Kingdom Business Life Cycle

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven…What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. – Ecclesiastes 3:1, 9-11

What are the stages in the life of a Kingdom business? Why is it important to know what stage your business is in?

Life is full of change. Regardless of our circumstances, we know that time progresses, we are always getting older, and aging happens to us all. Just this morning, I was speaking with a gentleman taking care of his elderly parents who remarked how odd it was to now be the “parent” responsible for his parent’s needs. Psalm 90:12 reminds us to pay attention to time: “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

It’s not just people that grow older: businesses do too! Every business, like a person, has a life cycle with a beginning and end. Every business, like a person, should number its days in order to gain and use wisdom, to fully embrace each season, and to prepare for the future in the best possible way.

How can a Kingdom business pay attention to its life cycle? We know that God appoints different times and seasons in our individual lives, in nature, in nations, and in churches. Often cycles of seasons follow an observable pattern, like with weather. Similarly, Kingdom businesses follow a pattern of six stages that we call a Kingdom Business Life Cycle:

• Startup: The time between a business launch and its break even point.
• Break Even: Revenue meets expenses sustainably.
• Profitability: The business is generating a comfortable amount of revenue with good margins.
• Sustainability: Proper systems and people are in place to enable the business to run effectively without being completely dependent on the entrepreneur’s tactical involvement.
• Scalability: The business is expanding into larger markets and areas.
• Succession: The entrepreneur phases out of the business after determining leadership and ownership replacements.

Over the next few weeks, we will be delving into each stage of the Kingdom Business Life Cycle, exploring what each stage means and what opportunities and threats come with each stage. It is important for any biblical entrepreneur to begin a business with the exit strategy in mind and to understand where the business is in the life cycle process. Each stage requires different leadership traits, comes with unique challenges and opportunities, and needs to be operated in a certain manner to be successful. A biblical entrepreneur recognizes this and begins with the end in mind, looking ahead to the final stage of succession while using each season to prepare the business for his or her exit.

Today, assess where your business is in the Kingdom Business Life Cycle. What stages have you gone through? What stages lie ahead? How can you be a good steward of the season of business God has given you? Sustainable businesses with a well thought out succession strategy and wisely chosen replacements are much more likely to continue to bless others after the entrepreneur has transitioned out of the business.

My prayer for you today is that the Lord would remind you where your business has come from and equip you with a vision of where He would like to take it in the future.