Kingdom Business Life Cycle: Scalability Phase

“And Jabez called on the Lord God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!’ So God granted him what he requested.” – 1 Chronicles 4:10

“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” – Luke 16:10

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” – Acts 1:8

Do you have a solid foundation in your ministry or business and a right relationship with the Lord? Are you ready to expand your territory? Have you spent time in prayer asking the Lord what the next step is in your entrepreneurship journey?

I love that our God is the God of small beginnings. He likes to take tiny, insignificant, weak things, breathe life into them, and make them strong with His power. Like a good Dad, He tests us by giving us responsibility over small things, and once we demonstrate faithfulness, He moves us on to the next step. He uses the weak, foolish things of this world to put to shame the people who the world thinks are wise and strong. If you are called to a certain ministry or business, don’t make the mistake of thinking it is because you are incredibly gifted and God needs you. In fact, it is the opposite – you are weak, and God wants to use your weakness, filling you with His power to enable and equip you to do what He is calling you to.

Have you reached the sustainability phase and you are wondering what is next? Thank the Lord for your success thus far and be cautious not to allow room for any pride in this phase of your journey. Recognize that it is God who has allowed you to get to where you are. Now is the time to seek the Lord and ask Him where He wants to take you and your organization. It may be time to expand and scale up! The scalability phase is the season when the organization is able to expand regionally, nationally, or internationally without losing it’s margins.

If you’re ready to expand, like Jabez, assess the boundaries of your territory and ask God for more. Jabez prayed for five things:

• God’s blessing to be upon him
• Expansion of his territory
• God’s continued presence to be with him
• Help to avoid the trap of evil thinking and living
• Expansion to occur in such a way that no damage would be done and no pain or hurt would happen.

As you think and pray about scaling your organization, it is important to keep in mind the following characteristics about the scalability phase:

• The ideal length of the scalability phase is 10 to 20 years, although the phase could take longer.
• This phase isn’t suitable for every entrepreneur or every business or organization. Lifestyle businesses, for example, may thrive in continuing to operate in their area, and it could be harmful to expand. God may be calling you to stay where you are.
• This is the ideal stage for equity financing.
• In order to scale, the organization must have a good balance between people with managerial leadership skills and entrepreneurial leadership skills.
• As you scale and grow, never allow the organization to grow beyond your ability to pray and intercede for it.
• The entrepreneur must be willing to focus energy on vision, strategy, systems and people, rather then making widgets.
• A clear exit strategy is necessary. How will expansion and scalability increase the value of the organization, and how will that value be realized/monetized?
• During this phase, there is a danger that the organization could lose margin, compromise kingdom values, or the business could collapse. The entrepreneur should begin this stage with a solid understanding of the risks, and a plan in place to mitigate those risks.
• Beware of opportunity cost during this phase.
• There is also a danger that the organization can become over-leveraged while expanding.

My prayer for you today is that you would recognize the areas in your life or your organization where God may be calling you to scale, and to earnestly seek His will for your life in those areas.