• Skip to content
BizMin - Prepared to do Business God's Way

Prepared to do business as ministry

  • About BizMin
  • How we do it
  • The BizMin Course
  • Workshops
  • Videos
  • Project 500
  • Blog

Thoughts

Jan 22 2019

Business Planning God’s way

James chapter 4 challenges us to stop boasting about tomorrow; ‘13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.’

This passage seems to speak directly to business leaders. We write our business plans and ‘arrogant schemes’, thinking in the infamous words of Dell boy from Only Fools and Horses; ‘Don’t worry, Rodney. This time next year, we’ll be millionaires!‘

It is common place in business to write a business plan. This can be a sensible way of ensuring we move systematically towards our business goals. It can however, also be an arrogant boast about the future. This passage reminds us that we have no control over what lies ahead. Instead we must take responsibility for what is in our control; what we do today. We believe God’s way is about determining what is the right thing to do today. As Christian business leaders we need to focus on recognising the difference between the right and wrong courses of action in each situation. The key question we must ask is ‘what is the Lord’s will?’. We have found that when we do this we cannot help but end up in the best place.

Let us commit as Kingdom Entrepreneurs to focus on today and let God take care of tomorrow.

Written by Paul Bulkeley · Categorized: Business God's Way, Thoughts

Jan 13 2019

…but I am a man of prayer!

I am enjoying reading a great book about church planting by my friend Tim Matthews. It’s called ‘Love Church’ and follows the story of how he and his wife church planted St Swithuns, Bournemouth. It’s a great read and I recommend it to you.

What has struck me is how similar the story of planting a church is to founding a Kingdom Business. In a chapter on the role of prayer he talks about how he answers the question; “how should we pray for a church plant?” He points to how the Apostle Paul prays for the Colossians in Col 1:9-12. He singles out ten things all church plants continually need prayer for. A kingdom business is no different. They are:

  1. May God…fill you with the knowledge of his will
  2. …through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives
  3. …so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way
  4. …bearing fruit in every good work
  5. …growing in the knowledge of God
  6. …being strengthened with all his power according to his glorious might
  7. …so that you may have great endurance
  8. …and patience
  9. …giving joyful thanks to the Father
  10. …who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

What encouragement. This is the hope of every kingdom entrepreneur. I would encourage you to use this as a powerful guide to help you pray for your company.

Written by Paul Bulkeley · Categorized: Thoughts

Dec 24 2018

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas everyone.

As the year comes to an end and Christmas day approaches we are reminded afresh of our calling to be like Christ; Immanuel, ‘God with us’, the Light of the World. As we obey His commands and go about our business lives in the power of the Holy Spirit we too are a ‘light to the world’.

May you know peace and restoration in your soul this Christmas season in preparation for another year of faithful service. Every blessing for the New Year and a fruitful 2019.

Written by Paul Bulkeley · Categorized: Thoughts

Nov 11 2018

An exemplar business

This weekend I drove with my family from one end of Britain to the other. It was a tour of the nation and proved to be an insightful foray into the two extremes of business, discovered, perhaps surprisingly, through a nations motorway service stations.

Heading north from the miseries of Luton airport, our first experience was of various service stations on the A1(M). They encapsulated all that is bad, hopeless and joyless about modern business. These were places decaying through underinvestment and greed. Commercial adverting was everywhere and relentlessly hounded a captive audience. Soulless global outlets, weary or disinterested looking staff, long queues, a neglected building and toilets that are unmentionable. I felt despair at the state of business in Britain. There were no excuses.

These were busy places heaving with customers, a captured market with no choice and with no competition. The owners of these services clearly felt no need to invest in anything other than the blatant exploitation of those unlucky enough to pull in. It was deeply depressing and showed how far capitalism has fallen. All that was bad about business was here.

As we travelled into Scotland the service stations were few and far between, sparsely spaced by market forces rather than the practical needs of drivers to be serviced. They were often equally tired and depressed but this time one might argue due to the reduced market leading to a lack of revenue from which to invest. These were service stations more symptomatic of economic decline and a north south divide. Different reasons to be disappointed.

On the journey south something wholly unexpected rejuvenated my belief in what business can be. We discovered a motorway service station motivated by love. That’s right…love.

This was a place more akin to a National Trust visitor centre than a motorway service station. So much so that the kids felt it more closely resembled the Waitrose farm shop where we used to live. The food was fresh, local, beautifully presented and served with a smile by happy, caring staff who took time to chat and high five with the kids. The architecture was beautiful, more like a classy restaurant than a service station. Exposed oak beams, vaulted ceilings and a nature reserve outside the expansive glass windows. It even had a fire place. Clearly this was no ordinary motorway service station. For starters there was not a single advert. No branded products, just the finest selection of locally made food. I decided to ask a member of staff what was going on. To my surprise he knew all about it and seemed proud of his employers. Wow, that’s a testimony.

It turns out that Tebay Services is no ordinary service station. It is what capitalism could be, should be, please Lord may it be….

This was a business run by local people who love their patch and want to keep it lovely. This was a place where every detail oozed care. Can you believe that, in a motorway service station! 

On the journey south I got on line to find out what lay behind this amazing business exemplar. Online reviews reveal others share our joy, but also show that not everyone is so positive. It turns out the food is a little more expensive than McDonalds! Of course it is. You pay for what you get. Perhaps that is the key lesson. It takes generous customers as well as caring business owners to create a truly good business. 

Wikipedia provides a clue to the roots of Tebay Services’ success. They are ‘operated by an independent family-owned company, rather than a national chain.’ Surely that is another key lesson.

Tebay Services is run by the Dunning family.  Their story is on their website; ‘We were the first family run motorway services on the UK roads. There are no franchises or fast food on our forecourts. Instead, a Farmshop selling locally produced food, a Butchery featuring meat reared from our own farms and a Kitchen serving homemade dishes produced daily using local ingredients. Proper food with locality and a sense of belonging is at the very heart of everything we do. We believe proper food matters. So we serve it where you’d least expect it – on the motorway.’

They stand firm for their values and have done so for over 40 years; ‘the Dunning’s viewed the M6 not as the death of their farm, but the beginning of a whole new chapter in how they ran the farm and that ethos of innovation and a desire to do things properly defines the Westmorland Family businesses. Forty six years on and we are still here, still family owned, still farming and still with a fierce passion for, and a pride in, our landscape, our people, our environment and its products.’ 

The Westmorland Family of businesses demonstrate what happens when the owners of a business stay deeply involved and deeply committed to strong values, people and places. They care, and it shows. It’s an inspiration to us all.

Tebay Services has been described as “…the Daniel Kitson’s of services”, a reference to comedian Daniel Kitson’s reputation as an accomplished comedic writer and performer who rarely appears in the media and therefore relies greatly on word of mouth. Sounds like some other Good News that needs sharing. This is why we have told their story.When we see a genuinely great business we are happy to do our bit and put the word about. Tebay Services is an inspiration to us all. You can discover more about the company and family behind it at; http://www.westmorlandfamily.com/our-vision/our-story

Written by Paul Bulkeley · Categorized: Exemplar Business, Thoughts

  • Home
  • The BizMin Course
  • Videos
  • Project 500
  • Blog
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookie Policy

Copyright BizMin © 2022 · Built by TEKOA CREATIVE

  • About BizMin
  • How we do it
  • The BizMin Course
  • Workshops
  • Videos
  • Project 500
  • Blog