Business Principles from the Bible

Follow these principles for your success in Life and Business.
If you carry out a detailed analysis of the business world today, you’d find out interestingly that most of the prevailing practices in business have been derived from biblical principles. This means that the Christian is so advantaged; they should be calling the shots in all different areas of life. Christians in business, on jobs, in schools, in corporate Nigeria, should be on top of their game. However, and sadly so, the story seems a little different.

Branding ideas are found littered all over scripture. If I asked you what the color of the sky is, you would say it’s blue. That’s branding! If I asked you who made the sky? I am sure your response would be God. Now that’s our God, He’s a brand expert. Good brands travel far and in Joshua 2:10-11, someone in a different city testified that they have heard about God’s works, which He did in an entirely different city. That’s branding!  Customer service principles were developed following deep revelations from the bible, revelations about love, care, brotherly kindness, affection and genuine concern about the feelings of others. Value creation as a principle finds deep roots in the bible. When companies declare assets, reveal their financial standing or carry out audits, they are only following scriptural principles of integrity, honesty, dedication and stewardship.

The question we should ask then is if core business principles were developed based on revelations from scripture, why are some Christians not taking advantage of these things to guaranty their true success? The answer is not far. Many people, including Christians have been wired ignorantly and they set their ignorance on display at every slightest opportunity. This is the reason why I believe that one of the primary assignments that a Christian has is that they must constantly renew their minds, thereby banishing ignorance completely from their lives.

We all know that every few corporate organizations in Nigeria actually live up to the values that I have mentioned above. Very few firms in Nigeria can boast of quality customer service. Very few businesses can boast of having effective and efficient customer service or customer feedback strategies. Why is this so? Isn’t it true that some of these firms and businesses have Christians on staff? Isn’t it funny that some of these businesses are actually owned and run by Christians? Shouldn’t there be a difference? Take a close look at the industries in Nigeria, and you’d realize that very few have developed essential customer relations/customer service skills. I am not talking about a missions statement that highlights customer satisfaction as one of the company’s core values, neither is it enough to have it boldly displayed on the company’s website. Isn’t true that some people only patronize certain business for the lack of better options? Some fly certain airlines because they have no option. Some people use certain telecommunications companies because they do not have better options.


Solutions to these Issues

1.        Shift focus from the need to earn a living. Rather, see the need to create value. People will empty their pockets when value is created. We have to start living for the right reasons. If you are motivated by the need to make money alone, you may never make it. Money has a way of dissipating and it is obvious that the world’s wealth is transient. Businesses like Enron filed for bankruptcy because the leadership of the firm lost focus; became self-centered rather than customer centered. We must begin to look beyond making ends meet or making “our daily bread”. When our thought patterns are self-centered, we will not be able to look beyond ourselves, to see that there is a world around us, whose needs we should meet first. If you are a business owner, money should not be your motivation. Your motivation should be to create value first. If you can give people value, they will empty their wallets.

2.       Let Purpose and Passion Consume You. To be successful, you have to be driven by a purpose and passion that makes the paycheck insignificant. What is the motivation for waking up in the morning to rush to work? If they take out the monthly paycheck, will you still do the job? A deep sense of purpose and a passionate heart is very critical for success. Living life without this as your focus, will only give room for regrets and frustrations. Your ambitions or dreams should not be born out of many cares or worries as revealed in Ecclesiastics 5:3. If our dreams are born as a means to meeting our needs, we will find ourselves living without any real purpose or passion. Such people do not have the patience to stick with something and watch it grow.
At In-VISION (our personal development firm) we believe that academic qualifications and years of experience should not be the only criteria for selecting staff. If these are the only requirements considered, then we can make the mistake of hiring someone and giving them a title that does not reflect who they are in reality as individuals. It is a very dangerous thing to call someone something that they are not. Don’t call someone an “AIR HOST” when the person is naturally “HOSTILE”. When you call them something that they are not, you lie on them. We have developed a model to help companies hire people whose sense of purpose and passion can be linked with their job description. I do not understand why someone will respond to a customer in a harsh way. How is that possible? At our firm, we always tell people at interviews that if they have the slightest tendency of being hostile to a costumer, they are free to resign immediately.

3.       Make Customer Satisfaction your Priority.
It is very dangerous if customers only use your product because they have no option. This means that the moment they have an option, there will drop your product or service like a hot potato. It’s amazing how we lose sight of this simple truth in our everyday dealings. So many business owners think that branding is only when they have nice adverts, logos, color patterns and schemes. Branding is the manner with which you respond to calls. Branding is your people. Branding is your vision. Branding is ensuring that everything is consistent with what you want the brand to represent. Imagine having a receptionist wear your company polo and face cap and yet filing her nails and fixing her polish when she has someone she should be attending to standing right before her. She has successfully painted the picture that your company doesn’t care who walks in through the door.  Imagine for one how passionate Jesus is about you. He is so centered on you that He really does not think about Himself. The reality however is that He knows that when He gets a hold of you, He’d benefit greatly from having you as a son. First more people would come to know him through you, thus expanding His kingdom. Isn’t this the principle businesses leverage on for success?
   
4. Reward Customer Loyalty.
If a customer has been loyal to you, reward them for their loyalty. Develop creative ways to appreciate them for being loyal to your firm or business.

I could go on sharing. Sometimes we do not make use of the education that we receive. Some of the insights I have shared here are the same insights that they share at business schools where we pay so much money. The question is how much of the things we learn at business school do we put to work? Why is it that Nigeria has several well educated people, and yet, very few businesses thrive on some of the very basic principles I have shared here.

If you are a Christian and you have read this, determine in your mind to be different. Make up your mind to leave a job or profession if it does not satisfy you. Time is too short to be stuck on a job that does not satisfy you. Life is too short to live for a paycheck. There’s more to life than this. You may ask how then will I meet my needs and pay my bills. I’ll tell you how. Focus on developing your inherent skills and passion and you will realize that you’ll have something to serve to your world that will make the difference for you.

I hope you have been blessed.

God bless you.