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In this post, we’ll be taking a little sidestep from small church tools and strategies to answer frequently asked questions about our business model. If you’re curious about the answers to questions like these, keep reading. We’ll go over:
- Why we chose to be a for-profit ministry and what that means.
- Why some of our resources cost money and some are free.
- Where we work and what our business looks like.
- Where the Be A Light closing came from.
Our Business Model
When we were first starting out, I explored the idea of being a nonprofit versus a money-making business. I found that there’s a feeling of godliness that’s attached to being a nonprofit. People assume that it’s more noble. As I started looking more into what this looked like, I came across an article that talked about having a for-profit ministry. I fell in love with the concepts and principles.
I loved that I could still call my business a ministry because that is my heart. I learned that the terms “profit” and “nonprofit” simply have to do with the structure of a business. Whether you’re a for-profit or nonprofit business, it doesn’t determine the amount of impact you can have, the amount of good you can do in the world, or how wide your reach is. It’s simply an organizational structure with different rules and different strategies.
After a lot of research, I decided to be a for-profit ministry.
1. I want people to give to their local churches.
Being in a church for many years, I know how people often find causes that divert their tithes. They choose to give to other things, and that ends up hurting the local church. My heart is for the local church. I want you to give your money to your local church. It’s a part of my values.
2. I knew we could create incredible and valuable resources to sell.
Going into this, I knew that we had incredible resources to share. I also knew that we could sell them at a low price, with an incredible value to people in small churches. I knew we had the ability to be self-sustaining.
3. The oversight of a nonprofit is very different.
Nonprofit businesses have a board of directors, and I really liked the idea of having my working team and I make the decisions.
Why We Charge Money For Digital Resources
People have asked us why we charge money for the digital resources we put out if it doesn’t cost us anything to make or send. Before starting up my own business, I had the same questions. However, I found the answers to those questions as I started my own business.
In order to produce these resources, we pay for emailing services, hosting platforms, design platforms, and people to do everything from design to customer service. We pay for lawyers and accountants, and so much more.
I want to remind you, that I learned this along the way. Just because it’s free for you doesn’t mean it’s free to produce.
My goal as a for-profit ministry is to sell enough stuff so that we can give even more away for free. That’s one of our values.
What Our Business Looks Like
People have asked us what our business looks like and where we all work. Every time someone asks me this, I can’t help but laugh a little because, most of the time, I’m sitting on my floor with my computer on my lap and my puppy by my side. My daughter works from her apartment. My sister works for me from North Carolina. My niece works for me. My daughter’s sister-in-law works for us. We have an amazing team of remote workers all sitting around their kitchen tables or on their couches. We connect by Zoom. We send things by email. What you see are things that we’ve figured out and produced together! It really is a beautiful process.
Be A Light
On our podcast, I always end it with the phrase Be A Light, and I want to share how that happened. When we started the podcast, my daughter said, “Mom, you need an ending phrase. Something that sticks with people.” She talked about it becoming a part of our branding. At first, it was really tough for me. After a little bit, the phrase Be A Light came up.
This came into my mind because it’s a Bible verse I cling to, I teach from, and I talk about often. I believe God has called each of us to be a light and an influence. Every single human being was created to shine. Every single Jesus follower is called to be a light and to be an influence.
There is a lot of darkness in this world. There are a lot of deep struggles that every person deals with. To me, this is our responsibility, to be a light right where we are, to each person that crosses our path.
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