23/8/2017 Identifying and Maximizing BAM Success Factors Part 1 – Business as Mission

   

The
YouBAM Review
are here: Home / The BAM Review / BAM Success Factors / Identifying and Maximizing BAM Success Factors Part 1

Identifying and Maximizing BAM Success

Factors Part 1
May 9, 2017 / in BAM Success Factors, Latest / by Guest Author

By Paul Harrington
In this new series on ‘BAM Success Factors’ we invite guest authors
to share what they consider the key factors contributing to success
and growth for BAM practitioners. To open up the series, Paul
Harrington gives us an overview of the most important BAM success
factors he has identi ed through research. 

BAM Success Factors Part 1: Professional and

Technical Considerations
Starting a new career in a part of the world that is not your cultural
home is a big undertaking for anyone. For those who wish to use
their businesses as a means through which God can reach the world,
the challenge can be even greater. Everyone involved in the Business
as Mission movement wants to make sure that every practitioner
http://businessasmission.com/bam-success-factors-part-1/ 1/5
23/8/2017 Identifying and Maximizing BAM Success Factors Part 1 – Business as Mission

that takes the bold step of setting up a business with Kingdom

values in a new context succeeds. Thankfully, many of the keys to
success for BAM practitioners are known and have been validated by
scholarly research.

BAM practitioners aren’t the only group of people who live and work
outside of their home countries. Many companies and governments,
including the military, as well as mission agencies and non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) send their employees to work
around the world. While government and military techniques do not
necessarily provide insight into how BAM practitioners can succeed,
research done by and for private employers, NGOs, and mission
agencies provides insight into the factors that lead to successful
deployment of their personnel and have relevance for BAM
practitioners.

Success means di erent things for di erent people. Since business

as mission is a unique discipline with de ned goals that might
include the fourfold bottom line – achieving the nancial goals of
the owners of the company, social impact goals of the community in
which the business works, goals to protect and enhance the
environment, and spiritual impact goals – success in a business as
mission enterprise can be measured. 

Since some of the professional and technical characteristics that are

necessary for the success of BAM practitioners are common with
other business-related disciplines, professional success factors for
BAM practitioners parallels factors which exist for other business-
related disciplines.

Training and Experience

Entrepreneurial Skills

The most important factors for BAM practitioner professional

success include su cient training and experience as an
entrepreneur. BAM practitioners must have entrepreneurial
capacities and capabilities that have been developed over time and
practiced before they go to the eld where they intend to start or
operate a BAM business. Successful entrepreneurs have the ability
to see business opportunities and translate them into pro table
reality; they often have learned their skills by being a part of a small
or medium-sized business. Recognizing the economic contribution
that small and medium-sized businesses have in creating jobs and
economic growth, many countries have government-sponsored
small business development organizations which provide
entrepreneurial training and resources.

Industry Experience
http://businessasmission.com/bam-success-factors-part-1/ 2/5
23/8/2017 Identifying and Maximizing BAM Success Factors Part 1 – Business as Mission

Beyond the fundamental need for entrepreneurial skills and training,

BAM practitioners that have the best track record for success have
experience working in the type of business which they intend to
operate in another culture. While there are successful BAM
practitioners who have learned to operate in a speci c industry as
part of their BAM experience, the most successful practitioners have
previously operated a business or worked in that particular industry.

While the processes and equipment within an industry can di er

greatly throughout the world, there are common principles that are
used within an industry anywhere in the world. For example, there
are certain norms that someone who operates a restaurant or co ee
shop learn about menu complexity and handling diverse requests
from customers on a continuous basis that someone who has
expertise in merchandise retailing will not understand. Successful
BAM restaurant operators likely have been passionate about food
preparation and service for years so that their business becomes a
means through which they practice their passion. A good cook might
be able to create a great meal even for lots of people but it takes a
successful entrepreneur to be able to create great meals for lots of
people and be pro table in the process. Successfully operating a
BAM enterprise is the culmination of years of preparation.

Adequate Financial Capitalization

Startup Capital

Since no business can operate without capital, successful BAM

companies have learned how to obtain capital and maintain
relationships with those who have provided the capital. For most
BAM practitioners, the original capital comes from the practitioner’s
own resources, supplemented by investments from friends, family,
and persons who are committed to the cause which the BAM
practitioner is pursuing. Since few businesses are pro table in the
rst months and years of operation, capital must include the ability
to sustain unpro table operations.

Growth Capital

As a business grows and becomes pro table, so does the need for
larger amounts of capital and with it the likelihood that repayment
will be expected and interest will be charged. Capital might also
include other forms of investment including equity. Successful BAM
practitioners have learned how to run their businesses using
standards that allow accurate disclosure of how a business is
operating. BAM practitioners who haven’t learned to access capital
often struggle nancially which puts pressure on their ability to
achieve their other goals, including their spiritual goals.

http://businessasmission.com/bam-success-factors-part-1/ 3/5
23/8/2017 Identifying and Maximizing BAM Success Factors Part 1 – Business as Mission

Achieving Integration
Spiritual Leadership Skills

The spiritual dimension is what makes a BAM business unique

among all other types of business.  The challenge for BAM
practitioners is to do business well while also operating the business
with a missional and pastoral mindset that is formalized in no other
type of business. BAM practitioners who succeed in the spiritual
dimensions of the BAM model succeed because they have
demonstrated those spiritual leadership skills in other settings and
because they have gained the training necessary to apply those skills
in the cross-cultural environment where they work.

Diverse Mentor Support

Achieving each of the goals of a BAM enterprise is possible with

support from a diverse system of mentors. Best practice shows that
the greatest success comes from having one or more mentors who
are specialized in the business aspect of the BAM enterprise and
another mentor or group that are specialized in the spiritual goals.
Because BAM practitioners many times are doing ground-breaking
work in integrating a business in a cross-cultural context with
spiritual goals, it is not likely that a BAM practitioner will nd many
people who have the experience and background necessary to
provide guidance or to mentor in all aspects of the BAM enterprise.
The BAM practitioner becomes the expert in integrating multiple
disciplines in a cultural context which might not be duplicated
anywhere in the world!

Operating a BAM business is an extraordinarily complex endeavor.

Before beginning a new venture, research shows that in order to
maximize success, potential BAM practitioners should obtain the
experience and training not just in the technical or operational
aspects of the business but also in the spiritual and
interpersonal/relationship elements required to operate the BAM
enterprise. We’ll talk more about the interpersonal/relationship skills
and training necessary to maximize the success of a BAM
practitioner in Part 2.

Read Part 2: Interpersonal and Relational Considerations >

[http://businessasmission.com/bam-success-factors-part-2/]

Paul Harrington mobilizes and mentors for the BAM movement in a

cross-cultural setting.

http://businessasmission.com/bam-success-factors-part-1/ 4/5