“I have a great business idea that I know can make a ton of money!”
I’ve been texted this, emailed this, and it’s been brought up over coffee, beer and dinner by business oriented individuals more often than I would like to admit. It’s typically an interesting conversation, and then three months later, nothing has come from it. This seems to be a recurring scenario that’s all too common. Yet, as I read Proverbs, the author warns us about this scenario, and one other common pitfall.
Proverbs 14:23 In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.
Proverbs 10:4-5 A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.
Proverbs 12:11 Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.
The first pitfall is “mere talk” – where ideas are shared, brainstorming happens and maybe even a business plan is made, but the follow through is lacking. When it comes down to diligently implementing the plan, nothing happens. Unfortunately, it is rather difficult to talk or sleep our ideas into existence. Yes, ideas are important, but the bridge between a great idea and its reality is “diligent” hard work. Thomas Edison breaks it down into a ratio: “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”
The second pitfall is “hastiness” – where the “get rich quick” plans are hatched, might even succeed, but ultimately come crashing down and lead to poverty. Unlike someone that is all talk, this individual is generally hard working and full of execution, but they fail to build a strong foundation. The best example in recent history is the unfolding of the FTX scandal. Sam Bankman-Fried built a $32 billion dollar empire in 4 years, only to have it implode in 2 days.
Proverbs 13:11 Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.
Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.
We can liken the hasty person to the individual that builds their house on the sand (Matthew 7:24-27). Verse 27 says, “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” In these verses, Jesus was referring to His words being the strong foundation (built on a rock), but the word picture parallels what Proverbs teaches us about haste (built on sand). The house can be large, beautifully finished and quite impressive, but the foundation determines its long-term outcome.
Does this mean we shouldn’t talk through business ideas and dream about the future? Absolutely not. Rather, we should be wise to heed the counsel of Proverbs if we want to build something meaningful. The words that stand out from the verses are: “toil,” “diligently,” “prudence” and “little by little.” The popular business author, Jim Collins, describes this as the 20 Mile March. He shows that consistent day-in and day-out progress towards a goal will achieve significantly better results than inconsistent big pushes.
The wisdom is clear.
Consistent hard work in a meaningful direction builds value, and shortcuts and haste will inevitably lead us nowhere. Living this out in business might just change the sobering data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that show 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first ten years.