Expert Ownership Podcast
Six Signs of a Bad Business and How to Avoid Them
Can ancient wisdom guide modern business? Discover six critical signs of a failing business through the powerful lens of the prophet Amos. This entrepreneur-turned-prophet shows us how to identify and rectify similar pitfalls in our own businesses.
Enjoy.
Oh, and if you're a dude interested in hitting a mastermind with us you can reach out to our admin at deb@benhamcompanies.com.
Peace.
Can ancient wisdom guide modern business? Discover six critical signs of a failing business through the powerful lens of the prophet Amos. This entrepreneur-turned-prophet shows us how to identify and rectify similar pitfalls in our own businesses.
Enjoy.
Oh, and if you're a dude interested in hitting a mastermind with us you can reach out to our admin at deb@benhamcompanies.com.
Peace.
Well, we are back. It is the month of July and so we don't have our great little microphones with us because we are traveling. This is David. I am in Nashville visiting my boys for the 4th of July. Jason is back in Charlotte. We're on Zoom. I think the sound is still good, but it's not perfect like those buttery microphones that we use, which we love.
Speaker 1:But today we're going to talk about six ways that you know for sure you're doing bad in business. We always talk about the good stuff, but we want to talk about well, how can I be bad in business? And Jason and I have found in the book of Amos that great prophet, the book of Amos there are six things specifically that will show you're not doing so hot in business. So we want to talk about those today. Well, you know, typically you want to aim at taking the positive, like here are five things you need to do to crush it in business. Well, we do that all the time. Just go back, david and I have got over 100 episodes where we share some stuff on what you should do, but every now and then we get to the scripture and it shows us hey, here are some things that you don't need to be doing Right, and we're going to get a chance to see that with the Israelites. Let me say this real quick. So David and I are looking at possibly having a small mastermind, a simple mastermind. This, this one, is going to be for men. It's going to be men mastermind. It's limited to 15 people. And so at our lake house in Charlottelotte, north carolina, that we just finished, uh, building, yeah, so, uh, we'll. We'll be throwing out some information on that soon. But if you want to reserve a spot, quick, uh, email deb at benhamcompaniescom. How about that man? I don't have a link for you to click. Yeah, and companies tell her hey, I want to go to the benham's, I want to go to the boys. Uh, mastermind, it's going to be mid-september, in the middle of the week, so we don't have the exact dates, but just plan on mid-september, middle of the week. Men, only 15 minutes, only three, three, probably two and a half to three days, two nights. It'll be simple and fun and we'll have a chef and it'll be really fun, um, okay, so that being, let's jump into these six things that was happening Now.
Speaker 1:Amos was a workplace guy, he was a shepherd, he was a farmer, and here this guy was. He was a workplace guy who then turned prophet. And you can see in here that the priest, amiza, had a real hard time with Amos and you'll see an argument going between the priest and the prophet because Amizah didn't like the fact that Amos, a workplace guy, would dare step into the sacred spiritual place, like, oh, that's so bad. But David and I, we tell people all the time you go, look at the people that God used over and over in the scripture and there's so many of them that God pulled right out of the workplace. Look at the number of Jesus's disciples. You look at Amos, you look at Moses, you look at Abraham, even Isaac and Jacob. These are workplace guys who made their money in flocks and herds. That would be like guys making their money in real estate and insurance and owning auto dealerships, like that. And then yet God gave them a special call. So God gave Amos a special call and basically said Amos, israel as a culture and as a nation, they're dying, they're doing bad, bad stuff. And I'm going to give you a message that you're going to have to speak to the nation of Israel. And it was not very popular. And here in Amos 8, we see that Amos got to something about what the workplace Christians I say workplace Christians, the workplace Israelites were doing, guys who are in the workplace, guys who own their own business. Listen to what Amos says here.
Speaker 1:In Amos, chapter 8, david read verse 4 through 6. And then inside of this we're going to go back through it, we're going to break out these six things they were doing that God hated, and it was in terms of their business. Okay, amos 8, verse 4. Read it loud, because you sound kind of quiet man.
Speaker 1:Hear this, you who trample the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying when will the new moon be over? That we may sell grain and the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale. That we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances. That we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of wheat, of the wheat the Lord had sworn. The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob. Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. Shall not the land tremble on this account and everyone mourn who dwells in it and all of it rise like the Nile and be tossed about and sink again like the Nile of Egypt about and sink again like the Nile of Egypt.
Speaker 1:Okay. So here's what I want to point out about this. I'm going to go back through those passages because, specifically, those scriptures show us the six things. Okay, so let's go back up and I'm going to start in verse 4, where we go back and it says this that they said, hey, so when will the Sabbath essentially, when will the Sabbath be ended so that we can market the wheat? So, number one, the thing that they did was they saw God's law as an impediment to their ability to make money. These guys were saying, yo, okay, so we have to rest on Sunday. Man, that's terrible. Like I could be making money. So when is this going to be over? Like, when is the Sabbath going to be over so that we can get back to work? We want to start making money. So they saw God's law, they saw obedience to God as an impediment to their ability to make money.
Speaker 1:Jason, let me jump in real quick. I was just reading this morning 2 Chronicles, chapter 24, king Joash had literally forgotten the Lord and just no longer served the Lord. He did at first, but then he stopped and God sent Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, the priest, to rebuke him and he said this why do you break the commandments of the Lord? So that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord. He has forsaken you. In other words, if you want to prosper, you want to do it God's way. Then you need to put God first, seek ye first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things that's in business. All these things will be added unto you, yes, so that God giving you commandments through the scripture, god giving you specific things that he wants you to do, they are not an impediment to your business and they may be difficult sometimes.
Speaker 1:I mean, all you got to do is read our book Expert Ownership and you will see that God told us right at the beginning of our business, when we went into this bank, this conference, where about 5,000 people were, that God told us focus on ministry over money and watch what I do. We could have easily fallen prey to this right here, where we would have been like, oh crap, god, why did you give us that? We could see that as an impediment to our business, but we honor the Lord, by God's grace. There were plenty of times where we didn't do what God said, but on this one we did, and the Lord provided a miracle. We would end up witnessing to two older ladies and they ended up being the very people who could send us properties, and that client, over a 10-year period, made us more than half a million dollars in profit a year. So that was a big deal. And so God's law, god's ways, is not an impediment.
Speaker 1:Okay so, number one don't see God's law as an impediment to your ability to make money. Number two at the rest of verse five it says they were skimping on measure. That's what the NIV says skimping on measure. Here's what they were doing. They did the least they could to make the most they could. They did the least they could to make the most they could, and God did not like it. This is not good.
Speaker 1:We know that one of our business principles and we pulled it straight out of scripture, because Jesus teaches the second mile mindset give more in value than you take in pay. You are not to do the least you can for the most you can. You are to do the most you can for the most you can. That's right. Not for the least you can, it's okay. Give value and receive value too, that's good business. Yep, that's exactly right. So listen, there's a difference. A frugal person minimizes their benefit while maximizing another person's benefit. That's a frugal person. So they minimize their benefit to maximize your benefit. But a cheap person maximizes their benefit while minimizing other people's benefit. That's what skimping on measure is. It's doing the least you can to make the most you can. That is not a biblical principle. That is not the way you want to run your business. Okay, you give the most you can for the most you can. Okay, that's what we want to do With a clean conscience before God. Yep.
Speaker 1:Number three what they were doing. This is the rest of verse four. It says not only were they skimping on measure, but they were boosting the price. Number three they priced according to what they could get, not the value of the product. That's where you have all those people driving out of Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina, in Mississippi driving out because of Katrina, and those gas stations were jacking up $8 a gallon, $10 a gallon. That's just evil. It's wrong to do that. They priced according to what they could get rather than the value of the product. That's how hospitals and doctors have one price for insurance, another price for self-pay, and part of that I get, part of that I understand, but just the whole thing on the whole, it's just you got two different prices for two different types of people. And I'm not even saying that you can't do that, but I am saying that if you're not careful, this could get you in big trouble. You need to price it according to your product and your service, not according to what you can get, because, remember, the definition of a fair market in God's economy is the price that a buyer is willing to pay and a seller is willing to sell with a clear conscience under God. It's not just the price a buyer is willing to pay and a seller is willing to sell, because in times of crisis, a buyer is willing to pay anything and the seller will profit from that crisis, and that's just bad. It's just bad business. So they were doing that. That's number three pricing according to what they could get, not the value of the product.
Speaker 1:Number four they were cheating with dishonest scales. They stole when they could get away with it. Cheating with dishonest scales, man, that is a bad place to be. Because if you cheating with dishonest scales, man, that is a bad place to be, because if you cheat with dishonest scales, basically what used to happen back then was shoppers back in this day. They didn't walk around with their own scale, so they had, like, different weights for money, so they had to rely on the honesty of the merchant in order for them to make sure that they were paying the right amount. So if they purchased four ounces of grain but the merchant's scale was purposely off, they could actually be charged for five to six ounces of grain, even though they only received four ounces of grain. This is stealing. That is what's called theft. We don't want that. We do not cut corners. We do not cheat people. When the opportunity presents itself, the opportunity will present itself and oftentimes that opportunity will present itself because God is testing you. You could easily get away with it. That customer paid you too much, or they gave you too much or whatever, and you didn't go back and tell them, whatever the case may be. So they were cheating with dishonest scales. They stole when they knew they could get away with it. Okay, number five. Number five we move into verse six.
Speaker 1:It says buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals. They exploited the poor by taking advantage of their unfortunate situation. That's what they were doing. They exploited the poor by taking advantage of their unfortunate situation. That's what they were doing. They exploited them. Knowing that the poor didn't have enough to pay for what their service or their offer was, they found ways to get what little that they did have, even if it meant taking these poor people as slaves. So it's like man, I really need that pair of shoes. Yeah, well, you don't have the money for these shoes? Well, I'll tell you what. Why don't you serve me for three months? And you become a slave. And so they exploited the poor.
Speaker 1:Selling yourself into slavery back in the Bible days was a way for you to pay for things. It was normal. So the merchants were using it for their benefit. And I would say this if what you're doing is getting people into massive debt, that's what slavery looks like today. I'm not saying that you can't sell stuff and get people into debt, but it's got to be smart. It's got to be. You know, like David and I, we sold real estate. People would take mortgages. That's debt, but that's a house that's appreciating right, it's an asset. So they were buying the poor with the silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, which basically means they exploited the poor and allowed them to sell themselves into slavery in order to get what they wanted.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and well, you know, in terms of debt as well, I mean some people you got to buy a vehicle and you need to go in debt. I understand that, like there are certain needs you have to have, but you want to make sure that your debt is to conserve, not to consume. Right, it's to produce and not to consume. If you're taking debt to simply consume, or you're taking on debt with furniture or other things like this, that's not wise. Wisdom is I'm receiving this debt, small amounts of it, so that I can produce, or you're buying an asset or you're picking up a vehicle that your family desperately needs.
Speaker 1:If you don't have the cash, or maybe even some education, like I understand small amounts of debt for education, but not going overboard, not just enslaving yourself. This one girl her and her husband desperately needed a place to live because she was in $283,000 of debt for her college and they had just gotten married. So my wife and I allowed them to stay in the apartment above our garage for super cheap until they got out of debt and, man, they put their heads down and worked so hard and finally, by God's grace, they got out of debt and they moved out. But that kind of debt's ridiculous. But buying some debt that's going to give you some good education, to go out and make some money, and stuff like that, that's okay, as long as it's reasonable and your bed is not going to be snatched from underneath. But see, david, that's the angle of if you're going to go into debt, which is a good angle. But what we're talking about today is, if you're the business that's putting people in a non-smart way of going into debt, just don't do that. Price your product and your service so that people don't have to go. Do all that kind of stuff. Okay. So that's buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and number six.
Speaker 1:It says they're even selling even the sweepings with the wheat, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. You know people would come in and buy wheat and they would sweep the last parts of the wheat. They'd sweep it up and in those sweepings is stuff that's not wheat. It's like dust, dirt and just junk. But it made the bag look bigger. They diluted their product in order to make more money. Just look at what's happening. Just go buy a bag of chips today. How big is the bag? The bag is as big as it was 30 years ago, but the majority of it is air. They literally blow it up with air so that it looks bigger. That's diluting their product in order to make more money.
Speaker 1:Now again, some of this I'm not saying is ultimately bad. I get it. We've got inflation and the price of materials is way more and all that kind of stuff. But you know what? To be a kingdom business. Don't blow the bag up with air, that's right. Put it in the right size bag. Don't try to make it look bigger than what it is.
Speaker 1:You know that whole thing of skimping on measure. It's like when you go to a restaurant and you're paying 30 bucks for something and it comes out and you can tell that they skimped on it. It's like they're not giving you as much as what they easily could. It just drives people crazy and that's not a kingdom way to run your business. You got to run your business. I call it the Carbone effect.
Speaker 1:There's this sandwich shop in Torrington, connecticut, when David and I played baseball back in 1997, the summer of 1997. And Papa Carbone there owned this tiny little deli. And if you went in there and ordered a sub sandwich I'm not joking when I tell you there and ordered a sub sandwich I'm not joking when I tell you the meat was about two and a half inches thick, you couldn't get your mouth around it and he charged you just as much as a Subway sub. Like you go to Subway and get the same sub that had barely anything on it. And this dude, he stayed open for like 50 or 60 years until he got too old. So people just flocked to it. Why? Because he didn't do what everybody else did and that is a kingdom business. And now here I am, 30 years, 20, some years later, still talking about it Like it wouldn't be a business that's talked about that much.
Speaker 1:Later, when that one man went into Carbones and he was a school teacher and he went to to pay, and Carbone's like no, that was actually Alfredo's, which is another one that was really good, but that was Alfredo's Deli. He said your money's no good here. I remember what you did for me in high school. I'll never forget it. I love that. And that guy so Alfredo's. You know there are more Italians in the state of Connecticut than any other state. So David and I, when we played baseball there, we got a real love and affinity for the Italians. But Alfredo's Deli I walked in there 20, 20, man, it was shoot 25 years after I played baseball there.
Speaker 1:And I'm sitting in this deli and the owner, mr Alfredo, comes walking up. He's like hey, you're a Benno, I remember you. And he pulled down off the top shelf. There was a top shelf that they had in the restaurant with just a bunch of like plastic bins and he pulled it open. And he opened up one specifically for the Torrington Twisters, the baseball team that I played at, and over the however many decades he kept newspaper articles and clippings of all that happened with the Torrington Twister. He pulled out one that had me and David on the front page of the sports page. It's like this is you boys, I remember you. He was a great Italian and he had a shirt, a t-shirt there it said Alfredo's Deli and on the front it had the Italian flag and on the back it said food so authentically Italian. You won't eat it with your back to the door. You're going to get hit.
Speaker 1:But listen, these six things, man. Amos busted up the marketplace Israelites in their time. Let's not fall for this. Okay, let me go back through these real quick. Problem number one they saw God's law. They saw God's word as an impediment to their ability to make money. Problem number two they did the least they could to make the most they could. Problem number three they priced according to what they could get, not according to the value of the product. Problem number four they stole when they knew they could get away with it. Problem number five they exploited the poor by taking advantage of their unfortunate situation. And problem number six they diluted their product in order to make more money.
Speaker 1:Let us not make those same mistakes, because if you do, god is no longer your partner, he's your opponent. Yep, jesus says seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, which means we got to do what's right in God's eyes, not just in other people's eyes, but what's right in God's eyes and all these things, everything that we want to accomplish in business, will be added unto us. Okay, that's it. Subscribe rate review. Send us some friends. Hopefully you guys are enjoying these Always. As you know, you can reach out info at benhambrotherscom or you can hit us up on socials, at Benham Brothers or our handles, and tell us of some stuff you want us to cover, and we're always happy to cover it. And we're very thankful for Christian Healthcare Ministries, expertonershipcom, slash, chm. They take good care of us and they'll take good care of you with your medical need.
Speaker 1:And let me say real quick, okay. So a lot of people ask us our speaking schedule, so let me give you just the next few. We're going to be in Redding, pennsylvania, on Saturday the 13th. Oh shoot, I should have told you where we're going to be, but that's a life surge. Then we're going to be in Cincinnati, ohio, on Saturday the 3rd and Chicago on Saturday the 10th Of August. Of no, that's oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's August, august 3rd, yeah, so Redding is in July, cincinnati and Chicago are in August, that's right. Boise, idaho, is in August, on the 24th. So that's good for now. That's good for now, all right, guys, hey, don't forget. If you're a dude, come to that. Mastermind.
Speaker 1:We only got 15 spots, so they'll go pretty quick, but we're going to have fun. It's at our lake house that Jason and I just finished building with an investor friend of ours, and so we'll have a boat and we got a lot of rooms, we'll have a chef, we're going to work out, we're going to get into the word and you're going to meet some other kingdom entrepreneurs. So, deb, at benhamcompaniescom, that's so old school. We'll be 50 next year, so we're so old school. Instead of putting a link in the show notes, we're telling you to email our secretary. Yeah, all right, guys. God bless you. It was a fun time, peace.