MSME DIGEST With Kola Owolabi
BUSINESS WISDOM FROM THE BIBLE — PART ONE
Welcome to a new series of MSME DIGEST With Kola Owolabi, titled BUSINESS WISDOM FROM THE BIBLE. In this series, we shall explore timeless biblical principles that entrepreneurs can apply to build profitable, sustainable and enduring businesses.
Our opening lesson comes from Ecclesiastes 4:9:
“Moreover the profit of the earth is for all, the king himself is served by the field.”
What a powerful statement! It contains a business lesson that every entrepreneur, whether operating a small shop or managing a multinational corporation, should take seriously.
The profit of the earth is for all!
Therefore, my dear entrepreneur, stop complaining that some people are more fortunate than you. Stop saying that other people are succeeding because they were born into rich families, have political connections or have influential parents. While such advantages can certainly make a difference, they do not give anyone exclusive ownership of the market.
Look around the world. There are countless examples of entrepreneurs who started with modest resources and built extraordinary businesses. The American Dream, in particular, celebrates the possibility of rising through enterprise, innovation and hard work.
Consider Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa and later moved to the United States. Through ventures in technology, electric vehicles, space exploration and other industries, he has built extraordinary wealth. Consider Jeff Bezos, who began Amazon as an online bookseller, or Mark Zuckerberg, who launched Facebook while he was a university student.
These entrepreneurs did not begin by owning the world’s markets. They identified opportunities, developed solutions and connected those solutions with people willing to pay for them.
That is the lesson!
What does the Bible mean when it says that even the king is served by the field? It reminds us that the resources and productive activities of the earth sustain everybody, including those at the highest levels of power. Governments collect revenue from economic activity, particularly through taxes. Businesses, in turn, earn revenue and profit by providing goods and services that people need and are willing to buy.
The government has its share through taxation. The entrepreneur has an opportunity to collect a share through profit.
Think about it. The same people who pay taxes to government also buy food, clothes, phones, building materials, transportation, education, entertainment and countless other products and services from businesses.
They constitute a market!
And you, as an entrepreneur, have the right to seek your own share of that market by offering value, competing fairly and serving customers well.
You may not have the resources to build an Amazon today. You may not have the connections to supply a state government. But you can identify an unmet need in your neighbourhood, develop a practical solution and begin serving customers with the resources available to you.
The market is not reserved for the wealthy. Opportunities exist at different levels, although access to capital, technology, infrastructure and networks is not equal. Your task is to discover where you can compete effectively and build from there.
Never allow another person’s advantage to become your excuse for inaction.
The earth produces opportunities in abundance. Your responsibility is to discover the opportunity you can serve, connect with the people who need what you offer and earn your profit through the value you create.
The question is not whether there is a share of the market for you. The question is: Have you discovered where your share lies, and are you doing anything to collect it?
In Part Two, we shall examine practical ways entrepreneurs can gain access to the market through a bottom-up approach—starting small, serving real customers and growing from there.
By Kola Owolabi – 08023203198
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of Nigeria. He is the CEO of David Solomon Consulting, a foremost business plan preparation and business consulting firm, which operates out of Igbesa, near Crawford University, Ogun State. He can be reached on 08023203198 ( WhatsApp line)
