What Would You Do If You Lost It All?

 I have a friend, whom will remain anonymous. I won't share their full story, just the high level. Let's call her Jill. Jill ran a very successful and profitable solo cleaning business in Florida. Hurricane Ian pummeled her area and completely wiped out everything Jill had. Thankfully, her family was okay. But not her house. Not her vehicles. Not her business. Jill invested years to build and it took a few days for a natural disaster to destroy. What could Jill have done differently? Not live in Florida? I suppose. But that's her home. Here's the good news. Jill has a great mindset to grow her cleaning company. She is resilient and determined. She grew it back. What would you do if you lost it all? Would you be like Jill or would you give up?

 My goal here was to dial this podcast back a bit and get you to stop and take inventory of your life, your family, your health, your business, and your eternal future. My goal was for you to pause and be grateful for what you already have and sure up the things you don't. Like Jill, many of you live in areas with natural disasters. A tornado or earthquake or forest fire could take it all away in an instant. What happens when you work hard to build something and then lose it all from something totally out of your control? Like a once in a decade category 4 hurricane that wipes out Southern Florida? On the other side of a disaster like that, how do you pick yourself back up and start over? The words for this are called grit and perseverance and hope and faith. What gives Jill and some of you out there the courage to build when the Big Bad Wolf might come and blow your house down again? I'm going to share this amazing quote from Jesus.
 
"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock." (Matthew 7:24-25)

The answer is simple. We need to all build a company with a strong foundation. What are some ingredients of a strong foundation? As a follower of Christ, I put a relationship with Jesus as my rock as number one! This may not be true of you as you listen to this. That is absolutely okay. For me though, having a firm foundation that God owns it all and I am a steward to manage what is already His. This allows me to go with the flow more and trust that God's in control. It doesn't mean I don't work hard. I do. I just have faith that God has a greater plan and purpose for me. So if a major storm would have wiped everything away, I still have Jesus and that's all I really need. That may not be what you believe. That's okay. We're not clones. What are some other ingredients of a successful foundation? I believe being out of debt and having cash and a solid financial plan is super vital for your foundation. I believe if you're married, that you and your spouse are on the same page and walking in unity. I believe trust and amazing relationships with your customers, your team, and your community is a vital ingredient. If you have these ingredients in place and another storm hits and wipes you out, you have hope. The community binds together to fix it. The relationships you have in the community are strong and you get involved even if you have nothing. On the other side, the community rallies around you and your business grows again. The point is this. Regardless of where you live and the natural disasters that may surround you, nobody has a certain future. Jesus declares it plainly. The wind and the waves are going to hit. It's not a matter of if, but when. And like the third pig who built the house out of brick, will you be prepared when it does?


Read the rest of this article at the Smart Cleaning School website