3 Ways God Can Grow Your Business While He is Growing You

On those slow months when the phone doesn’t ring and business doesn’t come, do you ever wonder what’s going on? Has God forgotten you? Is this coaching business really from Him?
When profits plummet, doubts crowd in.
That’s when I recall that while I spend my days trying to grow a business, God spends His days trying to grow me. God’s fierce commitment to making me like Christ brings easy days and hard ones. But He designs them all to conform to the image of Christ and to equip me to better serve those He has called me to serve.
Here are a few of the simple but profound truths He is teaching me on this business-building journey. If you look, I’ll bet you’ll see He’s nurturing these same characteristics in you.

Be Brave

I love playing it safe, staying inside the box and keeping my security blanket clenched firmly in my fist. But no one ever grew their business, or their character, from inside their comfort zone.
At least, that’s what God continually whispers to me.
I’ll never forget my first-ever networking event. I was listening to the scheduled presenter, picking at my rubber chicken and rice, when God pointed out the power of public speaking and urged me to try it.
“But God, I’ve never given a speech before,” I explained as though He didn’t already know. “I don’t have anything special to say.” “Who would ever listen to me?”

Apparently, He liked this plan.
Trembling in my high-heeled shoes, I approached the meeting planner and asked her if I could speak at some point in the future.
She pulled out her calendar and set a date.
The deed was done.
Months later, with terror still filling my heart, I delivered a speech, wowed the crowd, and learned that playing it safe is over-rated. Bravely trusting God is what wins the day.

Be Generous

It was a simple act of obedience. Nothing more, nothing less. When the recession hit, coaching clients disappeared and Christian coaches everywhere struggled to survive.
It broke my heart.
As a Certified Get Clients Now Facilitator^TM, I knew I could help. With no thought of return, I emailed Judy Santos, then head of the Christian Coaches Network, and offered to lead a free Get Clients Now group for any interested coaches.
She jumped on board, advertised my one group and it filled—and then spilled into two.
I led the groups, was pleased with the results, and never gave it another thought.
Now, years later, as I trace the origins of my current path, I see how God used that one act of generosity to bless me in extraordinary ways.
Hosting the groups led to Judy asking me to speak at her Virtual Conference. At the virtual conference, Chris McCluskey, founder of the Professional Christian Coaching Institute, heard me speak and invited me to teach with him.
Today, I have the privilege of training Christian coaches as a faculty member with the Professional Christian Coaching Institute. And it all began when God prompted me to give to others in need.

Be Persistent

 “I’d like to hire you as my coach,” said Darlene from the other end of my phone.
“Absolutely!” I replied. “May I ask how you happened to come across my name?”
“Sure,” she said, “Three years ago I heard you speak to my group.”

Three years ago! Wars have been fought and won in less time than that.
“How long of a sales cycle does coaching have?” I wondered.
The answer? As long as it takes to reach that person in need.
Now please understand, my speech wasn’t so brilliant that for three years this woman remembered my name. But at that event, as at every speaking engagement, I gathered names and emails to add people to my newsletter list.
So, unbeknownst to me, month after month for the past 36 months, my helpful articles and smiling face showed up in her inbox and somehow ministered to her soul.
When she was ready, in God’s perfect time, she knew, liked and trusted me enough to hire me as her coach.
Persistence won the day.
God called me to be a coach. In my ideal world, I’d put up my website on Monday, and by Tuesday, I’d have so many clients that I would be turning people away. But God has a different business-building plan in mind. He is in the business of growing people — in this case, me.
I’ll grow more like Him by living, loving, losing, sacrificing, serving and trusting just as Jesus did while He lived on earth. One day at a time. One person at a time. One act of faith at a time.
And as He teaches me to be brave, generous and persistent, He grows my business along the way.

How is God Growing You and Your Business?

What is God teaching you as He grows both you and your business?