If you are interested in becoming a successful entrepreneur and a better person as a whole, read on.
I am a Christian, so please allow me to kick off with a parable from the Bible – I promise, I’ll get to the point fast :)
Keys in becoming a successful entrepreneur from the parable of the bags of gold
In my early days of my entrepreneurial journey, this parable has help me gain better understanding on how to be a good entrepreneur and why successful entrepreneurs share common traits that can help them to be more successful than the other entrepreneurs.
The parable of the bags of gold (Matthew 25:14-30 NIV) is about a man – a master, if you like – who is about to embark on a journey and called his trusted servants to take care of his wealth. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag.
A servant who had received five bags and two bags put their money to work and gained five and two more bags, respectively. However, the one who received one bag dig a hole in the ground and hid the money there. He did so because he thinks his master is a cruel person – harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
His master was angry and took the money and gave it to the one who has 10 bags of gold.
Lessons learned
Of course, the “master” here is referring to God. You see – God blesses you according to His riches and glory; so it’s your job to take care of them and grow them accordingly.
You know what I love about the Bible? It can make you a better person, as well as a better entrepreneur. The Bible provides us with practical tips. From the parable of the bags of gold, here are the 3 lessons learned:
1. Put your money to work
The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more – Matthew 25:17 NIV
This is an amazing verse; God tells us a secret to entrepreneurship: You should work on your business, not in your business.
You need to leverage your resources so that you are not creating just another job with your business; you need to outsource, delegate to your trusted employees and create a system that allows your business to function with or without you.
In short, you need to put your money to work; not you.
When you are successfully do so, you can increase the speed of return of your capital investment without actually spending more time working on your business – sounds good to me…
2. Stop nagging and whining!
But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money – Matthew 25:18 NIV
Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ – Matthew 25:24-25 NIV
This is probably the most important key that will unlock your entrepreneurial success… stop ranting, nagging and whining and start putting your money to work and doing what’s necessary to thrive your business.
You know what most people do when the recession hit or the Government passes unfavourable laws? “Aw, come on! It’s not fair!” “We will never be able to get our business on track – the Government sucks!”
Many entrepreneurs do so; many employees do so; no wonder many won’t be able to get out of the rat race and achieve great success…
Why don’t we look at things from the positive side? Why don’t we work hard to find solutions when facing business issues, instead of blaming others?
3. Your business opportunities could be taken away by your competitors
So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. – Matthew 25:28-29 NIV
Do you know what happened if you nag and whine a lot? Your mind is full of rants and displeasure – you will be full of negative thoughts (negative energy or vibe, if you like); you will start to let great business opportunities slip away right in front of your nose, because you simply don’t have time to seek opportunities and think creatively; you are too busy ranting!
More aware competitors of yours will certainly benefits and profits from your situation, leaving you in the dust. What a shame…
So, there you go… three practical keys to help you in becoming a better entrepreneur. The question is, WILL YOU TAKE ACTION TODAY?
Ivan Widjaya
I stop nag and whine – I hope you will, too!