The Christian Entrepreneur: Dream, Plan, Execute, Grow

By Brock Shinen

The road to launching a successful business can be long and confusing. Where do you start? Should you rent office space or work out of your garage? Should you register as a for-profit or a nonprofit business? How should you handle legal issues that come up? What does it mean to be a "Christian" entrepreneur anyway?

Drawing from his work as a legal expert and business coach, Brock Shinen combines practical wisdom and a biblical worldview to help Christians turn their dreams and passions into viable businesses. This easy-to-use guide includes self-assessment tools that will walk you through four stages of starting and running a business:

Assess and clarify your dreams
Turn those dreams into an actionable plan
Implement and execute your vision
Grow your business while keeping your faith and character at the center

Be inspired and encouraged as The Christian Entrepreneur helps you through every stage of your journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781493422630

Book preview

We’ve known Brock Shinen personally and professionally for more than twenty years. He has been a trusted adviser to our entire family of businesses. Brock has steered our business straight countless times and also helped us win a legal battle against one of the largest retailers in the world.

—John and Mike Anderson, founders, Anderson Brothers Design & Supply, Tankfarm & Co.

Shinen brings refreshing and practical straight talk on how you can start and grow a Christ-centered business, demonstrating the excellence, wisdom, and pure goodness of God in the marketplace.

—Shae Bynes, founder, Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur

Brock’s advice has been crucial to my career as an artist. I’ve often relied on him to navigate the complexities of the music industry. I’m grateful for his guidance and perspective as a believer and would encourage any businessperson to dig into the principles of this book.

—John Mark McMillan, singer-songwriter

Brock has a unique ability to distill complex topics into simple, easy-to-implement steps, and his book for entrepreneurs is no exception. Having spent a significant amount of time in and around a variety of business environments, I’m well aware of the risks and failure points that so many entrepreneurs face. Brock takes a methodical, calculated approach to breaking down the timeline of a business’s origin, from idea through growth, and shares his war chest of tips, experience, and action steps. I’ve worked with Brock and have seen him in action, and I can see that this book captures his knowledge and experience in a way that few books could. If I were dreaming about starting a business, or anywhere on my entrepreneurial journey, I’d want this book in my hand.

—Miles McPherson, author, speaker, and pastor

Brock is a man of the law and a man of God with a rare gift as a strategist. If you have an idea for a new or existing business that you want to take to the next level, while carrying the heart of the Father—get this book.

—David Noroña, cofounder and director of the studio division at Bethel Media and cofounder of Bethel Conservatory of the Arts

© 2020 by Brock Shinen

Published by Bethany House Publishers

11400 Hampshire Avenue South

Bloomington, Minnesota 55438

www.bethanyhouse.com

Bethany House Publishers is a division of

Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan

www.bakerpublishinggroup.com

Ebook edition created 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Control Number: 2019950006

ISBN 978-1-4934-2263-0

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Scripture quotations labeled NKJV are from the New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

All dates, place names, titles, and events in this account are factual. However, the names of certain characters have been changed in order to protect their privacy.

Cover design by Brand Navigation

Author is represented by The Fedd Agency

Tammy Shinen, the love of my life, you inspire me to achieve, grow, learn, and dig into the deepest parts of myself. Your love, support, and encouragement for me is without limits, and I’m forever grateful for you. You helped me think out this book and all the ideas whirling around in my head. Thank you for building a future with me.

Tristen and Sienna, my children, my heart beats with you, and I hope to build a legacy for you to walk in. Watching you grow up is what inspires me to walk boldly into the future. I pray my words draw you closer to the heart of God and closer to your own dreams. Never stop pursuing what makes you come alive! I love you both forever.

Contents

Cover    1

Endorsements    2

Half Title Page     3

Title Page    5

Copyright Page    6

Dedication    7

Prologue    11

STEP ONE: DREAM    17

1. The Making of a Good Idea    19

2. The Foundation: From Good Idea to Viable Business    33

STEP TWO: PLAN    53

3. The Vision: Making a Business Plan    55

4. Planning for a Financially Sound Business    67

5. Building the Right Team    81

6. For-Profit versus Nonprofit    93

STEP THREE: EXECUTE    101

7. Customer Engagement    103

8. The Legal Landscape    115

9. Everything You Need to Know about Disputes    121

10. Negotiation Skills    135

STEP FOUR: GROW    151

11. The Values of a Christian Entrepreneur    153

12. Growing Pains    169

13. A Christian Entrepreneur in a Secular World    187

Epilogue: Ten Commandments for the Christian Entrepreneur    201

Appendix A: Sample Business Plan    209

Appendix B: Sample Budget Worksheet    213

Acknowledgments    217

About the Author    219

Cover Flaps    221

Back Cover    222

Prologue

HAVE YOU EVER HIRED a Christian business and been disappointed by the product or service they delivered? Or maybe you’ve worked with a secular business and wished they could have had a little more grace when you couldn’t make a payment on time?

As Christians, we want the Christian benefits of grace, forgiveness, and conciliation even in the secular marketplace, yet in that marketplace those attributes are often viewed as counterproductive to making money. We Christians, then, tend to see the secular marketplace as a cold, harsh, unforgiving landscape driven primarily by the desire for as much profit as possible.

On the other end of the spectrum, we adore the fact that Christian businesses and business owners understand our relationship with God, pray with us, and empathize with our personal trials as we walk together in Christ. Yet when it comes to receiving consistent, high-quality products and services from these same Christian businesses and business owners, we can be disappointed and frustrated. It seems our choice is too often limited to either a Christian business that loves Jesus but renders lackluster performance or a secular business that delivers stellar performance but is ready to take us to court over a single misstep in the relationship.

Yet plenty of businesses and business owners believe you can operate a competitive, successful, marketplace-savvy enterprise and do so in a way that has God’s fingerprints all over it. The sad reality, however, is that if you want to own or operate a business that embodies godly dynamics and is highly successful, profitable, or simply excellent at what it does, only limited resources are available to show you how to get there. It’s also an area systematically misunderstood by the church because the church wasn’t designed to teach us competitive business practices.

That’s where I come in.

I’m fortunate to work with some of the best entrepreneurs, ministries, and organizations in the world, and I’m equally fortunate to work with countless others who have both passion and a good idea. The connection point for me is guiding them all toward prosperity in the context of healthy and godly business practices. After all, what motivates me as a believer, an attorney, and a strategy consultant is to superimpose God’s kingdom over the marketplace.

During the year immediately before I launched my law practice, I asked God for what I thought was somewhat innocuous. I asked Him to always allow me to keep one foot in His kingdom and the other in the world. In practical terms, I was asking for the ability to represent the wider church (Christian-owned businesses and ministries as well as churches) and also the world (secular businesses and nonbelievers). The strange thing was that I wasn’t even sure why I was praying for that type of law practice; I just felt a pull toward both areas.

I was raised in the church; my father was a pastor, and my mother was a worship leader. It felt normal, then, to lean into the broader church family. On the other hand, I was drawn to the Great Commission and understood the need for Christians to demonstrate Jesus outside the walls (and safety) of the church building, particularly in the business marketplace. I suppose you could say that as much as I wanted to support the church with my expertise, I also wanted to bring Jesus into my professional practice and interactions with nonbelievers. The sick are the people who need the doctor, right?

It wasn’t until about eight or nine years after starting my law practice that I began to realize how vital my initial prayer had been. Or perhaps it wasn’t so much my prayer as it was what God had planted in me. I’ve become a cultural translator. I’m a professional who understands how to function competitively in the secular marketplace while at the same time maintaining a deep connection with Jesus, which permeates everything I do. It’s not enough to say that I practice law with integrity or that I’m an honest Christian attorney. Rather, no matter who I work with and in what capacity, those people and organizations experience the love and power of Jesus Christ because He resides in me in a way that can’t be hidden. His presence affects every bit of advice I give. At the same time, I’m truly good at my profession, and that’s where the intersection of career and faith gets interesting.

More important, however, is that I know why I can both showcase the love and power of Christ and excel at my work—only by God’s power and a deep commitment to learning. I also know how—by submitting all my plans to the Lord and relying on Him completely. Without God, I can do nothing, but with Him, I can accomplish anything.

You can too. That’s what we’re here to talk about.

Disclaimer

MUCH OF MY PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE has been gained in the context of confidential relationships, which makes it extremely difficult to share examples without some form of concealment. To provide the reader with valuable real-world context and at the same time maintain the highest levels of confidentiality, I have changed facts and circumstances of examples used in this book. My goal was to preserve the meaning of the experiences while completely eliminating any connecting lines between actual people and facts. Thus, as noted, the identity, gender, industry, circumstances, subject matter, and other facets of some examples have been modified to be based on real life.

Chapter 1

The Making of a Good Idea

A FRIEND INTRODUCED ME to a painter who had an idea—something about hanging out with homeless people under bridges, in parks, and near civic centers, not only getting to know them but painting large canvas portraits of them.

Now, I’m accustomed to quickly discerning whether an idea is good, but I had to meet Brian Peterson in person to fully see his idea for what it was—not just good, but great. I must admit that, with my limited understanding before our meeting, I was thinking of all the ways this endeavor would fail, about how I would encourage him to dream big but act small, maybe focus on by the homeless, for the homeless. The wheels in my mind were turning, but not in the right direction.

The first thing that struck me about Brian was his giddy smile; it was innocent and full of life. He brought his visibly older accountant with him, but even he had a giddy smile. Brian was straightforward about his idea: He wanted to paint images of homeless people and to form a nonprofit to receive donations and validate his operations. Under most other circumstances, I would have blurted the obvious questions, asking how these homeless people would hang a painting in a house they didn’t have and who would buy a painting of a homeless person to hang in their own home. But I was captivated from the start.

At the core of Faces of Santa Ana is a man who had the bright idea of bringing hope to homeless people who have little reason to feel good about life. Brian saw them as valuable individuals who were seen by God yet largely ignored by others. He saw them, too, and he wanted others to see them. His idea was to use art to give hope and raise awareness, not to generate a profit. Yet his efforts not only inspire hope but generate income and a road map for other artists to follow. His idea—the big idea—was to use his passion and his talents for the benefit of mankind and to serve God in the process. Brian is telling human stories through paintings.

Origin and Driver

Good ideas are birthed from the collision of values, abilities, and opportunities, but they’re forged in the pursuit of meaning. Because of God’s great care in our design, we are vested, by Him and through Him, with the capacity to do wonderful things. The Bible tells us so. It says we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13). Yet in many circumstances our plans fail. Why?

A cornerstone of any lasting business is a good idea. Good ideas materialize from God because all good flows from Him. A bad idea, on the other hand, might come from acid reflux or our own selfish ambitions. This is consistently evident in so many Christian businesses that fail. It’s certainly not the only reason a business fails, but when bad ideas prevail, the likelihood of success diminishes.

How, then, do we determine whether an idea is good or bad? We start with the origins of the idea.

The Role of Personal Gain in an Idea

Research indicates that many businesses formed under the pretense of a perfect mission or a false vision statement start with a desire to exploit an opportunity for personal gain. This is not inherently wrong; in many circumstances, this reality represents the very essence of the American Dream. If you take some time to understand the ethos behind the so-called American Dream, you’ll realize that individual success and prosperity are material components to the idea.

What makes the idea of exploiting an opportunity for personal gain wrong, or perhaps unfitting for you and me, is that it is often counterproductive to the expansion of the kingdom of God, particularly when it forms a piece of the foundation of what you’re building. When we set out to benefit ourselves, we usually take advantage of others in the process. That’s why the origin of our business ideas matter so much.

I have the great privilege of working with so many wonderful businesses—nonprofits, for-profits, and people just doing good things. Not all of them, however, are attempting to end world hunger, dig wells in poverty-stricken lands, or even preach the gospel. Many of them are gifted with the ability to design amazing products, code software, or render helpful advice. The idea they started with was the result of perceiving a need in a marketplace and recognizing their own ability to meet it. That can look quite different from exploiting an opportunity for personal gain.

The drivers that set one idea apart from another have more to do with the values built into the foundation of an idea than with the expression of the idea itself. Consider, for example, a business that collects used clothing donations to provide jobs for people who might not otherwise find them and to provide necessities to low-income communities. The idea sounds great until you realize that the president of that company receives a salary one thousand times higher than the U.S. average. Rather than invest excess profit into the idea of doing good for humanity, this person invests in him- or herself at the expense of the very people the company intends to help.

Contrast this with a business driven by a value for the kingdom, where ambition becomes secondary to significance and impact. That’s why it’s crucial for our ideas to be good, not just in terms of exploiting opportunity but also in the most altruistic sense—in the sense of God doing good through us.

Ideas originating from a pursuit of eternal significance mitigate the selfish ambition that so often permeates businesses. But the difficulty in this aspect of creating something both worthy of our time and capable of generating a meaningful profit