THE BENEFITS OF SPIRITUALITY IN BUSINESS

There are those who argue that the subject of spirituality should never be share the same bed. However, recent research has shown that people who exhibit high sense of spirituality are better positioned to succeed than those who do not.

Bostwana born millionaire, Nigel Chanakira says that, “I believe that without faith you would not achieve a lot. A lot of my achievements are therefore because of my faith. I go to mass every Sunday. Whenever the church needs my services right now, for example, sitting in the finance committee for the bishop-I go and help. Hard work, commitment, a desire for success, passion, integrity, strong values, strong belief in oneself, in systems, in people, and most importantly in God-this is the bedrock that holds Pula Holdings together”. 

Nigel Chanakira had always wanted to own a bank, but it was a series of events that brought him to realize that God was real and that was the key to his success in life. He had heard a sermon preached in church by one pastor Tom Deusschle that made him start thinking about his dream of owning a financial institution.  The pastor had preached about Kingdom companies-those started by Christians who were financing the preaching of the gospel. Nigel who had wanted to run his own bank took the challenge. He was touched by the scripture, “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”.  He needed US$ 500,000 for a banking license. He was short of US$380,000 for the total amount so he went to church to get the rest, and he did got it!

How did he get it?  Well, having read Malachi 3:10 which says:  

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be enough room to receive it”. He was inspired to challenge God for a miracle. In his own words, “So that Sunday I went to church and stood up in the service and said: “I am going to give US$17,000 to the church in order to sow the seed in the Lord’s house that I will own my own bank. People told me I was stupid- I had sold my house, I was giving my money to the church. What was I doing? So, with the US$17,000 pledge, Chanakira was even further away from his target, but he was a man with a God-given vision, and four partners who believed in him.

The end of the whole matter was that he did not only own the Kingdom Bank Africa; God gave him a stock brokerage firm (Kingdom Securities) microfinance (MicroKing, now the biggest microfinance business in Zimbabwe) and many more in several African countries. Today, he runs a billion-dollar company on the Zimbabwean Stock Exchange and has won several awards over the years including being nominated a World Economic Forum Global Leader of Tomorrow. Your spiritual strength holds the key to what you can do physically! Spirituality in business has benefits Zimbabwean born billionaire Strive Masiyiwa confesses that he is first and foremost a family man. He enjoys quality time with his family. Despite his terribly busy schedule, he makes time to read his bible and play active role in church activities. Get this right, life is bigger than your entrepreneurial dreams.

Keep your relationship with God and family. Keep your health in place. Keep your life in a balance! Never be deceived; life is more important than wealth and riches. It is unwise to chase money to the neglect of your God, family, health and key relationships. You may not start out with a foolproof gyroscop, but to survive as an entrepreneur, you will need that strong sense of perspective. How to maintain simple, clear focus. How to be at peace with and learn from a failure. Understanding that not all battles are worth winning and knowing when to walk away. Knowing when to go home and give your loved ones a hug. When to go for a run.

Business Leader Phil Libin, Evernote CEO could not have put it better: “There’s lots of bad reasons to start a company. But there is only one good, legitimate reason, and I think you know what it is: it’s to change the world.”

Ashish J. Thakkar is only 30, but in less than two decades, the Ugandan-born maverick entrepreneur has accomplished what only few attain in their lifetime.  Thakkar began his entrepreneurial journey over 15 years ago as a high school student in Uganda where he sold computers to his schoolmates and friends. That small trading operation snowballed into the Mara Group, a diversified conglomerate with approximately $100 million in revenues, according to Thakkar. Mara has tentacles in everything from Real Estate and tourism to financial services, information and communications technology, renewable energy, and manufacturing. The group’s operations span 16 countries in four continents, including Asia. And lest you forget, he did not inherit anything; he built it all from scratch.

When he was recently interviewed by Forbes Africa Magazine, his response was inspiring:

“My biggest driver is to see Africa prosper and compete aggressively on a global scale. I am deeply passionate about this and firmly believe that the Indian Tiger and the Chinese Dragon have had their days and it is now time for the African Lion! Mara Group proudly wears the logo of the African Lion to symbolize Africa’s coming of age and we champion this cause in any way we can”.

He continues by stating what the Mara Group does to uplift the communities in which it does business.

“I believe it is imperative for businesses to give back to their communities. I have taken my greatest lessons in business and created the Mara Foundation to help early stage entrepreneurs. We are immensely proud of the work we do through the Foundation which is helping to tackle problems in education and providing much needed support to young entrepreneurs at the start of their journey. Mara Foundation provides three different types of support. The first is the Entrepreneur Launchpad, a business mentorship program which connects emerging entrepreneurs with top business leaders who have volunteered to provide mentorship for six months.

This project has mentored around 120 small businesses in East Africa so far. The second is Mara Launchpad, the Base for Growing Businesses, an innovation, and enterprise center for young businesses, where entrepreneurs pay an affordable fee to access a professional office space and a community of like-minded individuals. This provides visibility and credibility which enables them to grow. The third element is the Mara Launch Uganda Fund, which offers venture capital to startups and growth-stage companies in Uganda to start with. Our vision is to copy and paste these initiatives in other African countries too.”

Lev Leview, Israeli business magnate, billionaire and philanthropist has made a name for his flamboyant and aggressive charitable giving to communities. Levi has donated more money to charity, both in sum, total and in percentage amount, than most of the other wealthiest people in the world. His business, according to him, is to make money but he does so in order to serve GOD better. But God does not ask that more than a 10 or 20 percent commission be paid to charity. Now, that is what we call Spiritual Entrepreneurship! None other could suffice. Levi has however done this exemplary gesture for years. The net effect is that he has been blessed with riches because he is a responsible steward of that blessing.

The interesting thing about Levi is that unlike most successful entrepreneurs, he started giving back to God and country at an early stage. He began to give away his fortune, His goals were to tithe 10 percent of his income every year, but he soon found himself giving far more than that. Some years, it was 20 percent. Other years it was 30%. He founded Jewish day schools in the former Soviet states. His latest goal according to sources is to provide a free Jewish education for any American Jewish child who wants one. Nathan Sharansky made a startling remark about him, “I know a lot of rich people who give money.

But Leview is on a completely different level. He is building entire communities”.  Come to think of it, as a teenager, he arrived in Israel with literally the rags on his back. He and his family escaped the Soviet region of Bukahara and reached Isreal in 1971. He had ventured into the Diamond trading business after an attempt at rabbinical studies. The rest they say is history! Spirituality matters! Being spiritual as an entrepreneur increases your chances of success.