I have a huge heart for guiding entrepreneurs into their “born to do” identity. Actually, it’s not just entrepreneurs.  It’s my cousin in high school, a friend from college, or a stranger I meet at a networking event. I have a burning desire for people to be in vocations that they were created to be in. My truest, deepest desires are important to God.  He spent a lot of time thinking about me when he created me.  I’m masterfully put together, hand crafted to accomplish HIS desires, which have now become mine. How did I find my desire?  How did I go from a place of serving my own interests to seeking and executing on God’s interests? I used to do business with nightclubs and I totally lost that desire. At one point I wanted to own nightclubs, but God changed that.  One way to consider your desires is to consider what you no longer desire. I helped a company do their full branding (logo, website, collateral, a whole mess of stuff) in less than 10 days.  Man, I LOVED the challenge and focus we had.  One way to consider your desires is to think of your favorite client ever, and see how you can change your business model to attract more of that. The best business ventures I’ve been in is when I have a great desire to be there and serve the people.  God guides me towards all of my clients or them to me, and I always feel a deep desire to help them. And in some cases, my truest desire may be met through selling them a product or service of mine, but simply by sharing my testimony and listening to their problems. It can be difficult to get in touch with your truest or deepest desires. Our entrepreneurial motivations become so confused by money, pride of ownership, and straight up sin. Our apparent desires are often far from the true desires that God has implanted in the depths of our hearts. For this reason, we cannot just say, “Do the business that makes you happy.” What makes you happy—or seems to make you happy—might be far from using your skills and gifts for the marketplace. It may also be possible that the business that would fulfill your true desire at first appears undesirable; it may require great sacrifice and difficult labor. Knowing what you truly desire in business requires spiritual maturity. The bible says "Take delight in the Lord , and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalms 37:4 Like owning a business, it takes work to find out. QUESTIONS I ASK MY CLIENTS When branding someone, I have to find out their desires, motivations and intentions for doing the business.  This makes me armed and dangerous for coming out with an awesome brand! Here are some questions that can help you: Ask yourself what you truly desire to change in the marketplace or the way business is being conducted in your industry. What is the first thing that comes to mind? Write it down. What are you afraid to admit that you desire? How do you spend your time? What can’t you imagine living without? Who do you hang out with, and why? Think of 3 to 5 clients, projects, transactions, task, jobs or services in your business life when you were engaged in activities that made you feel alive—what were you doing, and why? Do you see any patterns? I bring all of who I am before God.  I seek him and ask that he mold and reveal the desires of my spirit. If there is any fear or sin in my life that would prevent me from pursuing the desires you’ve given me, I ask God to set me free. #FindMyCalling

In 2014 I made the scariest move I had ever made in my previous 10 years as an entrepreneur: I dropped 90% of my business to START OVER. I was a nightclub promoter and my marketing company focused on serving up awesome graphics, logos and websites for nightclubs.  But in 2008 I began to walk with God.  By 2014, the holy spirit had convicted me enough that I had no choice but to drop my entire identity as a promoter and trust that God had something better for me next. What kept me from making that decision sooner?  FEAR. Fear that I would lose my identity as a nightclub promoter. Fear that I wouldn’t be able to pay my bills. Fear of my employees hating me because I had to let them go. Fear that others would think I’m this crazy Christian. Fear that people would see me as unstable. Fear that my Cornell classmates would see me as a failure. Fear that my dad would come tell me I should get a job. What kept me chained and bound to my old selfish self was…fear itself. How did I break free? Love. No, not the fairytale happily ever after lubby dubby love. Love of my craft.  Love of my passion. Love of my perfect client. Love of my growing relationship with heavenly father who was teaching me more about my craft.  Love of my purpose of helping others. Love of the people I was looking to make an impact on. The bible says "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18 NIV My secret to finally making the decision to stop doing business my way and start doing the business I was born to do was discovering what I really LOVED about my business, and focusing in on that. I choose to only work with clients out of love.  Fear will make me work with clients I’m not supposed to be working with.  Fear that I need this money right now.  Fear that I’ll go through famine at my house. Focusing on love drives out the fear and keeps me focused on my born to do identity. #GainConfidence #FindMyCalling

I’ve had times of major disagreements with business partners, employees, vendors, and yes… CLIENTS! That’s never going to go away. We live in an imperfect world. Interacting with each other will naturally produce conflict. The only person that can change is ME. I’ve learned that if I seek peace by biting my tongue, showing reservation, and walking away, I can defuse any situation. But this MINDSET is difficult to achieve without a few key ingredients. First, the greatest book ever written on the subject of peace is the bible. It’s the book I wake up to almost every morning. Although the first half is almost all war, the second half is all peace. And that’s my second key the equation of peace: Jesus. Peace will always be an elusive dream in our businesses unless we first meet the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ Himself. It is Christ who can give us the serenity to be kind in the face of adversity with Business partners; it is Christ who gives us the ability to remain silent in response to angry words spewed in our face by a client; and it is Christ alone who will someday bring peace to the turbulent marketplace when He establishes His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. The Bible says: Deceit fills hearts that are plotting evil; joy fills hearts that are planning peace! Proverbs 12:20 NLT If you’re really deep in anger and it’s even difficult for you to open a bible every morning, then at least set a daily reminder on your phone to repeat these statements to yourself while in the car or before work: I must choose to submit to the peace of Christ. My morning time in the word calms my inner person. I am a calming influence on others. I am filled with inner peace. Peace flows from my heart. I tune in to the peace of heaven. Christ said to the Samaritan woman at the well, “Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life” (John 4:13). Godpreneurs, as much as is within you, be at peace with all men. #SharpenLeadership #NewEntrepreneurs

My mother is a workaholic. If you call the office at 11:30 at night, she’s likely to be there. I guess the apples doesn’t fall far from the tree after all. I’m not sure why my mom works so much. She’s a government employee so it’s not like she makes overtime.  I’m still stumped. But when I ask myself the same question, I started to discover some very…Ugly….Things about myself. I noticed that I would stay at the office longer when my marriage was having problems. I began to realize that the reason I would spend so much time at the gym was because it gave me an escape from my wife and problems in the business. I’m not talking about an innocent weekly routine of going to the gym…No….I was fully soaked into CrossFit and the culture of competition and growth. If we entrepreneurs don’t watch out, we can easily convince ourselves that working more hours is necessary to bring more money home for vacations…And that going to the gym is needed for our health. But if we’re not vigilant to the signs, we could easily fall into the same trap I fell in…They really became addictions. And my addictions almost became fatal to my marriage. So what’s an addiction?  Great question. Some addictions that kill us are more obvious. Tobacco, drunk driving, heroin overdose, etc. But others are more silent and innocent, like eating too much that leads to diabetes and heart failure. These innocent addictions are bigger killers than the first obvious ones.  We tend to overlook these…Like I was overlooking work and exercise. See, addictions are either Substance: alcohol, caffeine, weed, cocaine, prescription meds Process: work, exercise, gambling, shopping, pornography This blog specifically focuses on work addiction, a process. The medical diagnosis of a work addition is: Failing duties at home Continuing despite physical harm A frequent craving and strong desire to work more or start new projects Frequent social or relationship problems Need to put in even more hours or start more businesses to get the same effect Withdrawal symptoms Starting more businesses or spending more time on a business than intended Failed effort at stopping to work so much or start more businesses Significant amount of time, energy, and thought regarding your business Time spent working in or on your business is more than time spent on social or fun activities. Continuing to start new projects or businesses despite harmful consequences Do you see any of the symptoms above in you or a business friend? On a scale of 0-10, what do you rank? I’m like an 8….I mean, I wrote each bullet point which means I go through each point to one degree or another. Simply put, the signs of entrepreneurs addiction is anything you do in your business that is harming you in some way and you can’t stop it. The work addiction controls and harms you. No one starts a business hoping it will take control over them.  Yet we often let this happen over time. The Bible says "I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?." Romans 7:24 MSG You’re not alone in your addiction.  Even Paul had his problems with sin. Ask yourself: if your wife told you to be home by 5 pm everyday, does that thought stress you out? It did for me…And that’s when I knew I was addicted. Godpreneur Rule #73: Godpreneurs recognize their addictions and partner with God to fight them. #TimeManagement #WorkLifeBalance

I had a branding agency for 11 years.  It was my first real business.  At one point we were a team of 16 and business was great! But there were many times where something happened and the business was on the verge of shutting down. For years, I was barely getting by and I couldn’t figure out why. I tried reading books, going to classes, getting involved in masterminds, yet nothing significantly changed. Then one day, I felt God saying I needed to shut down a certain department in my company.  I had already been wanting to do it, but now is was confirmed. Business BOOMED a couple of months after that. It was incredible what shutting one door does for another the God opens. A few years after that, it happened again. I felt the need to shut the business down completely because God had something bigger and better for me. And He did. That’s why I’m where I’m at today. Had I kept it going, I wouldn’t have had the time or capacity to enter into the new amazing things God had in store for me. We entrepreneurs tend to hold on to things. We have the pride of ownership. We feel like failures if we shut down. We have a tough time letting go of something we birthed.  We think the world will see us as someone who shifts from business to business, unstable and unsure of ourselves. But that’s not the way God sees it. Some of you are at a point tight now where the business isn’t going great and you’re deciding if this is the point where God is saying FIGHT IT and keep this thing open or CLOSE IT because I have something better for you. Others of you have experienced the closing already, and you’re waiting on God to tell you what’s next. And there’s a 3rd group. You’re doing well, but there’s a nudge you have that the time is coming for a major shift in the business and it’s time to close down a department to open up opportunities. But how do we know when it’s the right time? How can we make the decision? The Bible says, "Write this to Philadelphia, to the Angel of the church. The Holy, the True—David’s key in his hand, opening doors no one can lock, locking doors no one can open—speaks:" Revelation 3:7 MSG God is in the business of opening and closing opportunities.  Not for us.  But for His ultimate plans that were not always made aware of. Here is a test I use to determine a decision like this Does it honor God? Am I still passionate about the old thing? Am I becoming passionate about something new? Does this fit who I’m becoming, who God wants me to be? You can always trust that God will never leave you, and that any decision you make He will always catch you, even if it’s the wrong one. To avoid making the wrong decisions, we can pray and fast before making it. The important thing is we must recognize that God is in full control of our businesses. If we walk into His office and he gives the orders to shut something down, we must have faith that He has something much bigger planned, and that we are equipped to handle it. Godpreneur Rule #78: Godpreneurs see shut doors as wide-open opportunities for new devine appointments. #BusinessBibleStudy #EnhanceFocus 3 Steps to Launching a God-Centered Business Instead of reading the blog posts, take the video course!  I personally teach you the method.  You get: Workbook 6-Video Teachings Access to 21 other courses in the Godpreneur Academy! Heard of the Godpreneur Academy? Grow Your Business, God’s Way! Bible-Based Video Courses for Entrepreneurs Putting God First In their Businesses Click here to create a Free Account

The other day a friend of mine was calling for career advice. He has a cushy 9-5 position but wants more. He’s tried flipping homes and selling insurance on the side. Neither has worked. So I began probing and asking deeper questions about purpose and passion. When I asked him what he did at his job, his voice and energy changed. Come to find out the guy is a genius at his job and they rely on him to troubleshoot major problems when computers and servers go down. I was on to something. I recommended that he see his current job as an entrepreneurial venture, invest in himself, and continually seek out better contracts in his space. He had an ‘ah-ha!’ moment and said the words that I love to hear: “Alex, how do you do what you do? You’re a freaking fortune teller or something like that.” I told him I can’t take any of the credit, that God has blessed me with the calling to help others find their ‘born to do identity’ and that we are all called by God to help others for his greater purpose. We Godpreneurs have the ability to be a light for others to see God in us. This guy thought I was a fortune teller, but I quickly corrected him and said that that was God within me. We can either take the credit or give the credit to where it’s due. God hopes that you’ll give the credit to Him because it will ultimately bring more people to Him, which is His main purpose for us. The Bible says: "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16 NIV God’s ultimate plan for your entrepreneurial life reaches beyond the visions he’s given you for your business. He has positioned you in your industry as a singular point of light. You’re an influencer in a world that desperately needs to see something divine, something that is clearly not of this world. Above and beyond the achievements associated with your gifts and talents, he wants to draw people to himself. Our entrepreneurial visions are means to a greater end, namely the glory of God and the salvation of men and women. This is His ultimate objective, His ultimate desire. Imagine if our biggest prayers were that God would continue to make our light shine brighter for all the people around us to know Him more. Instead of praying for financial blessings or problems to go away (you can still pray that too), what if we also included a prayer to be a stronger light? If we’re obedient to God’s ultimate calling (to be a light), don’t you think that it will produce more blessings and favor from God? Godpreneur Rule #49: Our success is accomplished with the help of God and we are here to be a light to the world and give the credit to God. #StrengthenIntegrity #ArticulatingMyIdeas #ShareYourTestimony

I’ve been making websites since 2005.  I’ve been through all types of coding languages and website builders.  I’ve made over 250 websites in my career….and counting. I’m always in search of the best website platform for small businesses. What I’m about to write below isn’t a promotion for Wix.  Even though they do pay me to send them business, I’m writing this article because I myself made the switch from WordPress to Wix for me and all of my clients.  I didn’t do it because they pay me.  I did it because it’s literally the easiest website builder on the planet, and I can launch businesses in HOURS using it. Yes….hours.. 7 Reasons Why Wix is the Easiest Website Builder for Entrepreneurs Thinking about starting a business? Or maybe you’re sick of your old website and you’re thinking about a new site? Undergoing a website build-out can be one of the most FRUSTRATING experiences for an entrepreneur.  Regardless of it being your first or 2nd website, you could end up hating the website developer and hating your website. I believe this happens because we dream way too big for our websites at the beginning. I always coach my entrepreneurs that we first need to put up a 1-page website that is the why, who, what, when, where of your product or service. Enter Wix.com. Wix is one of the easiest and most popular website builders on the market today, which is why we included it in this guide. However, there are a few key factors that keep it from being our recommended website builder for small business owners. Ease of Use: Wix is one of the easiest website builders to use on the market today. The website builder prompts you to choose the type of business website that you want to create, and then it suggests layouts for you to use.  To move something, you just click it, drag it, and drop it anywhere on the page. To edit text you simply click on the text box, hit “edit,” and then change the text. If you start getting into adding a bunch of unique apps, then it gets a little more complicated. But, in general, Wix is one the easiest website builders out there to use. Hosting and Custom Domain: Wix hosting and custom domain options are great. With Wix, you will also get free hosting for the entirety of the time you have your website.  You will get a free custom domain for one year and the renewal rate is $19.95/yr after the first year. You can also connect your custom domain for free with all of the paid plans. Number of Quality Layouts: Wix has over 500 layouts. The quality of these are fairly good, and any small business owner should definitely be able to find a layout that suits their business.  The layouts make creating a website super easy, since all you need to do is choose one and replace the images and text with things that are related to your business. SEO – Wix allows you to edit page meta tags, page names, and much of your basic SEO musts. Mobile Friendliness – Wix’s themes are responsive, meaning that they will adjust to fit the screen size of any device. Wix also has a specific mobile editor where you can tweak what your site will look like on a mobile device. Ecommerce: Wix’s online store is also well designed. You can integrate with a lot of different payment providers like PayPal, do coupon codes and discounts, calculate taxes, and save shipping profiles, all with no additional transaction fees. Wix’s checkout is protected with an SSL. Blogging: Wix allows you to write posts, schedule automatic posts, and connect with social media. What’s cool too is readers can leave Facebook comments at the bottom. Want to start using Wix for free today?  Visit www.wix.com. #MarketingMyServices

I had to curb my enthusiasm for social media recently. I found myself going on just to see how many people liked my photos. I spent little time actually looking at the feed and most time in my own feed. Why is that?  I guess I judge my popularity by likes. We entrepreneurs can tend to do this, especially if we’re doing heavy marketing. It’s all about email opens, likes, followers and reviews, right? Although those things are great indicators of “connecting” your message to your audience, we must be careful to not let it DEFINE us as ‘who we are’. God forbid one campaign doesn’t work and your life comes to a screeching halt for a day or two as you recover from the blow on your self-esteem. To become a Godpreneur, we must take on a new identity. This new identity seeks it’s approvals and popularity from one source: God. It can be tempting to let what others say about us define who we believe we are and where our businesses can go. But that’s not where our identity comes from. As a Godpreneur, you are not what others say and think you are; you are what God says and thinks you are. The Bible says: "But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV You are not on your own; you belong to God. You are His, and always will be. Some clients, vendors and even employees will always look at us on the outside. They’ll think who we are depends on how many clients we have and whether we’re landing big accounts or not. But God looks at our hearts, and we’ll only have peace when we believe who God says we are: His amazing creation that He loves. Who are you trying to please in your business, God or man? While it’s important to please our clients, trust me that our clients would much rather be working with someone or a company that is ‘true to themselves’. The Bible says: "Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10 NIV Did I get teased for changing my business identity from the nightlife? You bet. People closest to me thought it was a dumb move, and I’ve lost friends from it. And I still struggle with this sometimes. I still feel like I get teased behind my back for being Christian, and I do have a self conscious side that wants to be popular. I don’t always love who I am, and I do sometimes go on social media to feel good about myself. But now we know the truth, and our true identity will continue to set us free from the approval of man. Godpreneur Rule #29: Godpreneurs seek the approval of God alone in their businesses. #FindMyCalling #EnhanceFocus

Whenever there’s been a huge shift in the direction of my business life, there was always a short period of agony and pain. The frustration wasn’t so much about what had happened in the past, but more about not knowing what’s coming up. But the beautiful part about these periods has been the amount of time I get to spend with God and waiting for His directions for me. In 2014 I had a time when I shifted my entire business our of serving the nightlife industry. It was one of the darkest times of my life. Now that I look back though, it was an amazing time because I drew closer to God than ever before! In 2016 I had another major shift. Once again, a deep amount of uncertainty was met with frustration and pain, but it was a time where I drew closer to God and lining up my will with His calling. In a rapidly changing world with so many opportunities and distractions, we entrepreneurs face a challenge: move on to the next thing and not wait for instructions. We think that we know what we’re doing. We’ve even convinced ourselves that we’re doing God’s will. Entrepreneurs don’t wait, right? We attack. Action!  Hunt and kill. We have to bring back food for the family.  We think that nothing good will come from waiting. But what I’ve learned is that the most valuable time in my life has been the short season between one calling and the next calling. This is the season of alignment to God’s purpose for me and you. This season is the tune up for the next 50,000 miles on our engine.  It’s a very exciting time if we have the right attitude. That sounds great for you Alex, but how do we embrace the challenges of this changing time and overcome the RESISTANCE that wants to convince us that we can move on our own? The Bible says "Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world." James 4:8 NLT The times that you’ll do your most personal development is the “in between” time. Why? Because once it’s go time, it’s GO TIME!  A military doesn’t train during war. They train to be in the war!! In the battlefield for our attention, it’s no wonder God has to change things up on us. There’s a big enemy that wants to take you from opportunity to opportunity and not give you a chance to have some water. In entrepreneurship, you’re either in a time of expansion, waiting, or contraction. It’s a rollercoaster, and you’re either up, down, or steady and waiting for the next twisted turn. Instead of being depressed (which is what the enemy wants), you have to draw closer to God and be thankful for this time of intimacy. This is a time where you drop bad habits and bad people so you can move up into new levels with God.  It’s a time where God tunes the guitar to his melody. More often than not though, we are trying to fit God into our busy lives.  A waiting period has us realize that we’ve drifted and we need to come back to face north. God’s greatest desire isn’t for you to do things for Him, His greatest desire is to draw close to us.  When we allow God to take over all of us, He can then fulfill His calling over our lives. Godpreneur Rule #37:  In times of business uncertainty, Godpreneurs draw close to God. #TimeManagement #EnhanceFocus

I go through seasons in my business. I’m not just talking about the 4 seasons of summer, winter, spring and fall. I’m talking about the ups and downs, the lefts and rights, the expansion and contraction, the growth and decline. The frustrating thing for me is that you really can’t predict the seasons. Sure, there’s a day that summer starts on the calendar, but it’s not precise. We entrepreneurs want to know when the turn on the rollercoaster is coming. We wish that our businesses weren’t susceptible to the seasons, we wish this rule skipped over us. Share on Instagram The reality is that seasons serve two amazing purposes. Seasons make me 100% dependent on God.  Since I don’t know what’s next, I need God to guide me and walk beside me along the path. Seasons keep me changing and adapting to fit the wants and desires of the market, which are in line with the changes God wants me to make. Although seasons are awesome, they are still uncertain, and uncertainty kills us. Why?  Because we want to be God…we want to be in control…which is the original sin. In the last 11 blog posts I’ve been taking us on a journey through the book of Acts. Acts shows us the manual for expansion of the church, which I also see as how we can expand our businesses and our influence. In Chapter 12, the the Apostle James is beheaded by Harod, Peter is freed from jail by an angel, and Harod ends up being killed by God for thinking he’s God. None of these 3 central figures in this chapter knew what was coming, neither could predict that God was going to do something in their life, and ultimately, we don’t know when things will happen either. I’ll leave you with this amazing reality from Ecclesiastes 3: "There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: A right time for birth and another for death, A right time to plant and another to reap, A right time to kill and another to heal, A right time to destroy and another to construct, A right time to cry and another to laugh, A right time to lament and another to cheer, A right time to make love and another to abstain, A right time to embrace and another to part, A right time to search and another to count your losses, A right time to hold on and another to let go, A right time to rip out and another to mend, A right time to shut up and another to speak up, A right time to love and another to hate, A right time to wage war and another to make peace." Godpreneur Rule #75: God determines the seasons of my business, there is no better place than under his providence. #WorkLifeBalance #GainConfidence

I’ve learned an amazing skill that I want to share with you today. There are times in our entrepreneurial life where the problems and attacks are going to come from many directions. For example, not only do you have problems in the business, but also problems at home. It’s not just the lack of funds to pay your contractors, but it’s the lack of love and support from your spouse. Can I encourage you? God is setting you up for amazing things when the attacks get heavier. I’m reading Acts 23 and here is Paul, the most decorated and stories apostle, he likely sits right next to Jesus in heaven because this man is a LEGEND! You would think that he lived an amazing life if he’s such a man of God. Nope. Instead, second to Jesus, he pretty much suffered the same exact treatment and persecution, even eventually got killed for his faith. What I love about Paul is his faith, always looking beyond the reality of his current situation, and staying focused on the real-life that was in him, a life that became more alive the more he was persecuted. Paul knew that he need not be anxious about anything, because God, the Almighty, gave him life and no man could snatch it from him apart from God’s will. Do we Godpreneurs have this same confidence? Do we fret and fear in the face of the ups and downs of our business and personal lives? Do we trust our own strength and resolve to make our way in the world. Remember, it is God who gives us our identity, our joy, our happiness, and our freedom. No power, human or spiritual, can snatch us from His care. Though we Godpreneurs may be afflicted, perplexed, and persecuted, we can yet walk in hope, joy, and confidence, knowing that we are accomplishing the job that God has set out for us to do. Godpreneur Rule #34: Godpreneurs see conflict and persecution as a sign that we’re doing the right thing. #FindMyCalling #FindingMyPurpose #SharpenLeadership

My company makes logos and websites for clients.  There’s a clear beginning: you give me deposit, I’ll start.  There’s also a clear end: you pay your final bill and I hand over the working website. Clearly there are hundreds of other steps in between that need to happen in order to satisfy the client, and even some opportunities to go above and beyond and deliver a wow experience. I’ve had clients begging me to keep working with them after we’re done.  I’ve had other clients not pick up my calls anymore because they want to hear nothing about me ever again. I began to analyze what were the differences between both experiences, and what could I have done differently. We all want our clients to talk great things about us, be happy with our service, and feel like they got everything they paid for. Although we can’t please everyone always, I feel there are things we can do to be working towards 100% satisfaction. In the book of Acts chapter 20, Paul is saying his final goodbye’s to certain cities that he preached at.  He knows that his time on earth is coming to an end and that this could be the last time he sees people. He spends as much time as he can with them, keeps teaching and healing until the final moments, and as he’s leaving, they are crying. The goal in the end is that your client is practically CRYING because it’s over.  They wish it could continue, they will miss the time spent together, they will tell others about their experience. In order to create this outcome, I’ve discovered a couple of keys to consider. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.  I’ve had moments in the middle of a project where I thought I was going to get fired.  But we course-corrected, made up for the problems, and over-delivered in the end.  Clients will forget what happened at the beginning and middle as long as they get what they wanted in the end. Over delivering:  it’s important to give clients more than what they paid for.  I love the Baker’s dozen.  The Baker throws in an extra bagel or two.  You paid for 12, but you get 13 or 14.  That feels great Everytime.  It never gets old.  I always feel like I’ve been over delivered. Life changing: your service needs to do one of 4 things.  It needs to either help your client save time, save money, learn a new skill, or provide them clarity in their life.  If you can nail this, you’ve got a client for life! You and I have the ability to do this in our business. But we really have to CARE that our clients experience our product or service, and you have to believe that what you have will help them and that you were born to bring this service to them. We have to feel called, purposed to do this.  Having a calling for it will force us to create the meticulous tasks and process that it takes to creating a crying experience! Godpreneur Rule #76: Godpreneurs look to create a life-changing experience for their clients. #BusinessBibleStudy #FindMyCalling

I go through seasons in my entrepreneurial career. There’s a season where I expand on my ideas and bring them to life. Then there’s a season where I’ve pulled back on the expansion to hunker down on what I have in front of me and I'm waiting on the next move. But I get frustrated in the season of waiting. I’m not done with all the ideas I want to bring to life. I have the plans all written out, the right people to call, and the enthusiasm and determination to get them done, but something is saying “wait”. (And one time I ignored the call to wait and lost a whole lot of money.  That’s a different story for another blog post.) We entrepreneurs are visionary, which makes us impulsive at times.  We’re very connected to the spirit, that inner ‘feeling’ or gut instinct that guides us. Sometimes our own desires get in the mix of the gut feeling and we rush into things prematurely. But what if this waiting period was actually meant to be a period of growth….inner growth. Maybe this is a time that God is calling you to be much closer to Him than ever before! I learned something profound while participating in a Bible study of the book of Acts. God had the apostles wait 10 days in Jerusalem after Jesus’s death before sending them out to spread the gospel. Acts 1:4‭-‬5 in the Bible reads: On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with  water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” The apostles knew the plan, knew what they had to do, but were commanded to wait. You may have these amazing plans of reaching so many new customers with your amazing product or service. Your offering might even be something ministry-related that will help the church so much! But God sometimes asks us to wait….to build us up, make us stronger, bless us with an anointing that we needed to receive or a lesson we needed to learn. We Godpreneurs can think that it’s all GO, GO, GO all the time, that there’s no time to waste, that we must ACT NOW! Can I share with you that the most growth I have done spiritually is in the season of waiting, hunkering down, stacking chips, refining my process, calling my customers more, providing more value, but most importantly, gaining more insight into the person of God…while I wait on His next move for me. Godpreneur Rule #16: We regard every day as a precious gift of time to spend in preparation for what He will do through us. #BusinessBibleStudy #SharpenLeadership

When I first started going back to church in 2008, it was with one foot in and one foot out. It felt good to go on Sundays and check church off my checklist of great ways to start my week. As I began to grow in my faith, I learned that in order to include God more in my business and find out what the CEO has in store for me, I needed to get to know Him more. I began reading the Bible in the mornings periodically. It started out with small devotionals, daily emails, and blogs like the one you’re reading. Eventually, that turned into wanting to read through the entire Bible. Then something incredible began to happen. I started to see the Bible as one big business book! It was like I was at Cornell all over again. Now, I read the Bible daily and God has an incredible message for me and my business every time. When we want to know things more, we spend more time with them. More time at the gym will lead to better bodies and health. The more we learn about diets and exercise, the more we begin to see our habits change and, over time, we become healthier as long as we stick to it. Some of us don’t have the habit of reading the Bible daily. I get it, I was there. Others have realized it and do it once in a while. Still, others haven’t connected their businesses and their relationship with God. Here is what I’ve learned: God wants to permeate our businesses and become the catalyst for our success as we look to grow and conquer. He wants us to prosper. He wants to lead the charge into growing your business beyond your imagination. He wants to fill your heart with visions that will take the rest of your life to accomplish. That’s the amazing business partner that we have waiting for us every morning. But this doesn’t happen by chance or luck. God has told us how this is going to happen. And today I’m going to share the formula you have to follow from this point forward if you’re serious about having your business succeed and prosper. I’m writing a parallel through the book of Joshua as it relates to us stepping into our entrepreneurial promised land. Joshua has been commanded by God to conquer the land promised to his ancestors. Joshua 1:5-9 says: “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” First off we are given assurance that God will be with us and ride with us during the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship. He knows that the journey won’t be void of battles and hardships, but He promises to stand with us. But then the word “only” comes into the picture. Here He wants to throw an asterisk and say that He wants to be by your side and give you victory, but you have to keep to the law He has set and meditate on it day and night. This may seem challenging at first, but it becomes easier over time when you purpose to develop the habit of daily reading. And then God says we will have success if we can keep to His laws. “For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” You can try to run your business on your own. Many, including myself, have gone out to fight the battle of growing the business on our own. You may have had success, but you’re likely burnt out and overworked. What would it look like if all Godpreneurs took God with them into every new business venture, every new negotiation, every new idea? What if we all took the time every morning to draw closer to God? If we can know that God wants to go with us and meditate on His word daily, we are setting ourselves up for prosperous and successful businesses. #WorkLifeBalance #FindMyCalling

I read a lot of motivational books, attend personal development seminars, and watch successful entrepreneurship videos.  Can’t I admit….its all a bit frustrating sometimes.  I know what I need to do, I’m pumped when I learn something new, but if I only had the TIME to implement it all. Wanting to implement everything I learn leaves me more frustrated because I know it takes time…time that I’ve convinced myself I don’t have. We can take the lessons from the last 4 posts on Overcoming Busyness in Business and get the same feeling.  Yeah, this all sounds awesome Alex, but its another thing on my ‘to do to be perfect’ list. Can I share something deeply impacting that I’ve learned over the last year:  God didn’t intend for us to be a ‘solopreneurs’.  He never wanted us to walk this journey on our own.  Instead, its made difficult on purpose – so we always rely on His help Philippians 4:6-7 says "Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." God wants us to 1) Not worry, and instead 2) Pray and ask God for help 3) Praise God for all he is, has done, is doing, and will do in your life. When God is our CEO, its not just to bark down commands to you.  CEO’s help their people grow, find solutions, work in the background to get things done.  That’s the ‘boss’ you work for!  He wants to partner with your success. When we develop our prayer life to God and lay down our wants and desires to grow into better Godpreneurs, God honors that and see our hearts are in the right place.  Your big growth is coming, in Jesus name! Let me pray for you: Dear God I thank you for the gift of entrepreneurship you’ve given us.  You’re the best boss we’ve ever had and we just want to please you.  Help us to overcome the lies of Busyness that can hurt our families, our bodies and our businesses.  We know we have a lot of work to do, so at this time we bring that to you, lay it at your feet, and trust that you will inspire us to bring the change you so desire for our hearts and minds to be the best Godpreneurs we can be.  In Jesus name! #TimeManagement #WorkLifeBalance