Biblical Worldview and Small Business: Coffee Shop
I decided to choose a takeaway coffee shop for this course as a small business planning object. I assume that takeaway coffee shop requires significantly smaller initial investments and could be more profitable than any other area of small business. Moreover, I expect that taking a realistic approach to planning will increase my ability to implement new knowledge into the real-life case. With COVID-19 restrictions, the food industry endured many hardships, and many businesses left the market. Therefore, I chose the takeaway coffee shop based on the current conditions and potential investments for a future small business. Considering the form of ownership and lack of business experience, I think that sole proprietorship is a good starting point. According to Pride et al. (2019), one of the main disadvantages of a sole proprietorship is that the owner’s low management skills could potentially become a reason for the business’s failure. However, I perceive the sole proprietorship as an advantage as it provides an opportunity to gain first-hand business knowledge and experience. Moreover, as there are many peculiar properties in different areas, opening a coffee shop could bring more knowledge about the overall food industry.
Furthermore, from a biblical worldview, there are several challenges that my small business could face in the chosen industry. The Bible suggests that overall, business is good as it produces wealth and allows people to use skills and talents gifted by God (Deuteronomy 8:18 NIV). The coffeehouse industry is highly competitive and dominated by large chains and franchises, such as Starbucks. However, considering corporations’ negative influence on the environment, the Bible could acknowledge them as bad companies with corrupted morals. On the other hand, the potential business activities could be affected by the external environment in the form of errors in the supply chain, which are common in the food industry. As the biblical worldview prohibits being dependent on anybody, in case of a business’s success, it might be helpful to progress from the coffee shop business to a coffee producing company.
References
Biblica. (2011). New International Version Bible. Colorado Springs.
Pride, W. M., Kapoor, J. R., & Hughes, R. J. (2019). Foundations of business (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.