Markup and Profit Blog | We like to see the Good Guys Win!

God Needs Entrepreneurs

God needs somebody with enough internal motivation to get up at dawn, spend time in prayer, unlock the plant, work all day in production, lock up the plant, eat supper, then go to a school board meeting and make decisions until late at night. God needs entrepreneurs.

He needs somebody with arms strong enough to wrestle with an overloaded pallet cart, and yet gentle enough to cradle his own child. Somebody with enough trust and belief in employees to train them, nurture them, praise them, correct them, pay them, come home hungry, then wait for dinner until his wife is done doing tea with the ladies, then tell the ladies to be sure to come back real soon?and mean it. God needs entrepreneurs.

He needs somebody who can suffer, grieve, and lament without quitting. Somebody to sit up late at night balancing the books, only to discover he?s making a loss, then dry his eyes and say, ?Maybe next year.? God needs somebody who, when he over?extended himself, made mistakes, experienced failure, and made some bad decisions, could look in the mirror and blink twice, swallow hard, and feel the courage to try again. God needs entrepreneurs.

God needs somebody with enough endurance to, in the occasional crisis, finish a 40?hour week by Wednesday quitting time, and then come back in Thursday morning and finish the week out with another 40 hours by Saturday noon. He needs somebody who can envision something yet unseen. God needs somebody to take a risk, to think out of the box, to start with merely an idea, to write a business plan, and then convince the stakeholders that the plan is grand. He needs someone who can invent a new product, innovate a new process, inaugurate a new role, and initiate a hard discussion, and then come home and coo with the baby, cut?up with the toddler, care for the adolescent, cope with the teenager, and cuddle with the wife. God needs entrepreneurs.

He needs somebody with enough humility to trust a partner, seek advice from an advisor, and get counsel from grandpa, and tough enough to convince the banker, question the accountant, complain about the attorney?s rates, and pick up the phone and deal with the late payables, and, on the other hand, be soft enough to feel repentant about hurting someone, missing a deadline, and forgetting an appointment. Somebody who is also not too faint?hearted to lose motivation over a lost sale, a broken machine, a decline in the market, and an increase in interest rates. God needs entrepreneurs.

It has to be somebody who can cut to the quick and yet not cut corners. Somebody who could imagine, dream, discuss, plan, strategize, act, implement, collaborate, influence, convince, sell, buy, negotiate, lead, and follow. It has to be somebody who can inspire a family to work together with a generous amount of give and take; somebody who will laugh deeply and love generously, then sigh with contentment as his children learned to love work. It has to be someone who smiles and clears his throat when his family says that they are proud of what dad does. God needs entrepreneurs.

Merle Herr, Anabaptist Financial. Reprinted with permission

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