I enjoy talking to older people, especially those who have experiences they are willing to share for the purpose of teaching others. I often make intentional decisions in group meetings or gatherings to sit near someone I know to be older and wiser so I can learn something from them. If you are like me in this, then you will love the following 7 crucial business principles.
7 Crucial Business Principles
Unfortunately, the following are business principles I have learned the hard way, through experience. If you will take them one at a time and consider each, you can learn them the easy way! Remember, just because each principle below has a fairly brief explanation, don’t be tempted to skip over it. Take each one and think it through. There is gold here! I am hopeful that you can avoid the trouble I had and skip right to the learning!
Business Principle #1 – Work IS Ministry
For the majority of my life, I have thought that I was either doing work or doing ministry, but never both at the same time. I have spent many years trying to balance my work and my ministry efforts. Unfortunately, I have been wrong all this time. The truth is that even my mundane tasks at work can be ministry.
The key is the purpose of the work. Our business’ mission is to honor God by impacting the lives of our employees, customers, and community. With that as our mission, any work I do on a day-to-day basis is helping to further that mission (Colossians 3:23). Because the heart of our mission is Christian ministry, my work in furthering that mission, through sustaining our business, is also ministry. Remember the next time you are creating or analyzing a report, signing checks, or running a meeting – you are also doing ministry!
Business Principle #2 – Change Takes Time
As I look back at some of my younger years, I realize how naive I was to think I could effect massive change in our organization in a short time period! So many times, I would lay out a plan for a new direction or initiative. I would include what I thought was a conservative timeline with various milestones along the way. I truly thought I was being realistic with my target dates.
The reality was that I was so far off base it was not funny. As I look back, it is more clear to me that the problem was not with the people in our organization, but with my timeline. I like change and can usually adapt to it fairly quickly. The same is not true with an organization. Do yourself a favor and allow for more time than you think is necessary when you plan for change. It will remove significant frustration for everyone!
Business Principle #3 – Communication Is Critical
It is easy to slip into the mindset that everyone you work with knows what you know or remembers what you remember. This is simply not the case. Even if you have told them before, their priorities are different than yours and it may have slipped their mind.
If you are in any way charged with leading a team, understand that constant and consistent communication is critical to your team’s health. If it is your job to cast and communicate the company mission and vision, then that is what you must do, day in and day out, without fail. Even if your job is not at that level, you must maintain a flow of information to your people. If you don’t, you will find your team failing before long.
Business Principle #4 – Calendars Are Self-Filling
If you do not fill in your calendar with your priorities, then others will fill YOUR calendar with THEIR priorities. This world is simply too fast and busy for you to leave your calendar open to whatever comes. If you do, you will find yourself working for everyone around you and never doing what you want, and need, to do.
My recommendation is to start with blocking off time well in advance for those most important tasks or priorities. Stick to these commitments and schedule other stuff around them. It will be tough initially, but you will get better at it as you begin to see the benefits. I promise, this is one principle worth addressing soon!
Business Principle #5 – Good Is Not Good Enough
I used to believe that when we made significant changes to align our business with God’s Word, people would begin to flock to our doors. They didn’t. Even people I respected and considered as friends chose to go elsewhere. This hurt and I took it personally, at first.
Then I began to realize the being “good” isn’t good enough. People will not patronize a business simply because it is run by “good” people or based on “good” principles. Chick-Fil-A is not successful because the Cathy family is “good”. Chick-Fil-A is successful because they operate incredibly excellent businesses with exceptional products and even better customer service. Being “good” is worthy, but business success requires you to go further.
Business Principle #6 – My Time Is Expensive
I used to believe that if something needed to be done and I could do it, then I needed to do it. See an incomplete task that I can do? Do it! Again, this is not the right mindset for success in business. Just because it is something I CAN do does not mean it is something I should do. Let me explain.
I need to focus my energy and effort on those tasks that ONLY I can do. I then need to delegate other tasks to someone with less experience, knowledge, or a more basic skill set. If I am doing these tasks, I am not able to perform the job that only I can do and the business suffers. Take a look at what you do on a daily basis. If someone else could do it for less, delegate it and free up time to do what you do best.
Business Principle #7 – Being Organized Is Cheaper
If time is money, then being organized saves me money. I used to have an office that looked like I was extremely busy! At least that is what I told myself at the time. I had stacks here and there with papers everywhere. Then I began to realize that this lack of organization was costing me time (and therefore money).
I took it upon myself to learn how to be organized. I started with David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done. I created a system for organizing my desk, computer, and office. It took time, but the investment has paid off in spades. I have been virtually paperless for years and my office reflects it. I now save time and energy because I have a system to find what I need when I need it.
Summary
I hope at least one of the above business principles has struck a nerve with you. I promise you that any one of them can make a significant impact in your success if you will take the time to understand it and make the necessary changes. I know you can do it!
Have you already learned any of these principles the hard way?
Which of these principles will you accept and act upon now?
Do you have any principles you would add to this list?
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