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At 11 am on the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918, the armistice for World War I was signed.  This “war to end all wars” had involved most of Europe and cost the lives of nearly 17 million, plus that many or more wounded. My maternal grandmother’s sister served with the Canadian Forces and […]

My father’s father was a small businessman; three of my uncles owned their own businesses. All of them, as most of their generation, apprenticed with their family or with senior businesspeople. The world today is amazingly different. Robotics, Blockchain, metaverse, Generative AI, Coopetition, big data, and machine learning were unheard of a generation ago. Then,

Business as Mission (BAM) measures itself with four key indicators (KPIs).  These are: Is the business continually moving toward profitability? Does the business create jobs? Does the business make Jesus known and make disciples? Is the business careful with creation? These questions are on our mind constantly as we coach and consult with BAM businesses.

Partnerships in business are common today.  Did you know that WhatsApp became successful because of the partnership between Brian Acton and Jan Koum who complemented each other in their journey toward their eventual sale to Facebook ten years ago for $22 billion?  Other successful partnerships include the likes of CVS and Target stores, Apple and

The Center Consulting Group (PA) led by Jay Desko, has been a wonderful partner with IBEC.  Not only do they host our annual in-person board meeting, but Jay also leads the board in strategic thinking and planning.  The following article is used with permission. Larry W. Sharp, BAM Support Specialist, IBEC Ventures Larry.Sharp@ibecventures.com —– Try

While teaching college courses, it seems we were always looking for cross-cultural internship opportunities for our BAM students.  How gratifying to get an offer of an internship opportunity in Africa, which places the student at the heart of what God is doing there. Business as Mission is well known to the founders of Kindred Exchange,

I was recently reflecting on the ten years of consistent weekly IBEC blogging from August 2014 to August 2024.  While I did not personally write each blog, I am grateful for permission to reprint others’ excellent writings, and to also have guest authors on our IBEC site from time to time.  I am also grateful

Every BAM business is interested in impact.  The C12 article linked below is well worth the read but pay special attention to Brandon West’s 4-minute video at the end. Larry W. Sharp, BAM Support Specialist, IBEC Ventures Larry.Sharp@ibecventures.com https://www.joinc12.com/article/measuring-impact-business-ministry/?utm_source=Contacts&utm_campaign=Nurture-KPI-Ministry&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2e29195c4d-72cc8e3e48-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=72cc8e3e48&mc_eid=8ecac3ba0f

I have been intrigued with just about any article or book on business startups over the past ten years or so.  I am also aware that to start something that endures is incredibly difficult, and there are far more failures than long-term successes.  I then became interested in Walker Deibel’s book, Buy Then Build –

This blog is the final part of a series of four which link Olympic themes to that of a BAM startup.  I apologize for those who are not sports fans and appreciate your tolerance for these four weeks. —– The idea of fairness, justice, integrity, and fair play is as old as created man, and