You mentioned starting a business for your family to work at together. I was wondering if you would pray about writing a business model of sorts to help others who are not business savvy start their own endeavor. I would very much like to start my boys with something but have no idea where to begin and my Dh is OK with us (kids and I) trying to do something to make money and learn at the same time.
There are a lot of good ideas in this board... so, peruse the links.
Here goes:
I am not sure what I am about to describe is "business" as is commonly perceived in the American lexicon... or the UCC, but in some cases it is. Anyway...
Two types of "business:" commercial and what I'll call "non-commercial"In the Bible, the word translated "business" is more typically translated "work" but does seem to imply commerce in several places (Exodus 36,
1 Kings 7,
2 Kings 12, 2 Kings 22, 1 Chronicles 4, 9, 22, 23, 28, 29 and similar in 2 Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, Psalm 107:23) in the minority of cases it actually means "communication" and I am not sure why it was translated "business." In the Revelation it is the merchants of the Earth that are in sorrow as regards the destruction of Babylon... and in that context, it is these that are still buying and selling... and evidently have the mark of the "beast." So... I just want to make the point here that there are two types of business, er, work.
The first type is that which does not require commerce. It does not require any buying or selling. One does not need to buy or to sell or to hire or to be hired for this type of work to be profitable. This includes raising animals for food and other uses (textiles, leather, burden bearing, work), raising crops for food and other uses (dyes, textiles, wood for housing, etc) and building things like a house, a barn, etc. You can be in the middle of the Mongolian Steppe and do this kind of work to the satisfying of all personal needs... and, actually, many people do. Classically this has been called "subsistence," I am calling it "non-commercial" to make the point that it doesn't require commerce of any kind.
The second type of profitable work requires commerce. Buying and selling... or at very least, bartering. I am not going to go into great detail here because the modern economic system has tried hard (and generally succeeded in all points) to subsume all work into this category. There are laws now in the works and on the books that make eating from the land... even your own land... illegal. Of course for many years seed sources have been providing free GMO and hybrid seed to farmers all over the world who have been for millenia growing each year's crop from last years seed. Heh. Of course, when the next year comes and the seed from last year's crop won't germinate... now they are (at very least) hooked into the buying side of the commercial system. Anyway. Its a mess.
The reason I am making these distinctions is to demonstrate a trend that I want every "worker" to be aware of. For ever (like from Adam until about 1850) most work done on Earth was non-commercial... it was primarily to feed one's own family. In the last 150 years, and specifically since WWII, that has changed almost everywhere on Earth. If you count man hours done in commercial work vs. non-commercial work, as far as I can tell the current statistics worldwide are something like less than 15% still work specifically to provide for themselves, or, at very least, people for whom commercial interest in their work is a far and away second agenda. I am not against commerce... I just want you who want to start a business to know the swiftly changing nature of the landscape, and to consider the implications.
Note also a few other facts. Peasant farmers, or other "non-commercial" workers are
less likely to need or use commercial lending, they are more likely to endure most financial crises if they aren't forcibly evicted, and it is usually subsistence or peasant farmers that endure famine and the small commercial farms that are hardest hit. The information about subsistence farming is VERY political. For instance, often famines are discussed in the literature as if they came out of the blue, not taking into consideration wars, the reasons for wars, politically manipulated financial crises (and their motivations), etc. The answer to poverty is almost universally, "industrialization" which will always play into the hands of the seller, the insurance man, the politically powerful, etc. So... just be aware of these factors when doing your own research.
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Subsistence_farminghttp://www.google.com/search?q=subsistence+farmingOne final note: what I will call "subsistence communities." In just a few cases, the Bible describes "commercial work" (work that will require a buy / sell cycle at some point) that involves pure commerce (more later). In most cases it just describes a type of work that is not directly involved in production of a food source. For instance it is clear that there were people who spent their time (work) as metal workers, carpenters, stone masons, fine artificers, teachers, and priests. These could not directly eat from their work and must have traded for food in some way. The "pure commerce" examples that I see are the mention of sea going vessels of trade in Psalms, the description of the excellent woman in Proverbs 31 and in King Solomon's hiring of labor and buying of raw materials to build his house and the temple of God. The odd thing is that even Solomon's hiring of labor and buying of raw materials was not exclusively traded in monies... it was significantly traded in food stuffs. The point I am making is that buying and selling was not ever predicated by a managed fiat currency or even by gold or silver coin, but rather by food stuffs and food equivalents. Even the silver coinage that was used since before Moses was predicated in terms of quantities of food. In this sense the entire economy... even the national and international economy was understood in the ability of the worker to feed himself. Interest / usury was illegal and debt could only ever last 49 years with breaks from repayment every 7th year. There were no corporations, and all actions / events were personally attributable to one person.
Worship GodSorry, I am probably terrible incapable of communicating what I mean you to hear, but the bottom line is this: worship God in your work. When you think of going into business or making a home business, I wish that you would consider at every point whether God and hard work is going to make this work, or whether you need government, corporate interest and other people to make your business work. Why? Because I think there is a time so soon upon us when all buying and selling in the typical channels will involve direct worship of a god... one that is government, one that is corporate interest, one the is the liar and deceiver.
Basic model for workOK, so work is not about filling out papers, submitting forms or filling for permits. Work is about making something of value and either directly consuming it (wheat, corn, steak, eggs, milk) or trading it (housing, clothing, entertainment) for something that can be directly consumed. That's it.
Work is not about becoming a millionaire... as far as I can tell, this is a pure illusion. See it like pornography. Sure there are moments when a man has a million dollars that he does not need to spend in any particular way... but look at the story of his whole life and its not that way. Sure, after a lot of makeup and special lighting and whatnot a woman can look a certain way, but look at the story of her whole life and you see a different story. Make your life about doing productive work every working day... about being beautiful in all ways ever living day. Let the pornography go.
Figure out what you are good at... its a good starting place.
Figure out what people need... it is often a better starting place.
Eliminate as many buy / sell cycles as possible.
Look for gleaning opportunities.
Don't step on toes.
Ask forgiveness, not permission.
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