Building a Home-Based Enterprise - Why, How, & What?

by Kristin
from Virtuous Daughters, May 2010~Volume 10, Number 2

Entrepreneurialism. What is it exactly, besides a big word that many people can’t spell? To be an entrepreneur is defined as: “A person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome.” Or, in simpler terms, having an idea for a way to make a profit and starting to do it. The business world is full of entrepreneurs, successful businesses, raising capital, and more, but what does entrepreneurialism have to do with young ladies?

Like most children, I had the desire to make money from when I was very young. When I was around ten or so, and my brother was seven, we got together on the back porch and started the “Money Making Club,” the object of which was to make money! It wasn’t like we needed money for anything in particular, we just thought it was a neat idea and wanted to do it. At our club meetings, we would try to drum up different ideas on how we could accomplish our goal. One of our first ideas was a variation of the typical sidewalk lemonade stand. Whenever our family held our once a year garage sale, we set up shop at the end of our driveway and sold refreshments to the garage sale customers. This included drinks, packages of chips, and homemade cookies. To us, it seemed like we made a whole lot of sales! We usually came away with around $15–$20 each after we paid Dad and Mom back for the cost of the food. That seemed like a whole lot of money from our viewpoint! As I grew older, I continued to learn about creative ways to make money. My dad purchased his own business when I was nine, so I was able to see from a young age what working for yourself and being creative to earn money really was all about. This has been an interest of mine that I enjoy thinking on and learning more about. I like to think of it in three categories: Why, How, and What.

​WHY: Why should we be entrepreneurial? Now we are back to that big word again. Why is there a need to be productive, have creative ideas, work hard, and earn money while you are doing it? There are many good reasons to have and develop this skill. Several that I want to mention are: the value of learning new things, being productive, ministering and serving others, and gaining resources that will be valuable in the future. While as young women it is not our responsibility to provide for ourselves and others, earning money and setting it aside for useful things is not a fruitless effort. Many things can be purchased with such money, including gifts for others, musical instruments or other tools for service, using the money as capital for starting another small business, and also the possibility of using it someday to purchase land or other valuable resources with your husband after you are married.
   
One of your primary goals in starting such a business should be ministry to others. We do not want to become so focused on profit and building our business that we have forgotten one of the main things that the Lord wants us to be about: being a servant. As you consider what kind of business you might start, ask the Lord for creative ways to minister to others through your skills. Focus on productivity and service to others before monetary gain—build your business to have both! See Ecclesiastes 5:10. There is nothing wrong with earning money, as long as it is kept in perspective!
   
HOW: So how does one exactly go about starting up a small business? While I am not an expert, here are some things to consider:

• Ask the Lord to direct your steps--see Proverbs 16:9
• Assess your skills, talents, and interests
• Be prepared to learn through failure
• Make tithing a priority--see Proverbs 3:9
• Seek your parents’ counsel and blessing
• Consider any start-up costs; determine to be debt free!
• Set reasonable goals—long and short range
• Consider others who you may involve in your endeavor, particularly siblings

WHAT: Whenever many people think of starting their own business they think, “What in the world would I do?” This is a good question, and can often be quite a challenging one to answer. However, remember, it can be pretty simple; all it takes is a creative spirit, a thinking mind, and a diligent heart! All great businesses start off with an idea—how to fill a need or want for a product, service, or skill. In this article I have several boxes with some ideas in each of those three categories to get you started!

A word of caution: It is very, very important to always be completely under your parents’ authority in this as well as all matters. All the benefits of having a small business that is profitable and ministers to others go out the window the minute that you step away from that. It may be that your parents feel this is not the season of your life to be starting up something. Make sure you are focused on assisting your father and mother in the endeavors that they have started before starting something new, and then only with their encouragement and blessing! It is a wonderful idea to work on something like this with siblings too! See Ecclesiastes 4:9

Sometimes the Lord brings opportunities that we aren’t even looking for. For example, my uncle came to my brother and I years ago and asked us if we would consider cleaning his office which is close by our house. We started doing that and it has grown to cleaning between 2–3 offices with the cleaning rates increasing every year. It takes about 2 hours every other Saturday and pays a nice little sum. Many times you don’t have to “drum up” new things, but they come to you. This will especially happen if you have the reputation of being a hard working person. That is the kind of person that I would want to hire, wouldn’t you? “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.”—Proverbs 22:29

I am sure that you can think of many other wonderful ideas—it doesn’t necessarily have to be something big and glorious! Think about what people are willing to pay money for, and start from there. Most of the big businesses and companies of today started as small backyard or home office endeavors.
   
Some of these things would be more of something that you would do as a ministry, or do for free for friends but charge to the general public. Consider what your interests are and what your parents think would be a good choice—it will not be the same for everyone! There will also be certain things to consider with different types of businesses. For food products, you may need to be concerned about health laws and regulations.
   
Many times the world will tell us that we have to leave our homes to be successful. This is just not true! There are so many different types of businesses that can be run from your home. Ask the Lord to direct your steps and enjoy walking in the light that He gives!
   
“Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.”—Proverbs 16:3 “And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.”—Psalm 90:17