Scale Down to Start Up

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“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”- Zig Ziglar

Starting up a business may require you to scale down your big dream.

Don’t read into that.  I did not say it may require you to drop or dump your dream entirely.  I just said you may need to scale it down at the start to get things started.

You may need to slice it up into manageable pieces, so that you can get things set up and in place to advance to new levels, stages and phases.  I tend to favor a modular approach when I work with clients on programmatic funding or business planning, identifying phases where new components, services or features can be added based upon the state of the core business.  There it is.  I seem to have have given it away, but that should be the focus; your core business.  Scale things down to the core.  Get things down to the bare essentials and build from there.

I think Avon does an excellent job at providing a business model based on a similar cocnept.  You may like fashion or cosmetics, even costume jewelry.  Avon isn’t trying to get you to open a kiosk at the mall or storefront on Main Street.  The company provides each “Avon lady” with the essentials to the catalogs and ordering forms as well as support that allow her to experience success on a small scale and grow from there.  It is obvious that Avon’s core business is beauty products, not blue jeans or handbags.

Start out small, while continuing to think and dream big.  Post photos, sketches and anything else related to your dream above your PC’s monitor, on your car’s dashboard and taped to the fridge.  Keep it visible, but be sure to set things in order first. 

 

Don’t get tripped up that you haven’t accomplished or achieved the full dream yet.  Just get started. Get started right.  Get started doing the core business of your dream and build from there.

Providing Support, Promoting Success

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Dreamers Dream

“We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”- Max de Pree

God gave you a vision. (They don’t call them “dreams” any more, I guess.  I still get mine through dreams.)  Others go so far as to say that they have had a revelation from God.  I will not indulge an argument over the semantics and working definitions of any or all of these words.  However, I will share the simple fact that all require some form of response.  If it is believed to be something given from God, the Most High, the Almighty One, then the believer has a responsibility to respond.
Dreams can reveal to us what the Divine wants to do with us, either now or further down the road of time.
 
Jacob’s son Joseph had dreams that revealed his future.  He even went so far as to interpret the dreams of others while in prison and before the throne of the king of Egypt.  Joseph was a dreamer.
 
Dreamers need to recall their dreams.  Don’t let them become dead.  Keep your dreams alive with remembrance.
 
Dreamers refer to their dreams. Don’t be afraid to toot your horn.  Share and let others hear about your dream.  Keep it in mind as you draw closer and closer towards it becoming a reality.
 
Dreamers respond to their dreams.  Dreamers should eventually evolve into doers.  Be sure to have an accurate response.  Be sure to have an appropriate response.  Be sure to have an active response.

Providing Support, Promoting Success

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Planned Postings

But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness. -Proverbs 14:22 (NIV)

You are out there now. You have been trying it at tweeting and putting some new ideas out there via your site’s blog. Now you come to the realization that you need to approach your social networking and posting with a plan. The benefits are obvious. Blogging can lead to profits with Google AdSense and Amazon Associates. However, your plans can lead to love and faithfulness, too. People who follow you will need to have a reason for following you based upon what you provide and present through your posts.

• Planned posting should be viewed by concept. What you post should engross readers and followers in a conceptual idea. You may see this as the “categories” of your posts. If people are searching for content relevant to the church being missional or emergent, you should design conceptual postings that are related to the overall concept of changes within the modern church or church trends. Post content that identifies and explains various church trends in these modern times, keeping readers returning because of your relevance and resourcefulness on the topic.
• Planning your postings should include a design for content within your conceptual plans and outlines. As you outline your concepts and categories, keep your readers and followers in mind. Make your point and state your case. If you have a post that stretches beyond the average level of understanding or keeps people wondering if what you are saying matches their search results by mistake, you need to review and revisit your content outline and map. Keep your content easy to read (length and breadth) and simple to understand (knowledge). It it is truly a scholarly site, share that in the subheading with a tagline like: Scholarly and Seminary Studies of the Scriptures. That makes it clear before they read something out of their realm of understanding.

Keep your content and concepts in mind as you plan your posts. You can do an entire series on understanding salvation that spans concepts within the realm of soteriology with word studies, discussion questions for small groups or short anecdotes from your experiences working with people in street ministry. Explore the numerous benefits of planning your posts.

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Calendar Considerations

To everything there is a season…- Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)

 

Your calendar should not determine your actions. Use your calendar to distinguish your actions. You need to identify what time you need to plan and perform, even perfect, what you are are doing daily, weekly and monthly. Your calendar should include your quarterly and annual activities, too.

Your daily planner may work for identifying things to plan as well as things to perform. Franklin Covey and Day Runner make some great planners. As far as technology, I prefer using Google Calendar online as opposed to MS Outlook or any other program. Google Calendar interfaces with my Gmail account and offers me present reminders as well as collaboration with my contacts in Gmail or other emails. I just prefer it to other online and software alternatives.

Let your calendar help you keep up with appointments and assignments like meetings and special events. Schedule your daily and weekly activities in a monthly view. Print out copies of your next three months to get into view what are your regular meetings and activities as well as what special events and activities you have coming up on the horizon.

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Something to Hear and See

I was on www.tangle.com and I came across this trailer for Letters to God. The whole thing captures you fom its opening with a child contemplating whether you can see the stars from heaven. I’m not usually one to promote a touchy-feely film but I will say this touched me and moved me somehow. I am impressed with the quality of recent film offerings that have come out for people who truly believe in God and heaven, for those who live by faith.

The trailer can be viewed at Tangle.

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Ideas into Innovations

Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!

– Proverbs 6:6 (NLT)

Some people are full of ideas. Ideas just pop into their head all of the time. Inspiration and creativity spark inside their minds and they jot down something in a notebook or journal, even on their Blackberry or iPhone. They’re simply full of ideas.

I empathize with such people, for I am one of them. However, as I reviewed some notebooks from a few years back and got drawn in deeper and deeper into my own notes and ideas, I realized that I was full of ideas and need to convert more of my ideas into innovations. I would imagine that that’s the case with many others who share my flaw.

The Bible is full of verses that speak of productivity. Yes, I said productivity. Look at Psalm 1:3, John 15:8 and others that speak of fruitfulness, prosperity and service. Even as salt and light, we are called to produce something that leads to others glorifying the Father based upon what they see in us. Proverbs points out that the “lazybones” should look at the ant and take in the wisdom of such a creature who needs no supervisor or manager and is productive, being considered wise.

Here are some steps for converting your ideas into innovations:

• Find Initiative: Get an idea about how to get started, but by all means get started and soon.
• Focus Intensity: Keep your focus on doing and doing it right. Don’t get so intense that you get distracted or detoured doing other things. Keep your intensity focused on the right things.
• Fortify Infrastructure: Build beyond a “one hit wonder.” Dream about other ways to enhance or expand your idea. Broaden the scope of your vision and build a structure that allows for it to grow and expand into a possible enterprise.
• Formulate Innovations: Could your sermons become podcasts on iTunes or articles for online e-zines? Could you write a how-to article for your church or community newsletter on the topic? Could you blog or tweet regularly on related and relevant subjects centered around your idea? Think it out, and then plan it out. If you plan on going anywhere but where you currently are, you are going to need a map.

I pray that this is helpful to those who are full of ideas and inspired to convert those ideas into innovations.

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Envision the Vision

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained…- Proverbs 29:18 (NASB)

Can you see it?

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.- Habakkuk 2:3 (KJV)

You should be able to visualize the vision. Let your mind run wild with mental pictures and images of what God wants you to do and what He wants to do through you. This image will help you put the vision in writing for others.

Can’t get others to see it?

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent– Acts 18:9 (NIV)

Put the vision in writing and in a visual. Take your trustees to that plot of land. Have someone create a sketch of what your new community center and worship house will look like upon initial completion. Make it simple and safe for others to catch the vision.

Where do you see yourself in three years? Or, how about five years? Get clear on what is included in the picture. Who is there with you? Are you beaming with pride or looking intently at the next opportunity over the horizon? See what condition you will be in at that phase of the journey. Keep the picture in mind.

 

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. -Serenity Prayer

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