Tag Archive for: mike baer

Good Research Approaches for Figuring Out Your BAM Business Model

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How do you know what kind of BAM business to pursue? That’s a question that we often get from those thinking about building a business as mission company. What’s more, what are some early indicators that a business is or isn’t working? We decided to ask three BAM mentors three questions about how they would go about deciding and evaluating their business model. This is Part 2, with our third question about research approaches.

Read Part 1 here.

 

What would be some good research approaches to figuring out good business models?

 

Mike Baer

A workable business model starts with one simple reality: you are meeting a real need that people are willing and able to pay for. That means the first step is not having a clever idea. The first step is identifying unmet or poorly met needs.

Ask basic questions: What problems exist in this community? What needs are not being met—or not being met well?   What solutions are inaccessible, unreliable, or unaffordable?

You can use AI tools as a starting point, but be careful. They are often misleadingly optimistic. A conversation with AI can help you think, but it should never replace firsthand learning.

So get out and look. Observe the market—and in many contexts, observe the bazaar. Watch what people buy, what they avoid, what they complain about, and what they improvise. Talk with neighbors and customers. Ask fellow believers—but with caution. Well-meaning people often affirm ideas they would never personally pay for.

Talk with other business owners. Talk with bankers. Talk with local officials. In-person conversations are gold. Online surveys can help too, especially when distributed through community-based social media groups, but don’t mistake opinions for behavior.

If your community has access to solid data—through a chamber of commerce or local development office—use it. And when you think you’ve identified a promising solution, test it cheaply and early. Share samples. Run pilots. Sell before you scale.

This is the value of an MVP approach—a minimum viable product. You will likely need several iterations. That’s not failure; that’s learning. Fail fast and forward: try, observe results, adjust, and try again—before you commit fully to a new enterprise.

 

Hannah Lau

A working business model is simply identifying a customer group’s problem/need, getting into their ‘world’ by delivering value, and doing it in a way that’s profitable for you. That’s basically it. So the best way to find a business model is to start by understanding your customer. That’s who it’s all about. The more you understand the customer and the ecosystem that surrounds their need, the better you’ll be able to create value for them and deliver it in a way that they will easily adopt.

Some ways to best understand your customer include:

  • Target segmentation
  • Ideal Customer Profiles/Personas
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Positioning and Customer Behaviour
  • Distribution realities for the category
  • Standards and expectations in the existing market

My personal philosophy—tried, tested, and witnessed across 350+ organisations: Lead with product and you’ll be out of the game before you launch. Lead with what your customer needs and you’ll be innovating forever. What I mean by this is that most people focus on the product because they start with an idea, which can easily become obsolete or boring. If we start with a group of people and their needs, and try to find creative solutions to solve those needs (one of them being a product), it will keep us proactive and not reactive in the market.

 

Grant Smith

When deciding on a business, my recommendation is find out what others are doing and understand their model. It could be that you can do it better. In any business model it is important to understand how your competitors are doing it and then you analysing if you can do it better or there is a gap in the market. There is a reason no company is selling ice to the North pole, so you may have a brilliant idea, but research the opportunity critically.

When deciding on a business model, understand the barriers to entry. If you are importing, what are the import duties and how do you navigate the duty process. If you are in construction, what approvals do you have to attain from the local government and what challenges may you face in achieving those approvals. If you are borrowing money, factor in unexpected delays and budget for additional finance which in theory you don’t think will be incurred. You should have cushions in your financial models to give you wriggle room.

 

With special thanks to our three mentors for sharing their wisdom in this series.

 

>> Read Part 1 here

 

 Mike Baer was one of the early leaders in the modern Business as Mission movement. He started his career as a pastor and church planter. After 15 years in the pastorate Mike was led into business where he gradually began to discover the potential for believers in business to bless their communities, evangelize the lost and spread the Kingdom of God, especially among the unreached. Today, Mike is the CEO of Third Path Initiative, an online BAM education resource, a strategic coach to companies in the staffing industry, a podcast host and YouTube content creator, a speaker at BAM conferences, and an author of 10 books. He and his wife Cindy live in the mountains of Western North Carolina (USA) and enjoy their 7 grandchildren.

 

Hannah Lau began her career in advertising when she moved to Asia as a marketplace missionary. In 2015, she began her journey as a redemptive entrepreneur, building and helping others build businesses that embody the gospel in every area of its operations. She is the co-creator of the Redemptive Business Canvas and the founder of Arukah Works, helping others live out their faith through entrepreneurship.

 

Grant Smith is a quantity surveyor who has worked with international construction companies and managed his own consultancy practice in the UK for over thirty years. In the year 2000, Grant recognised that construction work in Kenya had a response to poverty, commercially creating fairer pay and apprenticeship opportunities. He committed himself to finding sustainable solutions to  transform individuals and societies. Grant is now the CEO of Hand in Hand Group and a director of a Kenyan construction company. Grant is the chair of Hand in Hand Foundation. Grant has had the privilege of being married to Sue since 1985 and has three children he is very proud of. He is a workplace speaker with LICC and the author of The Accidental Social Entrepreneur.

 

 


Photo by UX Indonesia on Unsplash

 

 

Will It Work? How to Decide on a BAM Business Model

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How do you know what kind of BAM business to pursue? That’s a question that we often get from those thinking about building a business as mission company. What’s more, what are some early indicators that a business is or isn’t working? We decided to ask three BAM mentors three questions about how they would go about deciding and evaluating their business model.

 

If you were deciding on a business model, what questions would you ask yourself?

 

Grant Smith

Primarily I  would suggest, you understand what you are good at. Yesterday is a training ground for tomorrow. That doesn’t mean that you never try new things, but understand your skill set. I have been in construction all my life, I have a degree in construction, I have worked in several sectors and I understand construction. When I attempted farming, I was way out of my comfort zone. When you take a brick and coat it in cement, and you take another brick and coat it in cement, every time you do it, you get a house. Farming is not as predictable, that’s not a reason not to do it, but it is a reason to have an agricultural partner or advisor who can warn you what is coming.

Mike Baer

I would ask some core questions.

First, what real need exists that I can meet better than current solutions? “Better” might mean cheaper, faster, more trustworthy, more accessible, or more relational—but it must be meaningful.

Second, who else is already meeting this need? How many competitors are there? What do they do well? Where do they struggle? Ignoring competitors is not faith; it’s denial.

Third, do I (and my team) have—or can we realistically acquire—the capability to do this well? That includes skills, funding, technology, operational capacity, and support networks. Calling does not eliminate constraints.

Fourth, can this business become sustainable and scalable? Sustainable means it can run without constant cash infusions. Scalable means it can grow its impact—jobs, customer value, community blessing—without breaking the model.

Fifth, can I envision—and eventually measure—Kingdom impact? Profit matters, but so do disciple-making, ethical employment, local blessing, and care for creation. If impact is always vague or postponed, it will likely disappear.

Sixth, will this work give me joy and hope? Not constant happiness—but a sense that the effort is life-giving rather than soul-draining.

Not every question will have a crystal-clear answer at the start. That’s normal. But if you get a strong, definitive “No” to any of them, that’s a signal to stop and seriously reconsider. If the lights are mostly green—even with different levels of brightness—then it may be time to move forward, trusting God to guide your steps and work through the business for His glory.

Hannah Lau

I would ask myself:

  1. What does my (prospective) customer need?
  2. What can they accept/tolerate/be willing to change?
  3. How can I best address that need in a way that is profitable for me?
  4. How do I make it as easy as possible for them to adopt/buy/join?

These four questions are basically four slices of a pie, and you’re trying to figure out the sweet spot, balancing the size of each slice so that all the questions can be answered to a reasonably satisfactory level. If you can’t make it work, then you probably don’t have a workable business model.

 

How do you know if a business model is working/not working? What are some signs and symptoms?

 

Hannah Lau

When a business is working, customers or clients will adopt your product or service with little resistance, recognise value, and have no problem paying for it. Conversely, when a business is not working, cashflow is tight on a regular basis and selling is hard and takes convincing your customers. It’s not working when you put too much effort in that only results in minimal customer satisfaction or profitability. In other words, if the business struggles and requires a ton of effort in just to keep five customers happy or just break even, the model isn’t working.

Mike Baer

Every time I’ve launched a new business, I’ve asked two related questions: How will I know if this is working? and How long should I give it? If you can ask—and answer—those honestly and courageously, you’ll save yourself a lot of wasted time, money, and emotional energy.

The simple answer is this: a business model is working if people are buying your product or service at a margin that can produce profit over time. More specifically, are people continuing to buy it, and is that customer base growing? Repeat customers—and more of them—are the foundation of any real business. One-time sales can flatter you; repeat sales tell you the truth.

Closely tied to this is cash flow. Whether your original projections are perfectly accurate is secondary. What matters is whether money is flowing into the business in a measurable and increasing way. If customers are the foundation, cash flow is the lifeblood. A business can survive bad forecasts, but it cannot survive chronic cash starvation.

Then there is your energy. Startups are hard—that’s a given. But chaos is exhausting in a different way. Separate normal moments (or even days) of discouragement from the deeper question: Do I still experience some measure of excitement, curiosity, or hope as I pursue growth and progress? If everything feels like grinding uphill with no traction, pay attention.

Finally—and this matters deeply in BAM—can you remain faithful to your Gospel commitments? Are honesty, compassion, fair dealing, and relationship-building sustainable in this model? If survival consistently requires cutting ethical corners or hollowing out your witness, something is wrong. The Good News should be revealed naturally over time, not sacrificed for short-term survival.

Grant Smith

How do you know if your business model is working? Well, you have to clearly define what you want to achieve, too many business’s when they start out are over ambitious. I had a friend who took on a coffee franchise, wanted to employ ex offenders, and generate money for his ministry. Running business is hard work, and you may need to focus on one priority at a time. If your focus is employing ex offenders, let that be your measurable, making a profit and a social impact. If you crack that, then you can move to providing finance for ministry.

A recommendation would be, if you are starting a business, appoint a voluntary board of strong people who will challenge you. Each person you appoint to your board needs to bring a skill, whether in finance, or your field of operation or HR or legal or… But the most important quality in a board member is that they share your vision of what you want to achieve. Then make yourself accountable to them. If your ambition is to pay people fairer than the market determines, make that your clear measurable focus. The danger is that you start making money, which you need to do to continue, but you enjoy the profits so much that you may lose the fair employment focus. Your board should keep you to account.

 

Coming up in Part 2, our three BAM mentors answer our third question:

What would be some good research approaches to figuring out good models?

 

 

 Mike Baer was one of the early leaders in the modern Business as Mission movement. He started his career as a pastor and church planter. After 15 years in the pastorate Mike was led into business where he gradually began to discover the potential for believers in business to bless their communities, evangelize the lost and spread the Kingdom of God, especially among the unreached. Today, Mike is the CEO of Third Path Initiative, an online BAM education resource, a strategic coach to companies in the staffing industry, a podcast host and YouTube content creator, a speaker at BAM conferences, and an author of 10 books. He and his wife Cindy live in the mountains of Western North Carolina (USA) and enjoy their 7 grandchildren.

 

Hannah Lau began her career in advertising when she moved to Asia as a marketplace missionary. In 2015, she began her journey as a redemptive entrepreneur, building and helping others build businesses that embody the gospel in every area of its operations. She is the co-creator of the Redemptive Business Canvas and the founder of Arukah Works, helping others live out their faith through entrepreneurship.

 

Grant Smith is a quantity surveyor who has worked with international construction companies and managed his own consultancy practice in the UK for over thirty years. In the year 2000, Grant recognised that construction work in Kenya had a response to poverty, commercially creating fairer pay and apprenticeship opportunities. He committed himself to finding sustainable solutions to  transform individuals and societies. Grant is now the CEO of Hand in Hand Group and a director of a Kenyan construction company. Grant is the chair of Hand in Hand Foundation. Grant has had the privilege of being married to Sue since 1985 and has three children he is very proud of. He is a workplace speaker with LICC and the author of The Accidental Social Entrepreneur.

 

 


Photo by Aditama on Unsplash

 

 

Business as Mission versus the Prosperity “Gospel”

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by Mike Baer

Why BAM Is Not the Same as Prosperity Teaching

A Story That Reveals a Bigger Problem

About twenty years ago, while teaching on business as mission at a church conference in Orlando, I noticed a woman looking distressed—confused, even hurt. During the break, I went straight to her and asked what was troubling her.

With tears in her eyes she said, “I don’t think God wants me to be wealthy.”

Her struggle came from taking a true idea and passing it through a faulty filter. I had been teaching that business is an institution created by God—like family or government—and that its God-given purpose is to create wealth. She heard something different: “God wants me personally to be rich.”

As we talked, she began to see the fuller picture:

  • Wealth is not only an individual matter.
  • It is a social good—fuel for families, communities, and nations to flourish.
  • Without wealth creation, societies don’t grow; they simply survive, shrink, or collapse.

This misunderstanding is surprisingly common.

 

Profit Is Not the Enemy—Misuse Is

Some people assume wealth creation is an individual pursuit and therefore un-Christian. But Scripture shows that business creates value for the many, not the few. A healthy business makes a profit, and profit generates wealth. The key questions are:

  • Why do we create it?
  • How do we use it?

When wealth becomes a tool to honor God and bless others, it fulfills its purpose.

 

What BAM Is Not: The Prosperity Gospel

The Prosperity Gospel—the “name it, claim it, frame it” message—teaches that God wants you healthy, you wealthy, and you successful as proof of His approval.

It is false.

It is dangerous.

And it twists Scripture to serve greed.

Unfortunately, as BAM grows, some people misunderstand its teaching on profit and wealth. A few even hijack BAM language to promote their own ego, platform, or bank account. That’s not BAM—that’s opportunism.

 

The Equal and Opposite Error: The Poverty Gospel

When some see the misuse of wealth, they run to the other extreme. They treat profit as suspicious and wealth creation as a necessary evil—something to be “cleansed” by giving it to ministry.

This viewpoint misquotes Scripture (“money is the root of all evil”) and ignores what Paul actually said:

“The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.” – 1 Timothy 6:10

The problem is not money.

The problem is the heart.

Both extremes miss God’s design:

  • Prosperity Gospel: “God wants you rich.”
  • Poverty Gospel: “God wants you poor.”

Neither is true.

Neither is good news.

 

What BAM Really Teaches

Every institution God created has a purpose. The purpose of business is to help build flourishing communities where people can:

  • Build homes
  • Feed their families
  • Educate their children
  • Innovate and improve
  • Fulfill the Creation Mandate (Genesis 1:26–31)

This requires wealth creation—and when done with a godly heart, it is good, necessary, and blessed.

BAM is not Prosperity Gospel.

BAM is not Poverty Gospel.

BAM is God’s design for business lived out for the good of people and the glory of God.

 

Further Reading

For deeper thinking on this topic, explore the Wealth Creation Manifesto and BAM Global Resources on Wealth Creation, by Mats Tunehag and others.

 

 Mike Baer was one of the early leaders in the modern Business as Mission movement. He started his career as a pastor and church planter. After 15 years in the pastorate Mike was led into business where he gradually began to discover the potential for believers in business to bless their communities, evangelize the lost and spread the Kingdom of God, especially among the unreached. Today, Mike is the CEO of Third Path Initiative, an online BAM education resource, a strategic coach to companies in the staffing industry, a podcast host and YouTube content creator, a speaker at BAM conferences, and an author of 10 books. He and his wife Cindy live in the mountains of Western North Carolina (USA) and enjoy their 7 grandchildren.

 

 

Why We Keep Doing This: 4 Timely Reminders

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by Mike Baer

 

I’m sitting in yet another airport lounge—the “9 zillionth time.” My body’s tired. My family’s back home. The fall colors in the Carolina mountains are blazing without me. And then, in the middle of my self-pity, the Lord whispered: “Why are you doing this?”

I knew the answer. But then I sensed Him nudging me: “Why don’t you share the answer with the rest of the BAM community?”

So here it is. Not just my answer. Our answer. Because I know many of you feel the same way.

1. We Do It Because We’re Called

This isn’t a hobby. It’s a calling.

Business is not second-class. It’s not less than “real ministry.” It’s equal in value to every other calling from God. Any call from Him is holy—period.

For me, this call has been clear for over 35 years. It’s not about feelings, perks, or applause. It’s the Spirit of God saying, “This is the work I set you apart for” (Acts 13:1-4).

That’s why we keep going.

2. We Do It Because It Unleashes Kingdom Resources

Here’s the problem: too few are doing the work of too many. The “80-20 rule” is alive and well. A handful are carrying the load while millions sit in the stands. Why? Because the “system” taught them that “ministry” is only for “ministers.”

But ministry simply means service. A minister is just a servant. Every follower of Jesus is both.

That means the field is wide open for us all. BAM is a powerful way to show the world that work is worship, business is mission, and the marketplace is a pulpit. As I tell audiences: “Get out of the stadium and onto the field.”

We all get to play (Matthew 28:18–20).

3. We Do It Because Jesus Invited Us

This isn’t our idea. BAM wasn’t cooked up by clever people in a boardroom. It’s woven into creation itself (Genesis 1:25–31). Work, trade, stewardship—it’s God’s design.

And here’s the miracle: the One who loved us and gave Himself for us says, “Let’s do this together.”

Business as mission isn’t just about running companies. It’s about joining Jesus in His changeless purpose—to reconcile the world to Himself.

What could be better than that?

4. We Do It Because the World Still Needs Hope

The world is still broken. Whole communities are chained by poverty, corruption, unemployment, and exploitation. Nations remain unreached with the gospel. Creation itself is groaning for redemption.

And here’s the truth: real transformation comes when the Body of Christ shows up in every part of life. Not just in pulpits. Not just in pews. But in shops, factories, offices, farms, and markets.

That’s where the people are. That’s where disciples are made.

So Why Do We Do This?

Yes, sometimes we miss family, home, and rest. But when we remember why, everything changes.

We do this because of the love of God, the call of God, the mission of God, and the Kingdom of God.

And honestly? Doing BAM with God is not just important. It’s a joy. It’s an adventure. It’s downright fun.

 

 

 Mike Baer was one of the early leaders in the modern Business as Mission movement. He started his career as a pastor and church planter. After 15 years in the pastorate Mike was led into business where he gradually began to discover the potential for believers in business to bless their communities, evangelize the lost and spread the Kingdom of God, especially among the unreached. Today, Mike is the CEO of Third Path Initiative, an online BAM education resource, a strategic coach to companies in the staffing industry, a podcast host and YouTube content creator, a speaker at BAM conferences, and an author of 10 books. He and his wife Cindy live in the mountains of Western North Carolina (USA) and enjoy their 7 grandchildren.

 


Photo by Dastan khdir on Unsplash

 

Raising Up the Next Generation of BAM Leaders

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by Mike Baer

 

We’ve had quite a ride. For over 40 years, the Business as Mission (BAM) movement has been breaking ground (even before it was called that)—taking the Gospel to the marketplace and planting it right in the middle of real life. This idea—that business isn’t second-tier, but rather a high calling from God—has flipped a lot of thinking upside down. From scattered dreamers and explorers in the 1980s to a global movement with countless books, companies, conferences, podcasts, YouTube channels, degrees, and investment funds, BAM has gone from fringe to full-on force. But here’s the big question: is this just the beginning… or the end of a chapter?

It’s possible that we’re at a crossroads. Ronald Reagan once said that freedom is never more than a generation from extinction. I think BAM is the same. If we don’t pass it on with intention and heart, it won’t last. But Paul’s words to Timothy (in 2 Tim. 2:2) give us more hope and a better plan—train up faithful people who will teach others. That’s the long game. That’s how movements survive.

Put those two thoughts together, and you get a bit of a wake-up call. We need to raise up the next generation of BAM leaders—not just to keep the movement alive, but to take it somewhere we’ve never even imagined. This is about legacy, and legacy means people.

Now, I’m not saying we’re old… but let’s be honest, many of us are turning into “OGs.” In hip-hop, that stands for “Original Gangster”—someone who’s been around from the start. In BAM, that’s a bunch of us. We’ve pioneered. We’ve fought the early battles. And now it’s time to pass the baton to the NGs—the New Gangsters. The next wave. The future of BAM.

From where I sit—with my Boomer perspective—I’m actually pretty hopeful. (And I want to call out the Gen Xers and Millennials too, we all need to think about building from generation to generation, no matter our age or stage.) Gen Z (Zoomers) are full of fire. They’re purpose-driven, passionate, and looking for a cause that’s worth their lives. Reminds me a bit of my generation—we protested war, launched campaigns against hunger, reshaped politics, and kicked off the Jesus Movement. There’s power in this next crew. But here’s the issue: most of them don’t know what “missions” even means. They’re globally connected but often spiritually short-sighted. They don’t know the need, the urgency. Most haven’t yet discovered the next step beyond TikTok activism. That’s the first challenge—help them fall in love with Jesus and His mission.

Then comes the second challenge. Once they’re on fire for Jesus, they still face a stale set of choices: either be a good little layperson in the marketplace, or go “pro” and join the ministry as a pastor or missionary. Two tracks. Black and white. But we know better. BAM throws out the old two-track map. We don’t accept the sacred and the secular divide. We preach Jesus as Lord of all, and business is one of His tools to heal and bless this broken world. So let’s show this new generation that there are more than two doors.

Before they choose, we’ve got to reach them. And here are a few ways to start: Read more

Nationals or Expatriates? The Key to Lasting Impact in BAM

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by Mike Baer


As the global Business as Mission (BAM) movement has evolved into a truly global (all nations) effort, a strategic question surfaces more and more often—should we focus on sending more expatriates to lead BAM initiatives in other countries, or is the greater impact found in equipping and supporting local nationals to build BAM businesses in their own regions?

And, as we explore this question, let’s go back to the foundational principles of the modern BAM movement (and, indeed, BAM through the ages). First, business, like all of life, is created by God for His glory and the good of humanity. That means God is has used it and is using it and calling many into it. Second, God’s heart is for the nations, the ethnoi, the people groups of the entire earth. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) and its companion verse in Acts (Acts 1:8) make it clear that all peoples and, especially, the unreached peoples should remain at the center of today’s BAM efforts. If we use these two principles as harbor lights, we can arrive at a strategic and biblical answer to the question.

At first glance, the straight forward answer is “both.” Indeed, God is calling His whole church to reach all peoples: Acts 1:8 tells us that the power of the Holy Spirit was given so that we, God’s people, can be His “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Many communities around the world have no local believers, no way of knowing who Jesus is. For the Good News to reach those people, cultural and geographical boundaries will likely need to be crossed. I want to say right at the start, if God has been clearly stirring you for BAM in a particular place, to reach a particular underserved people, the intention here is not to discourage you. We need more, not less, individuals willing to plant businesses cross-culturally, or in near cultures. There are plenty of resources here on the BAM Blog and in the Resource Library to help you do that effectively—and the principles below on partnering with those who know the cultural context well will stand you in good stead.

Yet, as we dig deeper and zoom out to consider our strategic focus as a movement, I believe the scales begin to tip. If the goal is lasting transformation—socially, spiritually, environmentally, and economically—the weight rests on empowering nationals. This isn’t to dismiss the critical role of expatriates, but to recognize that the future of BAM depends on a strategic shift toward greater mobilization and equipping of those already embedded in the culture and context.

So, what does this look like in practice? Let’s unpack the rationale, the roles, and the blueprint for moving forward.

The Biblical Case for Multiplication through Locals

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) sets the tone. Jesus didn’t stay in one place to oversee the growth of the early Church—He raised up local leaders. Paul followed the same model, planting churches but quickly transitioning leadership to local believers (Titus 1:5). The principle is simple: outsiders may initiate, but insiders multiply.

In the same way, expatriates can spark the BAM movement in new regions, but true cultural transformation takes root when nationals catch the vision, take ownership, and drive it forward.

Why the focus on nationals? I see four key reasons:

1. Cultural Fluency and Trust

Nationals possess an innate understanding of the language, customs, and social dynamics of their regions. These factors are essential in building relationships, establishing trust, and leading businesses that are culturally relevant.

Expatriates may take years to develop a basic level of insight—if they ever do. In contrast, nationals already hold many of these keys, allowing them to navigate business and discipleship opportunities with greater ease and fluidity. Read more

Starting Lean: Soft Launches Help Avoid Hard Landings

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by Mike Baer

Adapted from material developed for a Third Path Initiative training module.

A very common story among highly excited entrepreneurs goes something like this: get a great idea, build the product, go whole hog to market, wait and lose a lot of money. It’s equivalent to the leadership anti-mantra “ready, fire, aim.” I call this the “emotional/entrepreneur syndrome” where any action is preferred to analysis and patience.

Contrast that with a less common but much wiser approach. Get an idea, test the idea, check out the landscape, build a sufficient product to try out, go lightly to market, listen, and adjust. Boring? Not at all…unless you just get off on failure.

This approach has been called many things over the years. It’s not new. Soft opening. Soft launch. Lean startup. Trial and error. Jesus put it this way:

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him… – Luke 14:28-29, ESV

Out of context, I admit but true nonetheless. Take your time and do it right.

Here are the steps I’d use if I was doing another startup. After my initial ideation, testing the market, and market research, I’d:

Develop a Minimal Viable Product

This is a concept not created but made popular by Eric Ries in The Lean Startup. A “minimal viable product” or MVP is defined as:

…that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.” – Wikipedia

… a development technique in which a new product or website is developed with sufficient features to satisfy early adopters. The final, complete set of features is only designed and developed after considering feedback from the product’s initial users. – Techopedia

In other words, don’t try to create the perfect website, application, food, widget. Instead, build just enough, barely enough, the minimum to actually go to market. You will improve and update and complete your product later but for now I just want my car on the track.  Read more

An Abundance of Counselors: Practical Steps to Set Up an Advisory Board

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This December marks 8 years of regularly posting content on The BAM Review Blog. This month we are sharing some past posts on practical BAM topics that you might have missed.

 

Dear BAM Mentor,

I keep hearing that having an Advisory Board is good idea for a BAM company. How is an advisory board different from other kinds of boards and how should I go about setting one up?

~ Needing Advice

Dear Needing Advice,

The question arises as to the purpose and practicality of an Advisory Board for a small business or a startup. I have had advisory boards for several of the businesses I’ve launched and served on advisory boards for others. Needless to say, I am a big fan.

King Solomon put it like this:

“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”  Proverbs 11:14

“…for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.”  Proverbs 24:6

The basic premise of an Advisory Board is that, rather than try to figure out everything on your own, you can enlist the wisdom, perspective and experience of others to help you “wage your war.” In addition to advice there is also a healthy element of accountability – something many entrepreneurs don’t want, but something all of them need. Read more

An Abundance of Counselors: Practical Steps to Set Up an Advisory Board

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We are revisiting some of the classic material from The BAM Review blog on governance, accountability and the support that a BAM practitioner needs around them to thrive.

 

Dear BAM Mentor,

I keep hearing that having an Advisory Board is good idea for a BAM company. How is an advisory board different from other kinds of boards and how should I go about setting one up?

~ Needing Advice

Dear Needing Advice,

The question arises as to the purpose and practicality of an Advisory Board for a small business or a startup. I have had advisory boards for several of the businesses I’ve launched and served on advisory boards for others. Needless to say, I am a big fan.

King Solomon put it like this:

“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”  Proverbs 11:14

“…for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.”  Proverbs 24:6

The basic premise of an Advisory Board is that, rather than try to figure out everything on your own, you can enlist the wisdom, perspective and experience of others to help you “wage your war.” In addition to advice there is also a healthy element of accountability – something many entrepreneurs don’t want, but something all of them need. Read more

The Seamless Integration of Business as Mission: The Nucleus of BAM

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by Mike Baer

In the early to mid 1990’s, as BAM was beginning to be rediscovered in Scripture and the world of missions activity, there was a phrase floating around to describe what we were thinking and doing. Our company, The Jholdas Group, for example, actually built it into our mission statement. “Our purpose,” we wrote, “is to support church planting among the unreached people groups of the 10/40 Window through the seamless integration of Business as Mission.” I believe that this phrase, the seamless integration of Business as Mission, was and still is at the core of the modern BAM movements, it is the nucleus around which all other particles orbit.

Let’s quickly parse the phrase in reverse. There is not an “s.” in mission, It’s not “business as missions.” That would limit it to missionary activity. It’s bigger and more encompassing. The word mission refers to the purpose of God in the world. It’s much more than saving souls, although that is vital. The purpose of God, His mission, is to glorify Himself and His grace In Jesus Christ in this broken world by redeeming, restoring, and transforming people, communities, societies, institutions, and the environment affected by the fall. In the words of Isaac Watts, “He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found…”

What Business as Mission does in the term “seamless integration” is to simply ask every Christian to bring every aspect of his or her existence and constantly ask, “Lord Jesus, how might this glorify you?”

Business is God’s institution for producing wealth through the profitable exchange of ideas, labor, products, services, etc. It is His engine of wealth creation from before the fall and now after the fall; I, for one, believe that work and business will exist in the fully manifested Kingdom of God. Wealth creation is God’s means of blessing humanity, providing our daily bread, and enabling us to improve our lives and the lives of our neighbors.

Seamless integration means perfected unity. It is recognizing that when God created all things they worked together perfectly, they were aligned, they were integrated. Sin brought disintegration and fractured living. Grace brings wholeness, reintegration, and holism. Life under the Lordship of Christ knows no boundaries, no compartments, no hierarchies. Life and the life of the Body is a unified, free-flowing experience and expression of the glory of God.  Read more

5 Key Positions in Your Start Up and Some Things to Avoid

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TOP 5 BLOGS IN 5 YEARS

This month we are celebrating 5 years of publishing weekly blogs on The BAM Review and sending out bi-weekly emails!  To celebrate, we are re-posting the TOP 5 most read blogs from the past 5 years for your reading enjoyment.

by Mike Baer

I’ve consulted with a lot of business startups – usually after they’ve stalled or run into trouble. The problem in almost every case I have seen is not funding. It’s people.

Not having the right people around you from Day One is Problem One.

This post will address some of the key things to think about when it comes to your team.

Team Composition

Exactly what you need in term of skills depends largely on the type of business you are starting and the particular impact strategy you’ve chosen. Nevertheless, here are some basic positions you need to have filled – even if you have the same person filling two boxes on the organisational chart or if you outsource.

1. Finance and Accounting
It’s not just about reports. It’s about regulations, tax compliance, and information. Here’s a tip: businesses don’t fail for lack of profit; they fail for lack of cash. Think about that. A finance guy knows what I’m saying. If you don’t, then you need to hire one.

2. Operations 
Whatever your product or service someone has to run the day-to-day operations. Planning. Making. Stocking. Shipping. Delivering. Inspecting. Improving. Supply chain. Transportation. A lot goes into running a business.

3. IT 
Even if you’re not a technology company (and the odds are you will be) there’s a ton of technology you have to be on top of. Networks. Systems. Hardware. Software. Websites. Lions, tigers and bears…oh my!  Read more

3 Reasons to Scale Your Business to Reach the Unreached: Best of BAM Blog

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AND THE AWARD GOES TO...

Our goal is to provide the BAM Community with great content and resources. Each year we do a summer roundup of articles which have stood out in the past 6 months.

Below is our second “Staff Pick” for January to June 2019.

Please enjoy and thanks for following!

by Mike Baer

In all entrepreneurial circles, the hot topic is “How to scale the business.” How do we take our company from me (and possibly a few others) to many? How do we add more employees? Customers? Lines of business? Locations? Profits?

Scaling in General

“Scale or Die” is the cry that comes from many startups and from virtually all investors. Growth is an evidence of life and health. Healthy companies grow. But it’s not easy, especially in a business as mission endeavor.

Where will you find the funding to expand? Bootstrapping or “cash-flowing” expansion is extremely difficult and tediously slow.

What about managers sufficiently skilled and knowledgeable to lead a larger business who also share your faith and focus? Where will you find them? How will you pay them? Who will move to your location? Do you use locals? Expats?

And, most importantly, what about your own experience or lack thereof? If you’ve never done it before, it’s daunting and difficult to say the least! The overwhelming majority of startups fail to scale.  Read more

3 Reasons to Scale Your Business to Reach the Unreached

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by Mike Baer

In all entrepreneurial circles, the hot topic is “How to scale the business.” How do we take our company from me (and possibly a few others) to many? How do we add more employees? Customers? Lines of business? Locations? Profits?

Scaling in General

“Scale or Die” is the cry that comes from many startups and from virtually all investors. Growth is an evidence of life and health. Healthy companies grow. But it’s not easy, especially in a business as mission endeavor.

Where will you find the funding to expand? Bootstrapping or “cash-flowing” expansion is extremely difficult and tediously slow.

What about managers sufficiently skilled and knowledgeable to lead a larger business who also share your faith and focus? Where will you find them? How will you pay them? Who will move to your location? Do you use locals? Expats?

And, most importantly, what about your own experience or lack thereof? If you’ve never done it before, it’s daunting and difficult to say the least! The overwhelming majority of startups fail to scale.  Read more

Foundations: BAM 101

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AND THE AWARD GOES TO...

Our goal is to provide the BAM Community with the best content and resources available. This summer, we are highlighting various articles and resources which have stood out in the past 6 months. Below is the “Most Popular Post” for January to June 2018.

Please enjoy and thanks for following!

by Mike Baer

So what exactly is Business as Mission? In its original intent (I was one of the first to use the term, so I can say this!) it meant that business—my job, my company, my skills—can and should be deliberately connected to what God is doing in the world, i.e. His mission. Nothing more. Nothing less.

What BAM is Not

Over the past 25 years the term Business a Mission and the concept has been adulterated and abused. For some it has come to mean:

  • Ethical Business—simply being honest in a Christian sort of way
  • Business as Visa—setting up fake or quasi-fake businesses in the effort to secure an entry visa for missionary work in a restricted access country
  • Poverty Alleviation—programs to help the poor make a better living
  • Business Justification—making business OK or more valuable to God by somehow doing it overseas (I write as an American)

Read more

Breaking Down the Sacred-Secular Divide

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by Mike Baer

Adapted from material first published on the Third Path Blog, as part of a series, reposted with kind permission.

What is the Sacred-Secular Divide?

You don’t have to go very far today to hear some reference to the ‘sacred-secular divide’ or the ‘sacred-secular dichotomy.’ It’s in all the books, blogs, conferences – and occasionally in a sermon. And it’s always in a negative connotation.

So what exactly is the sacred-secular divide? In one sense, it’s impossible to define. It’s a kind of culture, a nuance, an entirely too subtle way of looking at life, vocation and ministry. It’s a shadow that covers many other aspects of our lives. It seems innocuous, but it’s not. The divide is a false dichotomy, a false worldview, an infection in the minds of Jesus’ followers that has done incalculable damage to the cause of the Church.

However, we can at least approximate the meaning of the divide in this way. It is a view of life built on a separation or distinction between those things, people and places someone believes to be sacred (holy and of God) and those believed to be secular (worldly and not of God). Certain callings are holy (missionary, pastor) and others are secular, i.e. of the world and therefore unholy (business, medicine, construction, etc). Certain places are sacred as well—church buildings, graveyards, seminaries while others are secular—my house, your house, schools, and athletic stadiums. I know you might like the sentiment, but a candle lit in a church building is no more holy or special to God than a candle on my 2 year old grandson’s birthday cake. Caution: if that statement offends you, then you are living in the divide. In short, it is all about distinctions and separations and classes and castes. Read more

Foundations: Expanding into Hard Places

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by Mike Baer

I don’t want to bury the lead so here it is: BAM is one of the most strategic ways to engage the worlds unreached people groups and that focus should dominate the movement.

Now, in the spirit of fairness, I am for BAM everywhere and believe that all Christians in all callings should be directly and deliberately connecting all of their lives (including their careers) to God’s eternal purpose. To me, this is the sine qua non of true BAM and certainly means more than just doing business among UPGs. It means doing business to the glory of God and with a free conscience wherever He has placed us.

Yet, how can we look at the world and the billions who live in the hardest to reach places, the people groups with no viable Gospel witness or church and not recognize the priority of UPGs. 25 years after the birth of the modern Business as Mission movement in Central Asia, the overwhelming majority of BAM enterprises are among the reached countries.

Read more

Foundations: An Act of Worship

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by Mike Baer

Like Business as Mission, the term Business as Worship has many meanings. As I listen to speakers and read current writing it seems that these fall rather easily into two major thought buckets:

1. Business or Work as an Act of Worship

2. Business or Work as an Act of Spreading the Worship of God

These are by no means mutually exclusive nor are they contradictory. In fact, both are wonderfully true and accurate. They are simply looking at the near term versus the eternal.

An Act of Worship

The core idea here is that worship, the act and attitude of ascribing worth to God and of prostrating ourselves, literally and figuratively, is not at all limited to what happens in a church building on Sunday morning. Singing, praying, listening to the Word of God and giving are all recognized forms of worship. But what about loving others and serving others? Or providing for our families and generating income for employees? What about honest labor? Accurate scales? Are not all of these also acts of worship? Indeed, when we speak of work as worship we are building on the Biblical truth that all of life, every single bit of living is meant to be done from a heart of submission to God and affection for Christ and our fellow man. All of life, except for sin, is in fact worship.

Read more

Foundations: BAM 101

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by Mike Baer

So what exactly is Business as Mission? In its original intent (I was one of the first to use the term, so I can say this!) it meant that business—my job, my company, my skills—can and should be deliberately connected to what God is doing in the world, i.e. His mission. Nothing more. Nothing less.

What BAM is Not

 Over the past 25 years the term Business a Mission and the concept has been adulterated and abused. For some it has come to mean:

  • Ethical Business—simply being honest in a Christian sort of way
  • Business as Visa—setting up fake or quasi-fake businesses in the effort to secure an entry visa for missionary work in a restricted access country
  • Poverty Alleviation—programs to help the poor make a better living
  • Business Justification—making business OK or more valuable to God by somehow doing it overseas (I write as an American)

Read more

Business as Mission: An Expression of Biblical Integrity

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by Mike Baer

The word “integrity” has been bandied about so much over the last decade or so that it has practically become meaningless. Politicians are described in their self-serving advertisements as men or women of “integrity.” We like the word. It’s right up there with “tolerant”—another empty term. In fact, who could argue with someone who was tolerant and had integrity. He or she would be a postmodern super hero.

Unfortunately, we don’t think about words much any more. We don’t dwell on what they mean. As a result, we lose the richness and power of a great concept. So, in this article, I want to spend a few moments unpacking two dimensions of integrity, especially in the context of Business as Mission.

Integrity and Ethics

When I first began teaching business in the Former Soviet Union twenty years ago, the first hurdle I had to overcome was establishing that business was legitimate in the first place. Most people viewed business as inherently corrupt and dishonest. Today’s America has very much the same opinion. And why not? We hear constant news flashes of another scandal in Apple’s China factory or fraud in CitiGroup’s financial products or theft on Wall Street, or…ad nauseum.  It is erroneous to confuse business with the business person. The person is corrupt but business is not. Nevertheless, few think that deeply and so they condemn all things business as dark, greedy and devilish.

Read more

Financial Planning: How Do I Prepare to Present to Investors?

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by Mike Baer

Funding for your new business is obviously crucial – no cash, no business. So let’s think about this from an investor’s perspective. What is it that interests him or her? What does he or she want to see? What questions answered?

Here’s what I’d be asking:

  • What exactly is the product or service that you intend to sell? Don’t assume that I understand it. Make it simple for me.
  • What is the market demand for this? Is it a cool idea, a “me too,” or is there a real demand? In other words, do people really need/want your product or service?
  • Who will your competitors be? How is your idea better than and different from theirs?

This first set of questions is about your viability in the market place. Is this a real business? This second set of questions is about you. Can I count on you? Read more

Starting Lean: Soft Launches Help Avoid Hard Landings

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by Mike Baer

Adapted from material developed for a Third Path Initiative training module.

A very common story among highly excited entrepreneurs goes something like this: get a great idea, build the product, go whole hog to market, wait and lose a lot of money. It’s equivalent to the leadership anti-mantra “ready, fire, aim.” I call this the “emotional/entrepreneur syndrome” where any action is preferred to analysis and patience.

Contrast that with a less common but much wiser approach. Get an idea, test the idea, check out the landscape, build a sufficient product to try out, go lightly to market, listen, and adjust. Boring? Not at all…unless you just get off on failure.

This approach has been called many things over the years. It’s not new. Soft opening. Soft launch. Lean startup. Trial and error. Jesus put it this way:

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him… – Luke 14:28-29, ESV

Out of context, I admit but true nonetheless. Take your time and do it right.

Here are the steps I’d use if I was doing another startup. After my initial ideation, testing the market, and market research, I’d: Read more

Developing a Flight Plan for Your Business

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by Mike Baer

Adapted from material first published on the Third Path Initiatives Blog.

Values. Vision. Purpose. Operating Principles. Those are pretty lofty altitudes in your business development process. They are all necessary; just as a solid foundation is necessary if you are going to build a home that lasts. However, with the foundation laid it’s time to begin executing on what you actually want to do.

We call this Flight Planning. It’s part strategic plan and part market plan and part organizational plan and mostly action plan. Over the last 20 years we’ve seen a large number of startups and small businesses achieve amazing results by devising and then doing this simple 3-step process.

Step 1: Set Targets and Objectives

The first step of the Flight Plan is to determine where you actually want to be in the next year (Objectives) and the next three years (Targets). It’s useful to set the information out, as follows. Read more

Getting Started with Market Research

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Once a month, our panel of mentors answer your practical business questions. Send us your questions!

 

Dear BAM Mentor,

I’m developing a business plan for a BAM company. What are some ideas, tips or resources you would suggest as I conduct market research and analysis, especially in a BAM setting?

~ Anticipating Analysis

Dear Anticipating,

The question of market research comes up constantly and is both a very important part of a business plan and at the same time can be a big waste of time. Let me explain.

If you are doing a business plan to guide your launch and actions, then all you really need is to figure out a few basic things:

1. Who else does what you plan to do?

2. In what ways are you better, faster, cheaper, easier to access, etc.?

3. What price point will your potential customers accept? What do your competitors charge?

4. Where, how, when will you distribute your product/service? Does it fit with where, how, when people want to buy?

5. How many potential customers are there? How many of them will you be able to convert into actual customers?

6. What laws, taxes, licenses, etc. exist that will affect your business?

Beyond these few things much more research will not give you ROI. So don’t do it. Read more

Business as Mission When You’re Not the Boss: BAM for the Rest of Us [Book Excerpt]

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by Mike Baer


The Story So Far…

God graciously invaded my life in early 1974. Actually He had been battering at the gate of my self-centered fortress for some time prior but it was in February of that year that, like Lydia, the Lord opened my heart and I believed. My conversion was dramatic. Not emotional. No fireworks. Yet one man knelt down to meet Christ and another, entirely new person got up to live for Him.

Within a week I had connected with 3 other new believers on the campus of the University of Tennessee. We all faced a common dilemma. What do Christians do on Friday night? We were expert in what pagans do. But what about the followers of Jesus? Not knowing any better we decided to get together to read the Bible, to pray together and to play cards. That first evening there were 4 of us. The next week there were 8. Then 16 and so on until soon over 150 students and young people began to gather to study the Word, to pray, and eventually to exercise baptism, the Lord’s Supper and Church Discipline. Without our knowing it God had used us to plant a New Testament church. I, along with a couple of others became the “elders” and “pastors” of this congregation and from that point I spent the next 15 years in a pastoral role for several different churches around the US. I went on to study at a variety of institutions – missionary training schools, Bible colleges, non-Christian universities – and earned a BA and eventually gained a Th.M.. I jokingly refer to myself as the “accidental church planter” because only God could have engineered such a path.

However, over the course of the 15 years that I was in the formal pastorate the Lord began to create in my heart a thirst to be more effective in reaching unbelievers and encouraging believers who were distant from the organized church. I began to sense that my “pastoral job” was actually more of a barrier to this desire rather than a bridge. Let me quickly say that this was for me and not for all those engaged in pastoral work.

Over time, the Holy Spirit made it clear that He wanted me to leave the formal pastorate and migrate into the business world. This is where I could engage the lost and the least churched on their turf, in their domain. Fast forward. For the next 10 years I was blessed to be highly successful in business and to enjoy the granting of my heart’s desires. I was able to demonstrate and communicate the Gospel to many who would never darken the door of a church, even the most seeker friendly church. Believers who were disenfranchised from organized church began to find encouragement, shepherding and equipping in the context of the workplace. Needless to say, I was ecstatic.

My quest, though, was not ended. There began to emerge in my mind a burning question: how do these two seemingly separate parts of my life fit together? Ministry and Business. 15 years in one; 10 years in the other. Were they two different books? Two entirely distinct chapters? Read more

An Abundance of Counselors: Practical Steps to Set Up an Advisory Board

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Once a month, our panel of mentors answer your practical business questions. Send us your questions!

 

Dear BAM Mentor,

I keep hearing that having an Advisory Board is good idea for a BAM company. How is an advisory board different from other kinds of boards and how should I go about setting one up?

~ Needing Advice

Dear Needing Advice,

The question arises as to the purpose and practicality of an Advisory Board for a small business or a startup. I have had advisory boards for several of the businesses I’ve launched and served on advisory boards for others. Needless to say, I am a big fan.

King Solomon put it like this:

“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”  Proverbs 11:14

“…for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.”  Proverbs 24:6

The basic premise of an Advisory Board is that, rather than try to figure out everything on your own, you can enlist the wisdom, perspective and experience of others to help you “wage your war.” In addition to advice there is also a healthy element of accountability – something many entrepreneurs don’t want, but something all of them need. Read more

5 Key Positions in Your Start Up and Some Things to Avoid

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by Mike Baer

Adapted from material first published on the Third Path Blog, here and here, reposted with kind permission.

 

I’ve consulted with a lot of business startups – usually after they’ve stalled or run into trouble. The problem in almost every case I have seen is not funding. It’s people.

Not having the right people around you from Day One is Problem One.

This post will address some of the key things to think about when it comes to your team.

Team Composition

Exactly what you need in term of skills depends largely on the type of business you are starting and the particular impact strategy you’ve chosen. Nevertheless, here are some basic positions you need to have filled – even if you have the same person filling two boxes on the organisational chart or if you outsource. Read more

5 Funding Models for Your Kingdom Startup

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by Mike Baer

Post first published on the Third Path Blog, reposted with kind permission.

The still famous line from the movie Jerry McGuire is “Show me the money!” Some of you have been thinking that as you’ve read the rest of this series. How do I get money to launch my startup? I’m going to outline several “programs” you can consider:

The “Missionary for a Moment” Model

I have to tell you upfront that I have rejected this model for years. However, recently a close brother whom I respect greatly challenged my thinking and got me a little closer to acceptance than I was before.

The Momentary Missionary Model essentially uses raised donations or support to cover living, travel and certain startup expenses just like a normal missionary would raise support to cover living, travel and ministry expenses. What makes this work is that you are committing to your “donor-investors” to be off their giving roles within a specified period of time, to have your business profitable and to live off it.

Your donor audience in this scenario is sympathetic although they may not be the most investment savvy. Be careful to not take unintentional advantage of that sympathy. This is business. Read more

How to Prepare for Investors

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What would you say were the most important things to prepare or think about as I approach a BAM investor? What are some typical pitfalls or mistakes I could avoid?

Funding for your new business is obviously crucial – no cash, no business. So let’s think about this from an investor’s perspective. What is it that interests him or her? What does he or she want to see? What questions answered?

Here’s what I’d be asking:

  • What exactly is the product or service that you intend to sell? Don’t assume that I understand it. Make it simple for me.
  • What is the market demand for this? Is it a cool idea, a “me too,” or is there a real demand? In other words, do people really need/want your product or service?
  • Who will your competitors be? How is your idea better than and different from theirs?

This first set of questions is about your viability in the market place. Is this a real business? This second set of questions is about you. Can I count on you? Read more

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