Tag: small business ownership

A Guide for Small Business Owners: Finding Peace Without Losing Your Drive

A friend commented recently that one of his children had been so content as a young man, he worried it might keep him from achieving all that God intended for him in life.

Contentment—being at peace and satisfied with one’s station—is a valuable quality. People who are content tend to experience lower stress levels and a deeper appreciation for daily life. The apostle Paul modeled this beautifully, writing:

“I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”
— Philippians 4:11 (KJV)

But while contentment is healthy, it can become a drawback if it leads to complacency. A person who is too content may neglect personal development, avoid pursuing opportunities, or settle for less than their best. For a small business owner, this might mean missing out on ways to better serve customers, grow the business, or create jobs.

Conversely, unchecked ambition can be equally harmful. The Bible warns against selfish ambition:

“For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
— James 3:16 (NIV)

The key is finding a healthy balance—striving to improve your business while maintaining contentment in the journey and integrity in your methods.

How to Balance Contentment and Ambition in Your Business

If you’re a small business owner, it’s important to regularly evaluate your goals, values, and ambitions to ensure they align with your faith, lifestyle, and vision. Here’s a practical process to help you balance ambition with contentment:

1. Reflect on Your Personal and Business Goals

Before you can decide how much to grow your business, be clear about what you want from it. Consider:

  • Do you want to work as a solopreneur, generating income through your own skills without managing employees?
  • Does your business idea require more labor than you can handle alone?
  • Do you want to create jobs and provide reliable income for others?
  • How many hours per week are you willing to work?
  • What type of schedule would you like to maintain?

Example:
If you value evenings and weekends off, a manufacturing or professional service business might suit you better than a restaurant, retail shop, or entertainment business.

2. Define Your Financial Needs

Understand how much income you need to meet your personal and family obligations. Your financial goals will shape your business structure:

  • As a solopreneur, your income depends solely on your labor and the rates you charge.
  • As an employer, your income potential grows with employee productivity and overall business revenue.

3. Develop a Business Plan That Reflects Your Priorities

Once your goals are clear, develop a plan that honors those objectives.

  • Choose your legal structure.
  • Launch your marketing strategy.
  • Build your customer base through personal connections and word-of-mouth.

Remember: The startup phase is typically slow—be patient as customers become aware of your business.

4. Regularly Assess Your Growth and Contentment

Periodically evaluate whether you’re satisfied with your business’s size, revenue, and operations.

Questions to consider:

  • Are you content with your current workload and income?
    • Has demand exceeded your capacity? If so, would you prefer to turn away work or hire help and grow your business?
  • Would expanding your hours, services, or product lines serve your goals—or cause unnecessary stress?
  • Is maintaining your current size better aligned with your personal and family priorities?

There’s no wrong answer—what matters is that your decisions reflect thoughtful, prayerful discernment.

5. Avoid Complacency While Maintaining Contentment

Even if you’re satisfied with your business size, remain proactive:

  • Monitor industry trends and customer preferences.
  • Stay current with new technologies that improve efficiency.
  • Review your offerings to meet evolving customer needs.
  • Keep your physical space welcoming and well-maintained.
  • Stay compliant with legal and regulatory changes.
  • Invest in employee development through training and advancement opportunities.

Final Thoughts

Business ownership can bring both financial rewards and personal fulfillment when managed wisely. But it can also lead to stress and dissatisfaction if you chase goals that don’t align with your values or allow others to pressure you into expanding beyond your comfort zone.

Strive to operate a business that honors your definition of success, serves others well, and allows you to live with contentment and integrity. In doing so, you’ll find a healthy, God-honoring balance between ambition and peace.

📢 I’d love to hear from you!

How have you balanced contentment and ambition in your business? What decisions helped you stay true to your values while pursuing growth? Share your thoughts in the comments!

‘What I Wish I Had Known Before Opening My Small Business”: Lessons from 17 Years as a Small Business Consultant & Former Business Owner.


Owning a small business is a challenging task, yet it is the dream of millions of people. As someone who works with over a hundred potential small business owners each year, I can attest to their passion for entrepreneurship.

They all have different motivations for pursuing business ownership. Some of them possess the necessary qualities to be successful business owners, while others lack realistic expectations of what owning a business entails and how to prepare themselves to start and operate one.

Twenty-five years ago, my husband and I were in the same position as many of my clients when we decided to invest in a pizza franchise. Fortunately, we had close friends who were already part of the same franchise, and they mentored and guided us. They were honest and open with us, but there were still many lessons we had to learn on our own. These are some lessons we wish we had known before starting our business.

  1. Help is available. I was previously aware of SBA and SBA-guaranteed loans, but I did not know the support provided by Small Business Development Centers (SBDC). If we had approached an SBDC for help, we would have been better equipped, avoided some complications, and saved money.
  2. Obtaining a business loan is vastly different from obtaining a personal loan. Despite our excellent credit scores and references, my husband and I were surprised to be rejected for a business loan. We had sufficient funds to invest in our business, and obtaining personal loans for various purposes, like buying a house or car or making home improvements, had been easy. I never imagined we would be turned down for a business loan, but we were. 
  3. When applying for a business loan, it is essential to choose the right bank. As a small business owner, there might be better options than a large national bank for you. Instead, local or regional banks are better suited for small businesses. A local banker is more likely to invest in your community and work with you if things do not go as planned.
  4. Getting established in a business takes longer than most people plan. You need adequate financial resources to support yourself during the startup and growth phases. You should have enough savings to cover your personal expenses for several months. This will allow you to reinvest your business revenue back into the business and promote its growth.
  5. Managing employees can be challenging, especially if you struggle with assertiveness or find it difficult to correct them when they make mistakes. However, your employees play a vital role in your business’s success. Excellent employees can help you grow your business, while poor employees can harm your business’s reputation. Therefore, it is crucial to assess employee performance accurately and take corrective action when necessary.

For the past 17 years, I have been working as a business consultant, helping clients achieve their business goals. Over the years, I have gathered a wealth of knowledge and expertise, not just from my own experiences as a business owner but also from the valuable insights I have gained from individuals who want to start their own businesses. 

In the upcoming months, I plan to share some of these insights in my blog, which will give you a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities involved in starting and running a small business. So, if you want to turn your dream of starting a business into a reality, I highly recommend checking out my blog for valuable tips and tricks to help you succeed.