the limit of their authority.  If you delegate beyond their limitations, you had either beef up their preparation for such tasks or allow for mistakes along the way and expand their learning curve.

You delegate authority to those who have demonstrated the ability to handle it.  You may want to start off small, using minor tasks before moving on to larger matters.  You just need to ensure that everyone has a grasp of what needs to be done and how it needs to be done. 

Room for Growth

Incorporated self-employment is 37% of total self-employment. In January, for example, there were 14.5 million self-employed workers in the U.S. with 5.2 million incorporated and 9.3 million unincorporated.

- Small Biz Labs

If you are in business or thinking about going into business for yourself, there is good news.  There is still room for you.  With 14.5 million self-employed Americans, there is still room for you.  There is still room for growth.


Why All of the Optimism?

I believe that the average American possesses the ability to start and sustain a small business on his or her own, with the help of family or friends, or in an LLC or partnership.  You can franchise it or start it up from scratch, but you need to get the mindset that you can run a small business.  In fact, in your pursuit of happiness, along with life and liberty, it should be among one of those patriotic things that you list for yourself to do as a contribution to society and your personal bottom line.

The Internet Opportunity

Small business is no longer about hanging out a shingle and calling it a day, awaiting foot traffic and catching the eye of the passerby.  No way, buddy! You have to go where the people are today.  You need to get connected online.  in fact, simply having a website alone can be the equivalent of letting your business go to pot.  You have to engage people online in order to get their attention and get them attracted to what you have to offer.

The brick and mortar business is almost dead unless you have the type of product or service that cannot be mobilized and made virtual with a webinar or a podcast, even an e-commerce storefront.  The real estate bust should tell us how these markets have been consumed by Google, Facebook, iPhones, iPads and the like.  The modern-day consumer has shifted from browsing the shelves to browsing web pages and portals, comparing prices with a click of a mouse.

Start Simple:

• Use eBay or similar sites to shop products to consumers
• Get as much Google in your daily diet as possible... blogs, calendar, docs, YouTube, RSS feeds, Checkout,  apps for business, and you name it (they got it!) And, of course, you need some Gmail
• Get on Twitter and at least see who's tweeting about what that may be of interest or related to you... check out @mashable or @google
• Make a consumer-conscious appeal* with every keystroke

*Your consumer-conscious appeals will reach the average consumer and cause them to at least consider taking some form of action on your site or fan page... sort of like Facebook's "Like This" button or Twitter's retweets and #'s