THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF BUSINESS SUCCESS(II)
Rethinking Business Success from the Bible’s Perspective.
This series of writeups focuses on how entrepreneurs and business leaders can apply Bible principles to drive greater success in business. We shall continue with commandments 3 and 4 this week.
COMMANDMENT # 3
THOU SHALL SEIZE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO MARKET AND SELL THY BUSINESS
“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”– I John 3:8 NKJV
“Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else does.”– Steuart Henderson Brit
Don’t do business in the dark!
“Doing business without advertising is like winking to a girl in the dark; you are the only one who knows what you are doing”. That could not be further from the truth. You may be good at what you do, but if no one knows about it or just a few people do, you may soon be out of business. Though you have some customers who will willingly go out of their own way to promote what you do, that is not their work, you should understand that it is not their work. It is yours! You are expected as the leader of the business to take personal responsibility when it comes to a marketing business. As an entrepreneur, business promotion must be at the core of what you do daily.
“Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.”– Joe Chernov
Jesus was keen on marketing and promotions.
When you study the synoptic gospels carefully, you will appreciate the fact that Jesus employed a lot of marketing, sales, and branding principles in His ministry. He practiced it to the core. Obviously, he knew how powerful marketing is. Jesus used every little opportunity He gets to let people know what he had to offer and what his main mission was. He was keen on what people thought about Him. He made it distinctively clear that He was different from the Scribes and Pharisees. He connected with people who needed Him and solved their problems for them. He was comfortable with the low-class folks as well as those in the high ranks. He knew it was wrong to discriminate because one could never tell who had money to buy. He was aware that many times, outward appearances become deceptive!
“Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but
that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the
works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming
when no one can work.”
– John 9:3-4 NKJV
Do not just market, sell!
There is a difference between sales and marketing. In marketing, you focus on creating awareness of your existence and what you have to offer, in terms of your products and services. However, in sales, you focus on getting the product or the service to the customer and getting paid for it. You seal the deal, so to speak! Entrepreneurs who only enjoy ‘making noise’ about their products and services without strategically convincing people to buy may be doing their businesses a great disservice. To continually stay in business, you must focus on closing deals and not just marketing what you have! You must master the art of selling!
“Our jobs as marketers are to understand how the customer wants to buy and help them to do so.” – Bryan Eisenberg
Seize opportunities to tell more people about what you offer.
The more people who know about what you sell, the better for your business. The essence of digital marketing in today’s business world is to allow consumers to have easy access to what businesses have to offer. So Facebook and Instagram or even Google ads, for instance, give you more space to let the world know about your products and services. Honestly, in business, there is no level your company can ever get to where marketing becomes irrelevant. This is the reason why large multinational corporations like financial institutions and telecoms still market their products and services daily. They understand that marketing must be consistent and in fact, for most companies, there is a stipulated amount of financial resources that are committed to marketing.
As an entrepreneur, you must focus on marketing wherever you find yourself. Of course, you should never wait for perfect opportunities to tell people about your products and services. In fact, you are even expected to create your own marketing opportunities rather than waiting for others to do that for you. The only way to keep your business afloat is to have a strong marketing approach to the business. There should never be a time when you think that marketing does not matter. Competition should be enough to inspire you to constantly promote what you do.
More options for marketing today.
“Social media allows big companies to act small again.” – Jay Baer
The good news is this: Today, there are more opportunities for marketing today than ever. No Entrepreneur, therefore, has any excuse for not doing enough. The advent of social media has made marketing extremely easy. All you need to do is to look at the options available and make use of them. We have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn etc just to mention a few. All these are great platforms to market your products and services. To a large extent, there are marketing and communication companies that specialize in providing related services to companies to reach their target markets.
“Marketing is telling the world you are a rock star. Content marketing is showing the world you are one.” – Robert Rose
Honestly, if your marketing skills are bad, it will be difficult to build any great thing, including business. You may want to improve your game by taking some crash courses or going back to school for a degree. The money is always out there and so you will be doing yourself a great disservice by always staying indoors. To be able to sell and make money, you must go out! Go out there and look for your potential customers. Go out there with your products in hand. Let the world know what you have to offer. Go to where they are and where they live! Never wait for customers to come looking for you.
“Clients don’t care about the labour pains; they want to see the baby.” – Tim Williams
COMMANDMENT # 4
THOU SHALL BE DILIGENT IN THY BUSINESS
“He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a wise son; He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.” – Proverbs 10:4-5 NKJV
“No matter how hard you work, someone else is working harder.” – Elon Musk, Founder, Tesla
God hates laziness!
You can imagine how this planet would have become if God had stopped working things out. God believes in the principle of diligence, and He wants us to do the same. The principle of diligence is one of the most important principles that successful entrepreneurs apply. It is the main secret of leading entrepreneurs, globally. Many erroneously think that being a believer implies that they do not have to put any effort into what they do. But the scriptures make it clear that God will only bless whatever we do, and that implies, that if you do nothing, you leave with nothing to bless. Many think that being favored is a replacement for effort, but though you may be favored, you still would have to put in the work needed to succeed.
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”
– Thomas Jefferson, Former President of the United States
Laziness can collapse your business.
One of the reasons some Christians fail in business is laziness. Being lazy cripples your chances of success as a business. Most entrepreneurs fail in business out of laziness. In fact, some entrepreneurs are just too lazy to work on their businesses. Somehow, some Christian entrepreneurs expect God to work things out for their businesses to do well but unfortunately, that is not how God works. Truth be told faith is never an excuse not to put in the effort. The effects of laziness on a business are obvious. Laziness can kill the potential of your business. Laziness can make you lose customers. Laziness can make you lose employees. Laziness can make you lose business opportunities. If you want to be successful as an entrepreneur, you must put in the work!
The only language success understands is hard work.
“A dream does not become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.”– Colin Powell, Former US Defense Secretary
Prayer and fasting cannot save your business if you remain lazy.
Prayer and fasting are good but not substitutes for diligence. Honestly, that is it! God cannot break His own laws. You must put in the effort to be rewarded. Prayer and fasting have their own way of ensuring that the business succeeds but they do not replace the major role hard work or diligence plays in business success. The anointing oil and special direction do not replace diligence.
“Hard work beats talent if talent does not work hard.”– Tim Notke, Basketball Coach
Be committed to the success of your business.
How successful your business becomes depends on you and the efforts you put in. It depends largely on the daily choices you make and how you utilize the hours at your disposal. It depends on your quest for knowledge to grow the business. As an entrepreneur, you are responsible for the success of your business. The extent to which you would succeed in business depends on the effort you are putting in today. Nothing can be further from the truth!
