The true measure of the value of a business is NOT measured in dollars, but in how well it "connects" people to all of the things that God has put in place in order for us to have life and to have it abundantly.
Money is just one small element of that. Yeah, we need it, just like we need air. But we can have all the air in Antartica and never enjoy it if we don't have shelter from the cold. If what we are doing in our daily work is not teaching us something about our Creator and ourselves, then we have our eyes closed and are missing out on the good stuff.
For example, in working a piece of concrete, we are starting with a raw hunk of slab, often cracked, broken and damaged, imperfect, not fit for anything other than being covered up with something else. Ignored. People look at it and say "can't do anything with this piece but cover it up or get rid of it." But we turn it into something useful, beautiful, and lasting. God does the same with us.
"If we don't walk away from our daily work leaving our customers and our workmates with the feeling that there was something special or 'different' about that experience, then we have missed out on what God has for us."
As we learn to do our daily tasks well, that includes high quality, but it also has to include doing it efficiently enough to keep it affordable for our customers to buy. So we learn to create value. And when we push toward that goal, God rewards us with more of what we need-physically and psychologically.
Pride and arrogance are things that kill the true value of a business. Don't misunderstand here. There are PLENTY of businesses out there which are run by arrogant people making lots of money. If money was the only measure of value, then maybe we would look at them differently.
If we don't walk away from our daily work leaving our customers and our workmates with the feeling that there was something special or "different" about that experience, then we have missed out on what God has for us. Most people, most businesses, just walk away with a paycheck and the customer walks away with "a product."
When we apply ourselves each day as craftsmen, servants of a Higher Master, our Undercover Boss, then our customers will walk away with the feeling that somehow they got more than just "what they paid for," and WE walk away feeling like we got more than just a check.
"When we apply ourselves each day as craftsmen, servants of a Higher Master, our Undercover Boss, then our customers will walk away with the feeling that somehow they got more than just "what they paid for," and WE walk away feeling like we got more than just a check."
"If you run across someone without a smile, give them yours." - Zig Ziglar