Articles

We often think and strategize about how to make our business successful. But how much do we think about our personal response to success?

“God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble”. Humility is not bashful and shy. Instead, humble leaders reach out and invite feedback.

Most men in our generation leave their children pretty much on their own to make their way in the world.

The need for clear family‐business governance may seem a bit unnecessary. However, effective governance is essential to a healthy and enduring business.

The best idea to pursue is to take a problem you know exists, experienced by a large customer set you know how to reach, solved in a way you know how to solve, delivered by means you know how to...

Launch the best opportunity you’ve developed (from all of the ideas you’ve generated and evaluated) in the fastest, least-cost, and most creative manner possible.

There is hope for the less-capitalized entrepreneur: there are countless businesses that can be started with very little money. But there is a catch.

In addition to wealth generation and Kingdom impact, a family business can also reform the family economy and relationships.

This topic explores the What, Why, and How of Strategic Planning.

Our foundation of entrepreneurship will be made of three core business elements: business leadership, market need, and business planning.

Many of us work at and grow companies that function under less-than-ideal conditions. What is the ideal company?

We resist change—sometimes even when we can see imminent danger—because finding a new approach or a new method is too much work, too hard on our pride, or too risky.

To everything there is a season, and business is no different. Business owners and managers must learn about those various seasons and the need for diligent preparation.

Audits are unpredictable. You don’t know if or when they are going to hit you. Some audits are by random selection, and you just happen to be the unlucky one.

Have you ever looked at your business’s financial statements and wondered if there is something you are missing as you scan the numbers?

Risk is inherent to life itself, and has the power to stress as well as to bless each one of us.

Ethics includes characteristics like empathy, understanding, consideration for others, and most importantly, complete integrity and moral values.

The purpose of a cash flow statement is to show changes over a period of time, including how paying bills, buying inventory, and other things changes your assets and liabilities and impacts your...

You need engaged and happy employees if your business is going to be truly successful. Employees are a critical part of your business’s foundation.

Whether it is direct, indirect, or non-monetary, fair compensation and benefits are a key attraction that will keep your employees with your company for a long time.

The effects of our investment in employees go far beyond our businesses.

“I just want my kids to be happy and to get along.” Parents try to make sure their children are happy and get along in the family business, only to discover that the second generation is unhappy...

The complexities inherent to family businesses can lead either to creative energy and generations of profitability, or into a maelstrom of troubles and premature dissolution. Family businesses...

Compensation of family employees may create problems for family members in the business as well as those who are not. The journey of successful family business management and governance eventually...

To hire more strategically, site down and pla the key positions, list responsibilities for each, develop ideal profiles, create a proper compensation plan, and prioritize each position.

Most conversation comes easily and spontaneously, but when we need to address a sensitive issue, conversation can be very difficult.

Employees are not machines with nuts and bolts holding them together. Working with your people will be much more enjoyable if you learn to love them.

When you meet your partner, your employee, or your fellow worker on the other side, what story will you hear about how you changed their life?

Christ is glorified when men live out His commandments in their everyday working lives, and professing Christians who fail to do so bring swift reproach to Christ’s name.

Open, honest, and clear communication is essential when relating to each other, especially in a family business.

Avoid transition woes and family strife by early planning. Think realistically about your successor. Review considerations for a peaceful retirement. Smooth the difficult path for your family.

Continuous Improvement is the way to deal with obstacles in your business, but where to begin? You must first determine if you are trying to solve a problem or simply improve a process or ...

Does God give guidance for believers trying to conduct business operations in our complex, modern economy? The answer is a resounding “Yes!”

Everyone knows the classic American poem about a girl and her lamb, "Mary Had a Little Lamb." What can explain this poem's longevity and effectiveness?

A customer’s attitude about your business will directly influence how much he is willing to pay you—and whether he will even pay you at all. You can influence how your customers feel by giving...

An effective salesperson is one of the key forces behind every successful business. Before a purchase is completed, your customers will speak to an employee—a salesperson.

For many of us, the title "salesman" conjures up an image of someone who is smooth-talking, calculating, and deceitful.

You cannot create customer service by opening up floor space and installing a desk with an employee behind it. Customer service is an attitude within the company, and it speaks for itself.

Do you know if your advertising dollars are paying off? Or like John Wanamaker said, do you know that half of your advertising dollars are wasted, but you don't know which half?

Getting an effective marketing program rolling can be bumpy, but Roy Herr demonstrates a well-rounded approach. When all three parts of the marketing wheel—branding, lead generation, and lead...

Marketing today is more complicated than simply putting out a sign and displaying fruit or vegetables on a table at the end of the lane or at a farmers’ market. As Christians, we find ourselves in...

Our people have always been innovators: improving their tools, their techniques, and their situations.

Caring for your customers and letting them know that you appreciate their business is simply good manners.

Your marketing people should have an organized, functional toolbox from which they can pull the appropriate tools they need to get the message to the marketplace.

Clear messaging is the very heart and soul of effective marketing.

Are being good at business and being good at ethics mutually exclusive? We want our ethics to be part of our business values and practice.

“Know well the condition of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds," says Proverbs 27:23.

Too often organizations are over-managed and under-led. What characteristics do effective leaders possess? All leaders should work to develop the characteristics that make them more effective.

When Jacob Nisley started JN Pallet, located in Conneautville, Pennsylvania, in 1985, he did so with the purpose of growing a family business that would provide not just a means of livelihood but...

Why does the gross profit percentage shown on my business Profit and Loss report change from year to year, if the profit markup I use remains constant?

Building and maintaining a business driven by positive Anabaptist values is impossible without some support from like-minded men—men who have similar values and are on a similar path.

In our business, as in all areas of our lives, we want to be known as people who believe and practice kingdom principles.