Mistake #1, of many – I was a young graduate engineer and was working  for a major oil company in mineral rich Wyoming.  I made a plan to create a second revenue stream, other than my paycheck.  I proceeded to secure a loan at the bank to purchase 100 head of cattle.  I thought I had sufficient experience from watching my dad as he purchased 600 pound steers, placed them in a feedlot, and let them grow to about 1,100 pounds.    In this approach, I would not need to even get my hands dirty because the commercial feedlot did everything.

WHAT a mistake. It was not that easy. I didn’t know what I was doing. In addition, my new bride would see me fail for the first time.  I remember going into our little bathroom, locking the door, and doing some silent crying because I was in a real mess.   After swallowing some pride, I was able to get out of the deal after losing a lot of money.  Based on that experience, I could have easily given up on this idea of multiple revenue streams.   But I became more determined to shake it off and try again.  From that time forward, I have normally had 4 or 5 revenue streams; not all big and not all producing on a predictable date but still producing.

Warren Buffet has been CEO for nearly 50 years at Berkshire Hathaway, an investment company that not only owns multiple companies, but virtually controls complete industries such as  railroads and newspapers.  When asked to share one of his keys for success, he said, “Don’t worry about making mistakes”.

Suggestions from my experience:

1. Try to keep the mistakes small –  Don’t risk big and consider what you would do if things don’t work out as  planned.
2. Don’t share too much – Resist sharing about my mistakes (other than at a much later date when you can share to help others avoid the same mistake).  I believe in prayer but I suggest sharing it privately with God instead of publicly discussing it.  In other words, don’t call the public prayer chain announcing your mistakes.
3. Ask questions and learn from other people’s mistakes – I have found people become very helpful when you ask them to share from their experiences.  The person that says they did not make any mistakes is well…. lying.
4. Learn from your the mistakes –  It seems that every mistake can fit into the education department of the “School of Hard-Knocks”.   You can learn a lot even though the tuition is quite high.

I think the biggest mistake a person could make, is to go through life and never find out God’s calling for their life.  I was blessed to discover that I was called to work as a self-funded minister in the marketplace.  It gives me great freedom and enjoyment to pursue this calling with all that the energy that I have.

What lessons or mistakes would you share to help another young entrepreneur or business owner?  Feel free to join the discussion in the comment section!

Would you like to share some of your life-lessons in a foreign land?  Would you consider going on a Business Mission Trip to one of these countries: Mongolia, Ecuador, Mexico, Egypt, Uganda, China, or other?

People magazine has named actress Sandra Bullock the World’s Most Beautiful Woman of 2015.   I certainly do not have anything against Sandra Bullock as I am sure she is a nice lady but this is just a magazine expressing an opinion.  And, many of us would rate physical attractiveness somewhere down on the list when considering important things in life.

Read this historical recording from the Bible about the opinion of the enemies of Jesus (the most important man to ever walk the face of the earth).

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him (Jesus), along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. (ESV)  Mat 22:15-16

Interesting that someone’s enemies would still share this type of opinion about Jesus:

1. You are true
2. You teach the way of God truthfully
3. You do not care about anyone’s opinion
4. You are not swayed by appearances

Wow, these are some powerful credentials.  This creates a water mark for me to measure myself to see how I rate.

One of the fun things l like to ask when talking with foreigners is, “What do people in your culture or nation think about America and Americans?” Here are some of their answers or thoughts:

1. Group of 6 Germans visiting Tulsa, Oklahoma – “Everyone seems to be in such a hurry.   Americans should slow down a bit and not take life so seriously”
2. University Student in Ethiopia while I was teaching a business class – “Why is America so successful?”
3. Ecuadorian business person – “We really like Russia and their leader, Putin.  And prefer some of the Russian technology over technology from the US”.

This is what I love about every trip and international person I meet.  I get to share about the experiences God has given me and then I also get to learn new perspectives from them.  The most profound experiences are always in the exchange.  

What are some of the life lessons you have learned on an international trip?  Feel free to add to the discussion in the comment section!

Whether it is People Magazine, a Bible lesson, or an international experience, the discussion of “who opinion counts?” is relevant.   What do you think?  Is it worth listening to other people’s opinion?  How much influence should other people have in molding our lives?

We need people like you to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Marketplace.   Please consider joining us on a Business Mission Trip by going to www.BusinessMissionTrips.org .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the last several years, the #1 request at the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce was, “When will we get a Chick-fil-A restaurant?”  Now that the store has been open for two months, the success is almost unbelievable. The assistant manager told me that starting from opening day, the two drive-through lines have been virtually full from 7:00 AM till 10:00 PM.

” If we get better,  then our customers will demand we get bigger” – Truett Cathy

My father, Aubrey Shotton, was a successful dry-land wheat farmer in Southeastern Colorado, farming more than 10,000 acres.  As a young boy, I remember over-hearing a phone conversation when dad was talking with a non-resident land owner.  This person called to ask dad to farm his land using a standard share crop lease.  In this type of agreement the land owner would only receive his percentage of the crop if dad could raise a crop.  If there was no crop then he would get no money.  My mother encouraged my dad with, “don’t take on more land, we are big enough”, but if I remember correctly, we got bigger.  Dad was unknowingly following this quote —

” If we get better,  then our customers will demand we get bigger” – Truett Cathy

I own a machine shop, Auto-Turn Mfg., Inc..  We have 70 employees and produce about one million per month in sales.  Our customers are very demanding because the parts we produce must be delivered “just in time” for assembly of the final product.   Our customers have consistently requested that we add capacity and diversify into things like gear making, precision grinding, welding, assembly, and other supporting services.  At one meeting with our biggest customer he required that I present him a written plan to add a significant number of  man-hours of capacity.   I believe this happened because we concentrate on our customer’s needs, we continually improve our processes, and we work hard to even lower our prices when possible.

” If we get better,  then our customers will demand we get bigger” – Truett Cathy

This fundamental law of business will work anywhere in the world, just like the law of gravity works anywhere in the world.  I want you to follow along this journey with me, whether you can go on a mission trip or not. For those that are in a position to consider going, we need you to share this truth and many more as part of a Business Mission Trip.   PLEASE JOIN US!  You will be blessed, the world needs you, and God will bless you!!

Almost exactly 9 years ago I purchased an existing  machine shop (Auto-Turn Manufacturing) from two men that started the business some 25 years earlier.  The business had some good customers, old machines, and 41 employees.  A common attitude and saying around the shop was, “if it ain’t broken don’t fix it”.  As the new owner, I brought a new culture centered around, “if it’s working good, we need to make it better”. Some changes included:  hiring efficiency experts,  installing new management software, purchasing almost all new equipment, expanding the building, and going to trade shows.   Weeding out the employees that would not make the necessary changes we needed to stay an industry leader in our area was probably the biggest change.    Now our culture is a one of “continual improvement” and everyone in the company is graded on their participation or lack of participation in this culture.

I have been involved in missions for more than 40 years and see some great strides in the way missions is evolving but I ask myself, “what is holding  us back?”, “are we even keeping up with the birth trends and able to reach the next generation?”,  or “can we do better?”.

“IF we could do one thing to help accelerate our missions efforts, what would it be?”

The answer to this question seems to be, “we must help the nationals (and churches)  in these countries become more financially self-sufficient”.  Don’t get me wrong, money is not everything, but it seems like the lack of money constantly holds back our progress.  Our old culture has our missionaries making their annual track back to the US to “drum up some more money”.   About the time they are “fully funded” something happens to a major contributor  and they find themselves short in their finances.   At the same time, international franchise businesses are looking to expand into these same cultures with the intentions of making a profit.     How can this be?

Is it possible that we are not sending enough businesspeople and professionals to help teach, mentor, and train?  We have all heard the Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day;  teach a man to fish and he can feed himself for life?”.

The strong churches in the USA are not just strong because the pastor can deliver a solid Sunday morning message, but they are strong because the congregation is filled with gainfully employed leaders in their fields and business owners that will stand strong on their Christian convictions. 

If you are one of these  business professionals or business owners, we need you.  Our Bible schools are not expected to teach their students about income statements, sales technics, marketing strategies, or how to write a business plan.

We need you, Businesspeople and Missionaries, to be partners together for the good of the Kingdom of God!  Come join us. Contact us, and let us help you see how you can take your next step.

Please share with us your thoughts.  What do you think that is holding back our mission efforts around the world?

Noelle and Bernard are the parents of three small children and live in Guadalajara, Mexico.    On a Business Mission Trip in February 2013 they were interpreters for our team and the interpreter gets a double dose of the message.  For the November, 2014 trip Noelle traveled to translate again and be with our team.  She shared this story with the audience. — Bernard was working as an architect but jobs were not flowing and even when he got a job, getting paid was difficult. This was causing problems in many parts of their life and relationships.   In the meantime, Noelle had fallen in love with a special grain bread at a local bakery and started working part time for the bakery owner.  At first her only pay was in trade for several loves of the bread that she loved.  Over time, the owner of the bakery decided he wanted to sell the bakery and approached Noelle about buying it.  Noelle was an obvious candidate because by this time she had taken over almost total responsibility for running the operation.

The problem was that Noelle and Bernard had no money, even for a down payment. The owner encouraged Noelle to borrow money from her dad and other relatives because he was very motivated to sell.    Noelle shared with the audience some of the lessons she had applied from the teachings and how she is now the owner of the business and has 5 employees.   The owner handled 100% of the financing and in about 6 months she had paid off about 50% of the purchase price.  It was great to hear her share some of these lessons she had learned from the 2013 teachings: – Be willing to start small in the ownership of your first business – Grow step-by-step because this allows the owner to learn at every level – Many times a business can start with little or no money invested – Chose a business you are passionate about  (at least really like the product or service you are providing) – Avoid borrowing money from relatives and friends – Avoid partnerships because most partnerships have little chance of being successful

Is the money we send helping or hurting?   Ultimately money isn’t the real answer but we can solve many problems by mentoring and encouraging the next generation of business leaders? Having interacted with many missionaries in all parts of the world, I have become pretty opinionated about how money should be used as we are in the middle of the End Time Harvest.  As Christian Businesspeople, we have a significant responsibility to be “givers” to the Gospel but I believe we have an even bigger responsibility to be “wise givers” along with bring the lasting resolution through business mentoring.   Sometimes it seems that we are extremely careful to spend money wisely in our homes and businesses but we seem to give money without feeling the same responsibility to know that the money is really making an impact.   We are making a mistake if we are creating Financial Dependency, Entitlements, and Hope-Someone-Will-Send-Me-Some-More-Money mentality. Share your experiences!  Have you seen good examples of using money that brought real and lasting changes in missions? We need you!  You are part of the answer! We need your help to train and mentor Christian Business Leaders all around the world.  www.BusinessMissionTrips.org