In part 1 Charles Glass showed how Seed Fund is designed to assist with church planting by starting businesses in parallel with a church planting initiative. Now he begins to share some of the practical considerations necessary for a successful business.
Getting it right from the start
Supporting businesses that help church planting and also uplift poorer communities involves a lot more than just lending money. There are the important questions as to whether the business is viable, whether the individual is right to start that sort of business and what support would help make it a success. Over the years the Seed Fund Team has been involved in all those areas and has developed resources, guidelines and simple systems to help. Our particular focus in this posting is on the importance of character, good planning and being culturally sensitive.
Character
Experience has taught us that the most important factor for success is the character of the individual. Specifically; are they teachable, determined and prepared to work hard? This is one of the reasons why we always work through local church leaders who can give this sort of character reference. Following this there needs to be a confirmation that they have the skills and knowledge to make the business work. We always try a work with a key contact in the country, normally a business person who is closely linked to the church leadership.
Planning
We have created a simple business plan, which ensures that individuals have thought through the key aspects of starting and running their business. The process moves from an overview of the business (legal, social and product factors) through a simple marketing/sales plan to the financial and other resources needed. It looks at ‘risks’ as well as ‘opportunities’, and is normally validated by a church leader who is also involved in business in the country concerned
Critically it also has a short section on the market opportunity, as there is a tendency to either start a business where there is no market or on the other extreme to copy what others are doing which leads to failure as the market is saturated.
Cultural sensitivity
Another factor to bear in mind when helping to start church related businesses is the part that culture plays in business practice. We have learnt not to simply promote Western business practices or assumptions. For instance in many ex-Communist countries, where there has been a lot of central state control, people are unused to taking initiative and often need much more directive input than we had expected. Similarly in Africa the family dynamic is very strong, and often overrides what we might see as good business practice. Part of the idea behind Seedfund therefore is to be a resource for anyone seeking to support businesses in the context of church planting through building good practice, effective business ideas and insights as to what to bear in mind when working in different areas of the world.
To learn more about Seed Fund, and to be involved in supporting businesses which assist in church planting and also uplift people and communities in need go to Seedfund.org.uk