Ben Means Business

I was scrolling through the Bible today looking for something to read when I came across a familiar scripture and realized that there are several things we can learn about business from it. The story is commonly referred to as the Parable of Talents. As I read over it, I was amazed at how the principles of this parable apply to entrepreneurship, investing, etc... The story is one that most people will be familiar with. However, just in case you don't know the story I'll paraphrase it here before I begin breaking down the metaphorical content.

"A man was going on a journey and decided to entrust some of his property to his servants. Each was given talents(money) according to his ability. To one servant he gave 5 talents, to another he gave 2, and to the last he gave 1. The servant who had received the 5 talents immediately went and put his money to work and received 5 more. The servant who received 2 talents also doubled his money. The servant who received 1 talent went and hid his talent underground.

When the master returned he was pleased with the servants who had doubled their money but was very upset with the one who had just hid his talent. He called him lazy and took his one talent away and gave it to the servant who had 10. The masters explanation was this: "He who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

How does this apply to your business/life?

Parable Point 1- Use What Ya Got!

Each servant was given talents according to his ability. Meaning that the servants who received 5 talents had the greatest ability, the servant who received 2 had less ability, and the last servant had the least ability of all...BUT..as the scripture states the master was equally pleased with the servant who doubled his 5 and the servant who doubled his 2. What does this tell us? It simply tells us that it does not matter how much "talent" you have, what matters is that you utilize what you do have.

( I hope you don't think its coincidence that the word "talents" was used to describe money in this parable. )

Parable Point 2- The Rich Get Richer

It might seem unfair that the servant who already has the most was also given the talents of the servant who had the least. Well, its not! The servant with the most talents has the most talents because he is capitalizing on the gifts and abilities that were given to him. I have come to the realization that some people are rich because they are just smarter than everybody else. However, the greater majority of wealthy people are wealthy because they seized an opportunity that was more than likely neglected by people with more suitable abilities.

Talent or ability by themselves mean nothing. They must supplement "application" and production" in order to equal success. Without them, someone with less talent will be running the business that God intended for you.

Parable Point 3-Playing it Safe will Cost You

The servant who hid his talents, had his talents taken and given to someone who would utilize them. His opportunity to utilize his talents was gone. I'm sure if he had it to do all over again, he would have done it differently but playing it safe cost him dearly.

Well, believe it or not, this does happen today. We, as entrepreneurs, often play it safe and it ends up costing us too. How many times have you passed on an opportunity that ended up being worth millions because you didn't want to invest your $50 bucks? Why didn't everyone invest
in Wal-Mart when they first came out? or Google? The answer is simple......FEAR!

Usually when the window of opportunity is the largest so is the risk factor( See Catch 22 of Entrepreneurship). It will either cost you some time, sweat, or some money but overlooking the opportunity will cost you more. If we fail to take advantage of an opportunity while we have a chance, it is probably gone forever. The worst thing about this is that you will usually have to watch someone else become wealthy off of an opportunity that was meant for you.

So leave your comments and be sure to tell me which servant you are......