7 Tips For Your Business From Jesus Christ Part 1

No, Jesus of Nazareth is not a guest blogger for Universal Cargo Management, but much can be learned from the life of Jesus that could be applied to your business.

“I must be about my father’s business,” Jesus famously says in the book of Luke. And business thrived. Jesus was highly sought after in his day. His reputation spread from city to city. Even 2,000 years after walking the earth, Jesus is a household name internationally.

Whether you’re a Christian or not, Jesus’ success cannot be denied. So if yours is a big, international business importing and exporting cargo around the world or a small local business, take a moment to consider the way Jesus did things. His success could lend to yours.

For the sake of this blog, we’ll refer to Jesus’ life in terms more relatable to business. For example, we’ll call Jesus’ ministry His “business” and His disciples His “team” or “employees”.

1. Jesus prepared for “business”.

Success in business takes strategy, planning, preparation.

Jesus spent time preparing for business. The Luke quote above where Jesus says, “I must be about my father’s business” comes from a story before Jesus started his business. His parents were looking for Jesus and finally found him in a temple among “industry leaders”, asking and answering questions, preparing for business.

Especially for people with entrepreneurial spirits, there’s the temptation to jump right in and get started without taking the time to really analyze, prepare, and develop the best possible business plan.

Jesus knew the “industry literature” backward and forward before going into business and had a clear plan and objective that He was able to share and lead His “team” by.

Before you launch your next business venture, take the time to really prepare. This way, you’re setting yourself up for success.

2. Jesus made sacrifices to fulfill his vision and make his “business” successful.

Your business starts with you. Making it successful takes time, hard work, and personal sacrifice. No one understands personal sacrifice more than Jesus, but I’m not just talking about the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made of dying on a cross here.

There are sacrifices to be made in Tip 1 above, preparing for business, but the sacrificing doesn’t stop in the preparation.

Jesus made sacrifices after starting His business. “…the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” He went from town to town, city to city, growing his business. Jesus sacrificed having a nice home in Nazareth for the good of his business.

I’m not saying you should be homeless if you want to succeed in business. But instead of spending all of what you earn on yourself, you may want to reinvest capital back into your business to help it grow.

3. Jesus deligated, sending his disciples out to do tasks.

You can’t do everything. To stick with the Jesus theme, let’s say you’re a carpenter. If you’re handling the details of importing wood from around the world, advertising, making sales to customers, shipping products to those customers, and so on, you’re going to burn out. On top of that, you’re limiting the growth of your business.

Jesus gave His team tasks rather than doing everything Himself. Sometimes the tasks were small like going into town and bringing back a donkey. Sometimes the tasks were much bigger, sending team members into towns to prepare the place for Jesus’ coming.

With His team taking on different tasks of the business, Jesus was able to focus on the things that best deserved His attention.

Imagine the time you’ll be able to spend building great furniture if you have an employee working with a freight forwarder to take care of the importing of the wood and the exporting of your products instead of handling all that yourself.

4. Jesus trained people to do His work when He was gone.

Jesus really invested in His team. He hand picked disciples and personally trained them for His business. Jesus then did not need to be present for business to carry on.

In fact, it was Jesus’ team that spread Christianity throughout the world that still grows strong in the Christian church today.

For you micromanagers out there, this may be the biggest place you can focus on growing your business.

Empowering your team could be the biggest thing for expanding your business and giving it a legacy.

Jesus empowered His team members to perform miracles, preach, and further grow the team. It took serious time investing in them.

When you think about your team or employees, you may want to think of them as your greatest assets. Invest in them and see if it doesn’t yield strong results.

Tips in part 2 of this blog will include how Jesus fit inside His industry and what we can learn from His business about customer dealings in our own.

To be continued in 7 Tips For Your Business From Jesus Christ Part 2…