From YWAM Connect Business as Mission Resource center @ www.businessasmission.com

Using business as a vehicle for missions and ministry is not new. The apostle Paul, for example, was a full time leather worker during much of his missionary career. A study of his letters reveals that working was more than a way to support himself; it was a central part of his missionary strategy. Preaching the gospel for free added credibility to his message and served as a model for his converts to follow (see 1Cor. 9:12-18). Similarly, centuries ago, Christian monks integrated work and ministry by tilling fields, clearing forests and building roads, while also tending to the sick, the orphaned and the imprisoned, protecting the poor, and teaching the children. As villages and towns sprang up around the monasteries, the communities were transformed as they incorporated many of these same social concerns. And even as recently as the nineteenth century, many early Protestants integrated business and other secular occupations into their mission strategies.

That tradition continues today in myriad Christian owned and operated companies around the globe. These “Great Commission Companies,” as they have been called, are income-producing businesses created to have a second (but primary) bottom line: to glorify God by promoting the growth of local churches in the least evangelized, least developed areas of the world.
Based on our five year study of for-profit companies with this missional purpose – and conversations with literally hundreds of kingdom professionals working within this context – we discovered not only some fascinating case studies (chronicled in our book), but also some best practices that characterize those who have successfully pursued this dual bottom line. We suggest six steps for those who wish to start a Great Commission Company of their own:

1. Evaluate the business opportunity
2. Evaluate the missions opportunity
3. Assemble a management team
4. Build an advisory network
5. Develop a business plan
6. Develop a Great Commission plan

1. Evaluate the Business Opportunity
The most promising business ideas are those that address a relatively unmet need. The more urgent the need or the problem, the more valuable the solution will be. For a business to be successful, however, it must have more than just a good idea. It must have some kind of competitive advantage or “barrier to entry” that makes it difficult for others to copy the idea and compete away the profits. Without an obvious way to differentiate your product or service and keep competitors at bay, a business may never get off the ground because the likelihood of recovering its initial startup costs is low. Therefore before pursuing a business opportunity it is important to ask at least the following questions: (1) How large is the market? (2) What makes the business unique? and (3) Is the idea financially viable? continue