“I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.”- Revelation 3:20
God’s infinite goodness surrounds us and we are abundantly blessed. As the human mind plans, God guides our every step. What a wonderful enabling environment within which to execute our entrepreneurial ventures.
The sustainability of the human species is initiated by procreation and we may, if the mind, body and soul are adequately nurtured, ultimately grow into holistic human beings experiencing an epiphany of happiness. In a similar way, the sustainability of a business is initiated by working smarter rather than harder and businesses may, if profitability is adequately nurtured, ultimately lead to economic growth, one successful business after another.
Indeed, at the outset of my relationship as a shepherd to my clients, I state that my role is to help enhance the chances of business success and see these businesses grow from strength to strength. I further state that the entrepreneur has the responsibility to make each business profitable.
To focus on profit without business family happiness and protection of the environment, is not sustainable even though it might be very tempting for the business. To focus on business family happiness without profitability and protecting the environment, is not sustainable even though it might be a desirable social objective. To focus on protection of the physical environment without business family happiness and without profitability, is not sustainable, even though it might be a laudable physical objective to save planet earth. I draw the attention of entrepreneurs, therefore, to the theme of harmony in the triple bottom line – profit, people and planet. This theme creates an environment for the country to win and when the country wins, we all win!
There are three primary components of profitability: (1) expand profit centres; (2) increase operational efficiency and (3) contain cost.
A keen entrepreneur is always on the lookout for innovative ways of expanding the number of profit centres of a business, increasing the profitability within each profit centre by reducing the direct cost of production (materials and labour), and expanding the geographic domain of the target market for already profitable products and services of the business.
The increase in operational efficiency relates to standards, quality and competitiveness of the factors of production (land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship). It should be noted that success of a business is measured by the growth in profitability and not only by the growth in sales. The indirect costs of the business, all costs that are not direct costs (materials and labour), need to be diligently monitored and contained.
Let us resolve to let the rays of hope stimulate our business activity, so that with God’s help we may pursue a path of profitability and holistic prosperity.
