Multiply

WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL BY PATRICE TSAGUE

What does the principle of multiplication have to do with business?
As entrepreneurs, how can we multiply our businesses?

Multiply

Our God loves to multiply things. In fact, it is a mark of His blessing on us when He does so. When God creates things, His intent is that they will grow and expand. We see this reflected in the creation story, where God gives the command “be fruitful and multiply” to His highest creation – His sons and daughters. 

God promised to multiply Abraham’s descendants as the “stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore”. (Genesis 22:17-18) God’s heart is for Kingdom growth and multiplication, and as believers in Jesus, we have access to that blessing.

He is also a God who uses small beginnings. Jesus talks about the mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, and compares that to the Kingdom of God (Luke 13:18-19). God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10) may seem to start out as insignificant, but it grows into people, organizations, communities, and networks that are full of life and exist as expressions of God’s glory. They are also blessings to the people around them, “so that the birds of the air come and nest in its[their] branches.”

Where is your business today? Even if you are a “small seed” like the mustard seed, have you been sown by the Creator into good soil? Are you focused on absorbing the nutrients you need, establishing solid roots, and pushing upwards through the soil to reach the light? Have you broken through the soil and are you now steadily growing upward? Are you branching outward, reaching more customers and clients at an increasing pace? 

Wherever you are in your business journey, fix your eyes on the One who has a heart to multiply and bless, and ask Him to help you grow.

When a business multiplies, there is an increase in profitability as the business scales. It is a multiplication process, not very different from the discipleship model that we see in 2 Timothy 2:2. 

When we multiply, we efficiently expand what we are doing so that we can produce more goods and/or services to serve more customers with increasing levels of excellence. Becoming consistently fruitful (profitable) is the first step, and multiplication is the next.

If your business has proven itself profitable, it may be time to move into the multiplication stage. 

Consider:

• Fruitfulness without multiplication can lead to stagnation.
• In business, multiplication can occur in the form of opening regional, national, or international offices, franchising, or licensing. Think and pray about which multiplication mechanism will work best for you.
• To multiply effectively, we must first ensure that we are profitable. If we move towards multiplication without demonstrating sustainable profitability, we may experience premature death.
• Without good systems and processes in place, it is almost impossible to multiply effectively.
  God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33), and as entrepreneurs, we must apply biblical principles to every aspect of our organization and take best practices seriously as we grow and expand. 
• A good foundation of organization and smooth internal communication must first be laid, followed by a well-defined infrastructure of systems and processes to enable growth and expansion.
• When multiplying, make sure to focus your entrepreneurial energy on vision, strategy, systems, and people.

My prayer for you today is that you would come to know God’s heart for multiplication and expansion, and that you would partner with Him, realizing multiplication in your life and in your business, according to His timing and all for His glory.