Business Partners
Baby Girl,
What did you just get done saying to the young lady on the phone about saying you’re sorry?
She was explaining that she is very bad about getting back with people in a timely manner. In the next breath, she told me that she was upset with someone she had reached out to who was not responding to her text or her voicemail.
You interrupted her complaint to give her a very firm but kind life lesson. What was it?
Well, she is very bad about responding to text or phone calls in a timely manner with me. She says sorry but doesn’t do anything differently the next time. The person she was complaining about had previously talked to me about her frustrations. This person would ask her for a ride and then, on the day in question, would not answer the phone or text to respond if she had decided not to go.
I don’t know for sure but I wonder if this person is avoiding being asked for a ride again because it’s very frustrating to set time aside in a busy life to give someone a ride and then to have them not even have the courtesy to let you know they changed their mind or they were not feeling well enough to go.
She asked you if you had received her text that said, “I’m sorry about not getting back with you.” How did you answer her?
I told her that I am not upset but I was not impressed by a text that says “I’m sorry” because this is a pattern, not a one time event. I told her that a sincere apology is accompanied by change.
- LONG PAUSE -
Wow… Daddy, I’m sorry…
I’m laughing out loud and I imagine that You are too because I just said, “I’m sorry,” after saying that “I’m sorry” not accompanied by change lacks sincerity. I guess rather than saying “I’m sorry,” a better response would be “I hear you?” I have repeatedly ask You to meet with me and, time after time, I don’t show up, and often without a good reason.
I’m glad you didn’t make Me spell that one out because it felt really obvious when you started talking… It’s fun, laughing together, isn’t it?
And the tears. There they are. Don’t cry.
You had no idea when you called to ask about the leadership meeting that you were going to talk to a pastor who is the author of a book that was about to change the way you relate with Me, did you? And yes, you are going to change how you relate to Me. We have danced with this subject far too many times.
You couldn’t let your friend finish what she was saying because the words “I’m sorry” are meaningless after the first or second time without change accompanying it.
Last year, I asked you if you saw waking up at 2:15 to meet with Me as an obligation because I was not interested in being a box for you to check off. That is still true, however. We need to change your mindset about this appointment.
You are My daughter and, regardless of your behavior, I will always LOVE you and I will always be your Father.
As My daughter, there are benefits to spending time with Me.
When you invite your daughters to go out to eat with you, they know that you are not expecting them to pay for their own meal. When they agree to spend that time with you, they know that there is a good meal they will receive in exchange for agreeing to eat with you.
Now, if they say, “No, thank you,” and don’t go out to eat with you, you will still feed them. Your kitchen always has plenty of food but, when they go to the restaurant, they are not simply eating whatever leftovers they can find or making themselves a grilled cheese sandwich. They have an entire menu full of food, drinks, and desserts to choose from. Knowing that, they rarely say, “No, thank you.”
If you were to go out to eat every single day of the week and they were to have access to whatever they want on a regular basis, they would probably say, “No, thank you,” more often because what was once a special treat has just become expected fare.
This leaves you with essentially two options: 1) accept the fact that your offer is no longer as valuable to them as it used to be and accept that they will only be joining you for dinner occasionally, or 2) increase the value of the offer. Go out to a nicer restaurant or offer to pay for a movie after. Essentially, your only option is to offer them more… bribe them.
I would like you to stop thinking of the 2:15 AM as a Daddy-daughter date. You are grown-up now and while I will always be your Daddy and you will always be my precious baby girl, you have committed to joining the family business. We are now business partners who are joining efforts to seek and save the lost.
Since you did such a thorough job last week looking into business partnerships, I don’t need to tell you what it takes to be a good business partner.
Skip over the part about how to pick a good business partner because we are already in this together. Tell Me what you have learned about how to be a good business partner.
Trust
Be honest. Soft-pedaling your true feelings because you don’t want to hurt your business partner can cause problems.
To make the partnership work, you not only have to feel comfortable with one another but trust each other implicitly.
Do what you say, say what you do.
When you agree to meeting, show up and be on time.
How am I doing in the area of being trustworthy?
You are God. I think it is safe to say that you are killing the game on trustworthiness.
Okay… how are you doing on being trustworthy?
Oh, I should’ve seen that question coming. I would really love to skip the game of self-reflection and just have You tell me what You….
Don’t. Don’t waste our time. This is not a game.
How are you doing on being a trustworthy partner?
- 5 MINUTES AND A BEEFY NACHOS LATER -
Well, that was probably the fastest that I have ever seen you order and eat Taco Bell.
Are you feeling nervous? If you were not already running late for your recovery meeting, you would have pulled off on the next exit to get something else to eat, wouldn’t you?
This is an important conversation. Command your mind to be still, then answer the question. How are you doing at being a trustworthy partner?
Well, considering I just stopped and got fast food instead of answering Your question and then checked my text even though I’m driving to avoid answering the question, I would say that if I were You, I would run!
I know this is a serious question and since we both know my heart, we both know that sarcasm is my pathetic attempt to cover over my feelings of guilt and regret.
I’m glad that you didn’t use the word shame. You caught yourself. Guilt is a reasonable response to promising to do something and then failing to follow through.
In a good business partnership, both partners can be trusted to follow through on what they promise. There are things you have promised Me that I never asked from you but, when you made the promise, you set an expectation that you failed to follow through on.
Do not make promises you do not intend to keep. I would rather you make very few promises and follow through on them all then to make a ton of promises and fail to follow through.
I know that there has never been a time I promised to meet with You that You were not ready and available to meet with me.
You have already repented. When you make amends, what does it sound like?
You acknowledge the thing that you’ve done wrong, ask the person to forgive you, and ask how you can make it right… I feel like I already know what I need to do to make it right.
That is not an amends.
LORD, a year ago You asked me to set my alarm for 2:15 AM and dedicate that hour to You. You have never failed to show up, and You have been generous with what You have taught me when I do.
I have treated that hour and Your presence casually. I have made many declarations that I would do things differently but the truth is I have not desired Your presence enough to sacrifice my comfort in the moment to build my life around that hour. Because I am now hearing from You all throughout my day, I have not prioritized setting a specific time to be alone with You.
I truly love the intimacy of the time I get with You and I don’t want to keep making excuses for why I don’t make it happen.
How can I make this right?
I’m glad you asked.
Set your alarm for 2:10.
You always go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, and get yourself a hot drink of water. That cuts into our time. If you had an appointment with your doctor, you wouldn’t wake up when you were supposed to be there would you?
No.
You would consider how long it would take you to get there and plan for that. Start accounting for the commute time from your bed to your office.
How does your office look?
It’s a mess.
Even if you must put everything you own in a basket and shove it in the bottom of the closet, clean your office up. It’s distracting you. I want My time with you to be free of all distractions.
Before you go to bed at night, put your laptop away and clear your desk of clutter. Tidy up anything that is laying around the room and create a peaceful environment. I only want your Bible, your day planner, and a beautiful mug you enjoy drinking out of on your desk.
We will start our meeting at 2:15 sharp. Don’t be late.
There is nothing important enough to interrupt our conversation to look up or do on your phone or computer during our hour together.
Our hour is not the time to pay that bill you forgot to pay, pick up the stuff on the floor, check your text or emails, wrap a present, address a letter, or do any other of your personal business. You can do that on your own time. If you have a distracting thought, make yourself a note and get your focus back on Me. If what you were distracted by is still important to you in the morning when you wake up, you can look it up then.
Atmosphere matters. Create an atmosphere that delights you. Light a candle with a scent that relaxes you. Don’t drink your water out of your water bottle. Use a mug that you enjoy. Play soft instrumental music if you would like. Don’t turn on the overhead lighting. Get a desk lamp that will be bright enough to read your Bible but warm enough to feel like home.
What else did you discover about becoming a good business partner?
Communication
Schedule regular meetings, face-to-face or via video call. Talk about how you’re doing personally in addition to discussing business so you are invested in each other’s lives.
Touch base often. In addition to meetings, touch base with your partner every day even if it’s only a quick text of email check in.
Listen carefully. If you disagree on an issue, don’t be defensive. Listen and make a joint decision based on what’s in the company’s best interest.
Don’t stay angry. Stay calm, talk through the situation and resolve it.
Open and honest. A business partnership is similar to a marriage. You need to have shared values and commit to communicating with one another through all of the ups and downs of running your business.
Celebrate successes and milestones big and small.
We obviously have work to do on our regularly scheduled meeting - and we will - but I LOVE how often you check in with Me during the day. That’s a win! Let’s celebrate that! You’re excellent at receiving feedback at this point. I can’t remember the last time you got defensive with Me.
The ability to humbly receive feedback is a wonderful trait!
Intimacy
Before entering any partnership, it’s important to make sure your counterpart is reliable and can hold up to their promises.
Vetting someone can be a tool to make sure you’re not wasting time, effort and resources when it is not worth it.
Getting to know a person could take time but is crucial, especially if you’re aiming for a long-term relationship.
Continue searching out My Word and getting to know Me better. I will never act in a way that violates My Word.
It’s easy to get worked up about a subject you do not have knowledge and understanding about. Get knowledge and understanding leading to wisdom. Search for it like a treasure and you will find Me.
Well Defined Roles
Both parties can clearly define each other’s roles and responsibilities. Doing what is needed in the moment may work for the short term, but it won’t work for long. Well defined roles and responsibilities eliminate opportunities for disagreement by giving each partner control over their domains.
A winning business partnership capitalizes on the strengths and skills of each partner.
You used to try to do My job with people. For the most part now, you stay in your own lane… planting seeds and moving on. You used to attempt to be Me in the lives of other people but you’re much quicker to call Me in to do what only I can do.
When you stay in your lane, I can do My part MUCH more effectively.
Expectations
Set clear expectations from the start. It is helpful to have a written job description for both partners just like you would in a traditional job.
How much time do both individuals have to commit to building the business?
Outline what each person will contribute in terms of time, money and responsibility. Clarifying these expectations from the start can help avoid problems later on.
When expectations are aligned, both parties better understand what the other is trying to get out of the partnership.
Get in the Word. My expectations of you and what you can expect of Me are clearly laid out in the Bible. Expecting anything of Me that has not been clearly laid out in Scripture or having an expectation of yourself or of Me that contradicts the Bible is an unrealistic expectation.
Values
Shared short-term and long-term values. You don’t have to agree on everything, but too many disagreements can hurt the business over the long-term.
It is critical that you and your partner have similar values and work ethics.
Don’t write the first word of a business plan until you know you share the same dream, goals and vision for your new business.
Make sure you’re both committed to the work and have the same end goal in mind. If one partner wants to build a legacy company to pass down to their kids and the other envisions selling to the highest bidder ASAP, it’s a business disaster waiting to happen.
Shared Vision
Have clear objectives.
Create a shared mission and vision statement. The vision and mission statement of any business represent the heartbeat of the business so it is important that both partners agree on what direction the business is headed.
If there are differences in vision, make an honest effort to find common ground.
Business Finances
The goal of any business is to generate a profit.
Will both partners contribute personal income toward growing the business?
Are you comfortable taking on debt?
How will you manage business finances going forward?
Once the business starts generating a profit, will you take a salary or focus on reinvesting in the business?
What are your long term goals?
Talk about money in advance
Document
Put your agreement in writing. Forming a partnership is a legal commitment so it’s critical to clearly define each partner’s roles and responsibilities.
Can you see where we could use some serious, uninterrupted time as business partners to get on the same page about all of this?
I know the master plan so, essentially, you need to sit with Me so I can lay the plan out on paper for you.
Get it in writing.
Make it a spiritually legally binding commitment, an oath, a covenant.
Refer to it often.
Once you know the plan, don’t veer from it to the left or the right.
That book, when it comes: read it. Don’t just read it; do what it says. I will talk you through it. This is a good start.
Show up at 2:15 AM.
The first thing I want you to do is write out your intentions for our hour. Every. Single. Day. I work by invitation. Invite Me to arrange your day. Have your day planner open but don’t write anything in it unless I bring it to mind.
Ask ME what I want to show you in the Word. When you get in the Word any other time of the day, do what you want. For our appointment, let Me lead.
Three hours and six minutes till your alarm goes off. Your office looks good. Go to bed and I’ll see you soon.
LOVE,
Daddy
Mark 16:20