GEO Principle Blog

Two changes would make entrepreneurship more attractive

I am a big fan of entrepreneurship. I consider myself to be an entrepreneur, albeit on a small scale. Entrepreneurship gives a person great freedom to take their work in a spiritually-fulfilling direction. I am not suggesting this is easy, but at least when you are working for yourself, you can consider options that would not be possible if you were working full-time for someone else.

Only a small percentage of people in the workforce venture out on their own. I think there are a lot of people who would make great entrepreneurs if they would just give it a try, but too many are unwilling to give up the security they perceive to be getting from their current employer.

Plus, there are a number of other things that hold people back. Being an entrepreneur is not only risky, but it is difficult because the culture, including its tax laws, are really set up more for employees than self-employed people.

Here are two suggestions for lawmakers to create a more entrepreneur-friendly culture:

First, give self-employed people parity with employees on FICA. When you work for someone else, you are required to pay 6.2 percent of your income for Social Security. But if you leave your employer to start your own business, you have to pay both the employer's and the employee's portions, bumping the tax up to 12.4 percent. This is a huge disincentive for many people who might otherwise consider striking out on their own. Government should give self-employed people the option of paying only 6.2 percent, commensurate with a corresponding reduction in benefits in their retirement years.

And second, don't discriminate against small business owners and self-employed people on health insurance. An employer can deduct the expense of the health insurance he or she provides employees, but the business owner cannot deduct the portion of the expense used to purchase insurance for him/her self and family. In other words, the cost of the business owner's health insurance has to be included in the business owner's income for tax purposes. Employees get health benefits without paying taxes on them but if you own a business, that health insurance counts as compensation and is taxed just like a paycheck. Health insurance already is a huge stumbling block for would-be entrepreneurs. It is pretty tough to go from a company-provided health insurance plan to one that you have to fund completely on your own.

Small businesses provide a large portion of the jobs in this country, as well as a lot of the innovation. Lawmakers should do all they can to encourage people along entrepreneurial paths.

In the work world, think about what you have to offer

There are at least a couple of ways to approach the commercial arena. One way is to look at the job market and ask "What can I get?" Another way is to look at the world and ask "What can I offer?"

Most people try to figure out what they can get because the culture conditions us to approach the commercial arena with this attitude. We study in trade school or college with the idea of getting the best job possible. We write our resumes and sit for interviews in hopes of getting the best job possible. And once a job is offered, we work very hard to get the best salary, best benefits and best retirement package.

This approach accepts the world pretty much as it is, and it says "I am going to work hard to fit into that world so I can make the most for myself." I am guessing that this is what 90 percent of the workforce does, and surveys regularly tell us that as many as 70 percent of the people in the workforce dislike their jobs.

I like the "what can if offer" approach. This approach doesn't start by looking out at the job market, this approach starts by looking in at yourself. You figure out what you are good at, and what your strengths are. You figure out what you have to offer to the world. Once you figure that out, you look for ways to offer it. That may be through an existing job, but it might be through a new venture you create. This approach isn't so much about fitting into the existing job market, as it is about shaping the world according to who you are.

The "what can I offer" approach is based on a certain amount of faith in the world. You believe that the world will compensate you fairly for what you have to offer. But the focus is on what you are offering more than it is on what you are being offered.

The "what can I offer" approach is a foundation of entrepreneurship. I haven't seen any surveys on how many entrepreneurs like their work, but I would bet that is is much higher than 30 percent.

In order for the commercial arena to work properly, everyone has to give some and get some; but I think your starting point makes a big difference. The opportunity for workplace satisfaction is much greater if you start with the giving part of that equation rather than the getting part.  

Look for God when times are good if you want to see Him more clearly when times are bad

Earlier this week in my state, there was a hearing at the Capitol featuring several bankers. They told their stories. I want to share a little bit of it here because I think it provides fodder for thought about where God might be in our lives. Consider these two situations:

 

The owner of a bar and restaurant wanted to expand his business in 2005. The town had a major employer –- a company that employed 1,200 people who worked all three shifts. At the end of each shift, many of those employees would stop into the bar/restaurant; business was good. It seemed like a good time to expand. Based on 2005 cash flow and modest growth projections, the owner obtained a loan from a local bank to construct a new building.

 

The banker explained that since then, the major employer has reduced employment to 200 people. No one stops into the restaurant after their shift anymore. The owner’s cash flow is no longer sufficient to cover the loan payments on the new building. Needless to say, he is behind on the loan.

 

In a second example, the banker introduced us to a husband, who worked at the major employer, and a wife, who ran a daycare center in their home. The housing market was strong in 2005 when they decided to move into a bigger home. The bank qualified them for a loan based on his income and her daycare revenue. Today, the banker explained, the husband is without a job and uncertain about when or if he will be called back to work. The wife’s daycare business is off substantially because many of the children she used to care for had parents at the major employer. Many of them have been laid off, too, so they no longer have need for daycare services. The couple can no longer afford to make mortgage payments.

 

A lot of people are suffering in these examples: 1,000 people who were laid off; a restaurant owner who wanted to expand, a couple that wanted a nicer home, and a banker who made loans that went bad. Nobody wins in these situations. Yet, during this recession, these kinds of scenarios are playing out all across the country.

 

God is in Every Occupation; where was God when the restaurant owner decided to expand? Where was God when all those people got laid off from the major employer? Where was God when the couple decided to buy the bigger house? And where was God when the banker made these loans? It is very difficult to answer these questions for someone else, but I think if we find ourselves in a difficult situation we need to answer the question for ourselves. The answer might not be obvious, but there is an answer. God is always there; but He is not always easy to see. The better we know Him, the easier He will be to see. Sometimes, we begin to look for God only after things in our life have fallen apart. God's place in our life can usually be seen more clearly if we also look when things are going well.

 

The economy is very difficult to predict. Times change. There will be good time and bad times. We will do a lot better if we focus on what is constant rather than on what changes.

It takes lots of faith to succeed in work world

I have been told that I am trying to force a square peg into a round hole. In other words, others have told me that you can't force faith into the work world. The thinking is that faith and work are really two entirely separate things and that it is unrealistic to talk about the two as if they can be integrated, or as if they go together.

But I maintain that faith and work go together, naturally and beautifully. They are not from two different worlds, but I am convinced they both come from God and they should both point us back to God; ideally, they will do that together.

Consider all the faith it takes to make it in the commercial world. You study for years in school, devoting a lot of money and time to learning, all because you have faith that the market will value your acquired knowledge and reward it with work in the form of a good-paying job. There is no guarantee that a college grad will get a job; those college students are acting on faith -- even more so today as they rack up thousands of dollars in debt to do so.

The entrepreneur really acts on faith. An entrepreneur looks around and tries to figure out what society will value more than the money it has. When an entrepreneur thinks he has figured out an answer, he invests his own time and money into creating that new product or service. Then, he offers it to the world, on the faith that the world will respond. The entrepreneur does not know to what extent the public will respond, but he has faith that it will be sufficient to make his effort worthwhile.

My point is, those who succeed in business have to have faith. You have to have faith in your own ability to deliver, and you have to have faith in others to value what you have to offer, whether that be in the form of a company that hires you or in the form of the public that decides to pay for your work.

The first step to believing in God is to believe in something outside of yourself. Believing in God means believing that the world is about more than just you; it means seeing yourself accurately in the world and understanding, at least somewhat, what your role is in the world. In order to succeed in the job market, to succeed in the business world or to succeed as an entrepreneur, you need to understand others and you need to believe in others, plus you need to know yourself well enough to identify your role in the world. This understanding puts a person well on their way toward establishing a relationship with God.

LaserMonks integrate commerce and faith

LaserMonks.com is an interesting example of a group of people who have integrated their faith into the commercial world. The web site is an electronic store for toner products. Revenue is substantial ($4.5 million in 2007); net income is used to fund a monastery and the Cistercian brothers who run it, in addition to supporting other charities.

The business started in 2002 when the six brothers living at Our Lady of Spring Bank Abbey in Sparta, Wis., were looking for a way to fund the maintenance of their monestery. They live by the Rule of Saint Benedict, which requires self-sufficiency. They stumbled onto the toner cartridge business, found suppliers, set up the web site and marketed their products. The business took off. Today, the site is promoting cartridges that use eco-friendly soy toner. In addition, the business has added coffee and gifts. Read all the details in this 2008 article.

The LaserMonks, as I like to call them, set an important example. They demonstrate that business and faith-filled living can go together. Successful business does not have to be separate from religion. The GEO Principle would say they both have the same goal -- developing a relationship with God -- so it should not be surprising to find examples of commerce and faith completely and successfully integrated.

The LaserMonks also offer a very important model for non-profit organizations. Many non-profit organizations rely completely on donations for funding. It is perfectly appropriate for charities to ask for donations, and donors should feel good about supporting charity. However, where possible and practical, it is good for benevolent causes to figure out funding that is not dependent upon donations. This frees members of the donor pool to concentrate entirely on charities that can only be funded with donations.

Non-profit organizations that have the means to maintain revenue-generating enterprises should seriously explore this avenue, and pursue it if it makes sense for them. The LaserMonks did, and it is making a big difference. The Monks say is only costs around $200,000 per year to run the monestery, which gives them the privilege of donating more than $4 million per year to other charities.