Are You an Entrepreneur?

Keith Starcher
DayStar Consulting, Inc.

We continue this week with thoughts from the book Entrepreneurial Faith by Kirbyjon Caldwell and Walt Kallestad.  The authors lay out five characteristics of entrepreneurs.  Before we discuss them, let me state that I’ve worked with several entrepreneurs over the years and I would NOT consider myself an entrepreneur.  Perhaps you don’t consider yourself an entrepreneur either.  Let’s see how many of the following five characteristics we demonstrate before coming to a conclusion.

1. Entrepreneurs focus on what can be, not on what is
   ·         Where some see challenges, entrepreneurs see opportunities; in particular,
             they see opportunities for positive change
   ·         Entrepreneurs do not like the “status quo”

2.  Entrepreneurs are disciplined
   ·         They identify and understand their mission/vision using them as guides in
             assessing opportunities
   ·         This helps them focus (see #1 above) their time, money and energy

3. Entrepreneurs know when “to pull the trigger”
   ·         Rather than continuing to calculate the risks, entrepreneurs seem to sense             when it’s time to take action and stop talking
   ·         Perfection is not their goal; as things change, entrepreneurs quickly adapt to
             new circumstances

4. Entrepreneurs are artists more than engineers
   ·         They are leaders more than managers; they are more like players in the game            rather than coaches on the sidelines
   ·         Dreaming big is never a waste of time for an entrepreneur

5. Entrepreneurs burn with passion
   ·         They love the journey as much as the destination
   ·         Entrepreneurs pursue new opportunities with a zeal that overcomes the long  
             hours and sometimes short-term meager results

And so, am I an entrepreneur?  Are you?  If coming up with something new when presented with an unmet need is a sign of being an entrepreneur, then perhaps I am one.  When I came to Beaver County in 2003, I looked for an organization whose goal was to bring Christians in the marketplace together to learn from each other.  I found none.

Out of this was born Leaders Serving Beaver County ( www.ls-bc.org ).  Because of God’s working in my life in LSBC, we were privileged to see about 70 people at our county-wide meeting yesterday morning—at 8 AM!  I’m not sure exactly what God is mind for LSBC—but I’m enjoying the journey.

Safety & Comfort

There’s a poster that shows a beautiful sailboat on a choppy sea.  The caption reads, “A boat in a harbor is safe—but that is not what boats are built for.” 

No one can deny the appeal of comfort and safety.  But what were you and I built for?  Remember the Campus Crusade for Christ brochure—“The Four Spiritual Laws?”  One of them, if memory serves me correctly, is “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”  Now, “wonderful” from God’s perspective and “wonderful” from my perspective may be two different things (after all, I am a selfish sinner by nature and choice).  For example, when Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, did Paul submit to Christ on the condition that He would provide Paul with Paul’s version of a “wonderful” life?  No, not at all.  We could list countless men and women who have served our LORD and will be rewarded as faithful stewards—but whose lives were not “wonderful” from an earthly point of view. 

So why leave the comfort and safety you may have developed over the years?  Why demonstrate “entrepreneurial faith” at this stage in your life?  For one thing, as an entrepreneur, you are free to express your creativity.  God gives each of us a measure of creativity.  It’s one of the human traits that reflect the image of God.  Entrepreneurs can release this creative passion back to God in thanksgiving and service.  We can leave the comfort and safety of the harbor bound for the high seas of God’s service.   We can each beyond our own limits and see God’s provision.  Staying in the harbor requires no touch from God.  We don’t see Him working in amazing ways while we’re tied up at the dock.  No, it’s there beyond the breakwater that we learn to trust Him more and more.   

And think of how your entrepreneurial faith will lead you to come to know God’s truth in a wonderful way.  As you struggle to create something from nothing, you look to God’s Word as a source of direction, inspiration, insight and solutions.  You find yourself partnering more closely with the Ultimate Entrepreneur as you seek out His wisdom.  He provides encouragement, strength and hope just when you need it.   

So what’s it like to be an entrepreneur?  It’s like stepping out of the stands as a spectator and stepping onto the playing field where you engage in the lives of the people God loves.   

As Theodore Roosevelt once said:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”  

So…are you an entrepreneur?  If not, should you be? 

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