“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful,
and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it:” Gen 1:28

Four things. Simple, yet profoundly important for succeeding
in business. Rule number one was to be fruitful. Create
something of excellence, worthy of duplication. Create
something others would want. The better you are at step one,
the more important step two becomes.

Step two is multiply. Don’t try to multiply the franchise,
the product, the service until it is first of all proven to
be fruitful as a stand alone. Once it is proven, you are
ready to multiply. The secret to multiplication is systems.
The better the system, the faster you can multiply. Go back
about 100 years ago when there were hundreds of car
manufacturers in America. They would work hard all day
crafting an original masterpiece of a car. The next day they
would do it all over again. They weren’t multiplying – they
were adding!

Along comes Henry what’s his name and he streamlined the
manufacturing process based on Adam Smith’s economic
philosophy outlined in The Wealth of Nations, where men
focused on one aspect of the production and left the rest to
others. The work was terribly mundane but the pay was the
best in the country and the Ford motor car became the best
selling automobile in the country.

If you have been fruitful with an idea and it is working for
you, it may be time to multiply. If it is, you will need to
set up systems for sales, marketing, accounting,
communication, etc that integrate with each other. If you
need a little help transitioning to the multiplication
phase, drop me a line. I am introducing a coaching program
in a few weeks aimed at helping people do just that and a
lot more.

Speaking of multiplying… last week in Austin, I met a couple
of kingdom minded internet entrepreneurs who are widely
respected for their accomplishments and their walk with God.
One of them, Matt Gillogly has been very successful in
coaching people and shared with me that he is having a three
day event for a small group of folks interested in learning
how to do what he does. I believe the attendance is limited
to about 25 because he will be recording this entire
program.

There will be no pitches for product or upsell to additional
services. Just three days of training on how to run a
successful coaching business. I plan to attend because I
want to know the best methods, systems and technologies
available to help me provide coaching to many of you
beginning in October. If you are a coach or considering that
as a career, you might want to check it out. Maybe I will
see you there. It’s October 2 – 4 in Charlotte, NC.

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it:” Gen 1:28

There you have it. Four things every business person should have in view and remember when building their business. Rule number one: Be fruitful. Create something that is useful or beneficial. Find a need and create a solution. See what should be and make it so. The fact that you see it when others don’t is a clue to your assignment.

If you want to succeed in business, be sure to create a working prototype. Fruitfulness is measured in part by the good that your product or service does. If the thing you create is of little value or doesn’t work well, you have not created something that reflects the glory of God. You have not been fruitful.

Before you mass produce your product or franchise your service, make sure the prototype works. Create something of excellence. Work the kinks out. Creating something that works well, serves a purpose and meets a need is foundational to success. Test your assumptions. Do this well. Pass the test. Then you will be ready to multiply…

A car manufacturer where labor and management are in continual strife over a prolonged period of time will eventually begin producing automobiles of an inferior quality to those made in an environment of goodwill and cooperation. That was certainly true in America during the seventies and the Japanese ate our lunch when it came to producing reliable automobiles. We lost market share, foreign imports soared and we’ve been fighting back ever since. By the way — we’ve been gaining ground. Of course, the confrontational environment between labor and management has also lightened up considerably.

The point is that every job is indeed a self-portrait of the person who did it… And if that person is in a continuous state of being disgruntled, the product they will likely produce will reflect that disgruntledness. In the case of American car manufacturers in the seventies, entire assembly lines of workers were disgruntled. It came out in their product and in time, the customers who purchased that product became disgruntled.

Whether we know it or not, we always autograph our work. Some autograph their work with excellence, others with negativity or a poor attitude. In the end, those who rely on your work will read your signature. Will it be autographed with excellence? It’s your choice.

Important Announcement: I am very pleased to be able to announce that on Wednesday, September 3^rd, 2008 Os Hillman will be giving us a summary of his widely acclaimed 9 To 5 Window teaching. That’s tomorrow! Watch your inbox for details!