For over the last 5 years I’ve dedicated my life to building my first company.
What initially started as an experiment grew out into a serious business.
Now it is time to move on, and focus on something new.
This year I started writing my book.
For the first time in my life I was serious about getting a book written and published.
However, along the way I realized how complicated and difficult writing a book is.
Especially for someone like me, that likes to put high standards on himself. As a result I went fulltime back into my business.
I started, or I should say ‘bought’ this business, for two reasons:
- I wanted to learn about how to build, grow and run an online business,
- I needed an income that would not cut into my savings.
The idea was to grow the business into a valuation of $1 million.
Why such a number?
Because why not, it sounded cool!
However, it became more and more clear to me that this wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
It also became clear to me why this wasn’t the business I should be building. And we will get into that in a moment.
At the same time of building this business, my faith also grew exponentially.
In 2015 I was saved by the grace of Lord Jesus Christ, but it wasn’t until 2019, after my breakup with my ex girlfriend, that I would really start to build up my faith.
I realized I had been doing a lot of things in ungodly ways.
At the moment of the purchase of my first business, my worldview was that all the big social media companies were evil.
Who remembers the 2020 US elections & covid, and all the censoring of content at that time?
So this business that I was to buy, selling followers + likes for social media, perfectly aligned with my worldview at that time.
Over time it became more and more obvious to me, that this wasn’t the group of customers I should serve.
Instead of putting a middle finger to the giant social media companies, I was actually encouraging people to cheat the system and teaching them to idolize themselves in a way, even though I was and still am honest about it.
That, and combined with a clear understanding that God has a bigger calling for me, is the reason for me that I have decided to move on, and focus on something new.
Right now I am in the very early process of selling my business.
Going to sell my business was not an easy decision to make.
Mainly because I built up this business, and kinda start to see it as my first baby.
I still see so much potential, and at the same time I also don’t feel I want to accept my “losses”.
The losses that I’m talking about are two failed websites within the business.
In both of them I pumped a lot of money, in the hopes that it will return me with more money.
But that has become a huge mistake, and I lost a lot of money there.
I realized that God’s blessing is not on these businesses, because I used practices, not based in Christian/Biblical principles (which I will talk more about).
Recently I did a reality check of where I’m standing.
Such a reality check is what I like to call a prayer day, something I’ve learned at Kingdom Initiatives, a marketplace ministry program.
Now I really value these prayer days, and plan to do them every single week.
During a recent prayer day, God showed me that I am withholding the blessings He has for me, because I am still running this secular business in a secular way.
I knew God had placed this in my heart already a long time ago, but now I realized that I was only holding unto this business because of money.
The excitement of reaching revenue goals was what kept me in this business for way too long.
God showed me that I can still reach revenue goals, and even want me to reach those goals, by building up His kingdom here on earth.
There’s still so much need for good and honest businesses where all parties involved prosper.
And that’s what I set out to do.
For this reason I am super excited to see what the future will bring.
I can’t wait to continue finishing my book and getting it in the hands of people.
For sure this book has already changed me more than ever, because of everything that I’ve been going through.
And my hopes is that it will change yours as well for the better.
This is my statement to create a better world, where greed, corruption, and selfishness is replaced with sharing and caring for each other.
And my way of doing this is by building better businesses.
May God bless you.
