What the Life of the Apostle Paul can teach us About Building Successful Businesses.

“There is an amazing door of opportunity standing open for me to minister (serve) here, even though there are many who oppose and stand against me” [emphasis mine]

– Apostle Paul

If the Apostle Paul operated in the business world of today, he’d be a serial entrepreneur; opening up new businesses, putting a structure around them, ensuring stability, profitability, appointing capable personnel to lead and run the organizations while he moves on to something else. That’s practically what he did to spread the message he was so convinced abut. 

The man was really deliberate, intense and thoroughly enjoyed a challenge. Little wonder I am quite drawn to him. 

In the quote above, we can take away two distinct principles which herald every successful, long lasting business, initiative or organizations and are miles away from the romanticized, rose tinted glass view, of building businesses, that is prevalent today.

1.       Business is an opportunity to serve.

Maybe you’re thinking to yourself “Nonso, what is this? The 12^th century or something? Oh, I see you in the back rolling your eyes at me. Oh come on, stop shaking your head furiously like that. At this rate, it’s going to fall off soon. Look,

 I quite understand you. In this era of glamorous venture capital deals, IPOs, large bail-outs and buy-outs, large marketing and promotional budgets, "Centi-billionaires" alongside ubiquitous information, deceitful marketing and messaging, proliferation of startups and technological innovations, varying consumer choices and large, inadequate customer service, low levels of customer satisfaction and retention and a large scale distrust of corporate entities, It sounds naïve to say that business is simply an opportunity to serve- but it is and it’s been well proven. The data is available and you know that the data doesn’t lie.

There is a correlation between how focused a company is on adequately serving its customers and its profitability, size and long term survival. 

Businesses that genuinely seek to serve their customers, though flawed in one way or another, are many times more likely to be profitable, grow more rapidly and exist for longer periods than businesses that exist to maximize profit, to the detriment of those they profess to serve. Nordstrom, a 119 year old shoe, clothing and accessory retailer is probably the gold standard for customer service in the world and is still highly profitable.  [Yes dear, you read that right. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. It's 119 years old and spans 3 generations]. 

According to Forbes, other more recent players that validate this principle include brand names such as Costco, Zappos, Amazon, Chick-fil-A, Apple, Hilton, Southwest Airlines and Tesla. Turns out the Apostle Paul was right after all.

           

                [Apostle Paul: 1 vs. Conventional Wisdom: 0]

2.       Business is a never ending cycle of problem solving

When people think or talk about business, they think of vast amounts of money, a vehicle for gaining International renown and acclaim, Forbes list and magazine articles, fast cars, vacations in the Bahamas, houses in Banana Island [Helloooo Nigerians], first or business class plane tickets, or maybe even private jets. 

Oh wait, I think I’m getting ahead of myself here; where was I again? Oh Yes. Very rarely do we see business for what it truly is; a call to a life of endless problem solving. And oh dear, there are myriads of problems to solve. 

Ever heard of Moor's law? No? You should check it out because you're about to live it [No, I'm not explaining it to u. Yes, I know that'll be easier for you, but don't be lazy, it's just a Google search away] In business 

There are so many moving parts and you have to be a master juggler ensuring not to drop any one of the proverbial balls. From managing customer, employee, partner and investor relationships, to approving appropriate marketing and strategies and messages, to product or service delivery, to handling feedback and improving customer service, satisfaction and retention ratings, to dealing with regulatory bodies. And these are just the few that you see coming. There are some you’d never predict even if you spent many years and billions of dollars trying [I’m talking about you Covid-19]. This is what business is really all about- Solving problems. 

One thing that helped the Apostle was that he never tried to go it alone. You need people to help you navigate the murky waters. Hire a consultant. Ask for help. it’s a little comical when you see business owners, leaders or enthusiasts complain, without ceasing, about the many problems they encounter – Hey dear, that’s the job you signed up for; Chief Problem Solving Officer.

You only get the bright lights and red carpets when you’ve consistently taken on ever increasing problem levels and won. 

This attitude does keep you grounded and helps you concentrate on what really matters, instead of dwelling on fantasy or wishful thinking. It’s no wonder that most people who set up highly successful and long lasting initiatives, businesses or organizations are relatively simple, preach delayed gratification and have the right attitude towards problem solving. They know what they’ve signed up for. 

You only get the spoils of war after winning the war, not any time before.

Apostle Paul knew this too and clearly stated it in a letter to one of his protégés. I’ll quote it below;

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now (not before) is laid up for me a crown……..” [Emphasis mine]

There you go!

                  Apostle Paul: 2 vs. Conventional Wisdom: 0

Chinonso Ohakwe                                                                                                                                                                 

Product Designer & SME Consultant.                                                                                                        

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