CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Where to Begin
Business starts long before your first customers walk through the door. It starts even before you have acquired your vision of success. In fact, it starts while you are still at school.
Looking at Nehemiah, we see a man with a vision and nothing else. A slave to the king with no money, no materials, no workforce, no experience and no prospect of getting anything! What was the secret of his success? How did he succeed when most others would have failed?
Nehemiah’s road to success started years before he acquired the vision to secure the people of Jerusalem. The foundation for success was laid the day he started working as the king’s cup-bearer. From that moment till the day he needed it, Nehemiah worked on his reputation.
And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
(Neh. 2:1)
In time the king came to know Nehemiah as a trustworthy and reliable person, someone who was always positive and willing and even though Judah, could be, and had been a troublesome province, the king knew Nehemiah and had faith in him and that was all Nehemiah needed to complete his expensive undertaking.
Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.
And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
(Neh. 2:2-6)
We never know whose help we may need. Even if he is on the opposite side to us, he may still turn out to be of help someday.
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. (Luk.16:9)
Start working on your reputation as soon as possible. Make friends, build up a list of reliable contacts, people who can help you in the future. One of them may just be the person to help you get your business off the ground.
There are some obvious places to begin, bank managers, wholesalers, tradesmen, salesmen. Loans, discounts, advice, free or discounted building and maintenance work are easier to come by from somebody you know, or more importantly, somebody who knows you, trusts you, respects you and has confidence in you.
Nehemiah not only received permission to build the walls, he also received free building materials and a security escort back to Jerusalem.
Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
(Neh. 2: 7-8)
Nehemiah’s strength was his reputation. He could use it to barter and trade, to get safe passage and acquire all that he needed. His good reputation was his key to success.
A bad reputation, on the other hand, can be expensive and time consuming as Paul discovered upon his conversion.
Known by everyone as a Christian baiter and persecutor, believers avoided him. They wanted nothing to do with him. After his Damascus road transformation, he continued his journey to Damascus, where the Lord instructed Ananias to go and lay hands on the blind Paul, but Ananias was hesitant and reluctant to help this man who had led so many of his fellow believers into captivity.
Again when Saul (Paul) returned to Jerusalem, nobody believed he had changed and it took time for Paul to gain their trust.
And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. (Acts 9:26)
A bad reputation can set you back and be costly. We see that in the life of Jacob, when he returned home after his exile, an exile forced on him when he cheated his brother, Esau, out of his blessing. He was so afraid of his brother that he was prepared to give away a large portion of his wealth just to protect his own life, and restore his brother’s confidence in him.
So many today follow the ‘television’ recipe for business, kill or be killed, be ruthless and stomp on your opponent before he stomps on you.
Bismarck, the nineteenth century German politician had it right. When his country went to war with Austria in the nineteenth century, Germany easily defeated the Austrians, but instead of bleeding them dry as was the norm, he treated them well, so well in fact, that Austria willingly helped Germany in the war which was to follow against her real enemy, France.
A bad reputation instills doubt and fear, and these in turn lead to avoidance. We need to attract business, not chase it away.
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. (Prov.22:1)
The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot. (Prov.10:7)
A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. (Eccl.7:1)
Above all we must remember whose reputation is really on the line. As a Christian businessperson, you carry the Name of Christ with you wherever you go. As a believer it is good to remember the words of God in the Book of Isaiah:
Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. (Isa.43:7)
We are created for God’s glory. Our business is for God’s glory. Our reputation is for God’s glory.