Malcolm Gladwell wrote an excellent article for ministry entrepreneurs called “The Sure Thing” for the January 2010 issue of the New Yorker. Below is an excerpt …

• “…many entrepreneurs take plenty of risks—but those are generally the failed entrepreneurs, not the success stories. The failures violate all kinds of established principles of new-business formation.
• New-business success is clearly correlated with the size of initial capitalization. But failed entrepreneurs tend to be wildly undercapitalized.
• The data show that organizing as a corporation is best. But failed entrepreneurs tend to organize as sole proprietorships.
• Writing a business plan is a must; failed entrepreneurs rarely take that step. Taking over an existing business is always the best bet; failed entrepreneurs prefer to start from scratch.
• Ninety percent of the fastest-growing companies in the country sell to other businesses; failed entrepreneurs try selling to consumers, and, rather than serving customers that other businesses have missed, they chase the same people as their competitors do.
• The list goes on: they undermine marketing; they don’t understand the importance of financial controls; they try to compete on price.
• (Scott) Shane concedes that some of these risks are unavoidable: would-be entrepreneurs take them because they have no choice. But a good many of these risks reflect a lack of preparation or foresight.”
• This is why we at Ministry Ventures believe the discipline and planning of Ministry Mastery certification is just what every ministry entrepreneur needs.