How to Start a Christian Business
Anyone wanting to start a business must follow certain steps to be successful in his new venture, such as writing a business plan, creating a budget, attaining funding and equipment, and marketing. For those who want to start a Christian business, a few additional considerations will set you up in the right market and connect you with potential clients and churches.
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Instructions
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How to Start a Christian Business
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Write a list of questions to ask of people successfully running other Christian businesses. For example, ask about how Christianity has impacted their business, their faith, and what advice they have to help you start your Christian business.
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Set up appointments to meet with people who currently own and successfully run Christian businesses. If you don't know many people like this, ask your pastor for referrals. You can also connect with Christian business organizations such as C12group.com, an organization that helps Christians conduct their faith-based businesses in an appropriate and profitable manner.
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Contact your local SCORE, Service Corps of Retired Executives, office for practical help on opening and running a business. They provide small business owners with free or low-cost business advice from retired professionals.
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Join a networking group of Christian business owners. For example, Christian Business Networking has chapters across the country. If there is no Christian networking group in your area, consider starting one.
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Join directories of Christian-owned businesses. For example, The International Coalition of Workplace Ministries is an online directory located at ICWM.net. Many communities also have paper directories for Christian businesses. One of the best-known is The Shepherd's Guide. You can purchase an ads in a directory like you would for a phone book.
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Purchase a mailing list of churches in the areas your business will serve, or collect phone books from surrounding towns and create your own mailing list. Use this list to create a direct mail program for your business. Churches often seek to support Christian-owned businesses and will sometimes even post the advertisement on a bulletin board for the congregation to see.
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Tips & Warnings
While you are opening a business with Christian principles, remember that it is still a business and must be run to return a financial profit, as well as spiritual gains.
