Hello Business Owner!

This is an exciting journey travelling down the road of faith-based business ownership. My initial post I mentioned that owning a business is like having a child, it takes prayer, it can be rewarding as well as stressful. You will have labor pangs like your grand opening, taking its first steps, going through the terrible twos, the cantankerous teens, and adulthood. A business must go through similar stages to become a successful faith-based business.

What is a Faith-Based Business???

According to Annie Pilon a faith-based business is a company that incorporates religious beliefs, values, or ideas. Or it can be specific to sharing its faith, as a Christian doctrine. Deeply rooted in faith, they may provide care for those in need and services promoted or evangelized by their faith.

A particularly important key to the success of the business is having a great business plan.

The business plan as I mentioned is your bible for the success of the business. it has your road map for how you want to run your business, and it is to persuade YOU and others that this business is needed and is profitable. The greatest misnomer is that a faith-based business is only non-profit. There are several for profit faith-based businesses, like Chick-fil-a or Hobby Lobby for example.

We will unpack each portion of the business plan over the next few blog posts, so I have decided to discuss three items per blog post to keep it simple enough for anyone to follow:

1. Executive Summary
2. General Company Description
3. Products and Services

Step One PRAY!

As a Christian, we are instructed to always pray. It is vital to seek guidance and direction for embarking on any new journey. The bible says to pray and A.S.K., ask and it shall be given unto you Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened unto you; Ask, Seek, Knock (Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9). Usually if a concept is mentioned more than once in the Bible, it is worth taking notice.

Your Business Plan

Once you have your answer through prayer, and have your vision, it is time to write your vision! Habakkuk 2:2-3 says to “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth 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. Your business plan is a visual manifestation of your vision.

1. Executive Summary

Your Executive Summary is what you would say about your business during a five-minute interview. It should be no longer than two pages. Most experts agree that this is the last item to be written because it is the summation of your business plan. It summarizes the detail explained in the other sections of the plan. It should explain the fundamentals of the proposed business:

• What will your product be?
• Who will your customers be?
• Who are the owners?
• What do you think the future holds for your business and your industry?

Executives will mention that your Executive Summary is a business version of an abstract in scholarly discussions, or a thesis statement in an essay. Most executives agree that it should be clear and concise, professional, and exciting. If you are applying for a loan or a grant, it should contain the amount needed, how you plan to use the funds, and how the money will make the business profitable.

2. General Company Description

Here are some items you will need to address in your Company Description:

• What business will you be in?
• What will you do?
• Mission Statement: Most companies will have a short mission statement, usually in thirty words or fewer, explaining their reason for being and their guiding principles. It is also known as the “Elevator Pitch,” which is what you would be able to mention to an investor during a short ride in an elevator.
• Company Goals and Objectives: Goals are destinations—where you want your business to be. Objectives are progress markers along the way to goal achievement. For example, a goal might be to have a profitable, self-sustained, successful company that is leading in sales, customer service, and that has a raving customer base. Objectives might be to achieve quarterly sales revenue points.
• Business Philosophy: What is important to you in business? How does your faith infuse with the business? Will you share your faith with others? Will the culture of your business be shared by your potential employees?
• Describe your industry.
• Describe your most important company SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats). These are factors that will make the company succeed or potentially fail! What do you think your major competitive strengths will be? What are the business’s weaknesses? What opportunities are available to secure growth Are there threats from competition?
• Legal form of ownership: Sole proprietor, Partnership, Corporation, Limited liability corporation (LLC)? Why?

3. Products and Services

You should describe in depth your products or services in this section. Here are some things to consider:

• What factors will give you competitive advantages or disadvantages?
• What is the pricing, fees, or structure of your products or services?

How you are planning to make money will be discussed in next week’s blog post, stay tuned!!!

References:

1. Published: Aug 16, 2022by A. P. I. S. A. (2022, August 16). 20 Faith Based Business Ideas. Small Business Trends. Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://smallbiztrends.com/2022/08/faith-based-business-ideas.html
2. Malsam, W. (2022, August 30). How to write an Executive Summary: A quick guide. Project Manager. Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/write-an-executive-summary