Foundation of Faith-Based Entrepreneurship

This course will deal with how to develop entrepreneurial characteristics and what steps to take to develop your own business and life plans. Faith-based entrepreneurship is the ability to develop a vision of the future, to commit oneself to a mission, to be innovative and creative, and to proceed with humility and self confidence with an abiding consciousness of God's design. These characteristics of entrepreneurship offer a path of success in business ventures as well as in public and private life.    

Contents:

     1. Understanding Entrepreneurship

     2. Seven Key Qualities of Successful Entrepreneurs

     3. 10 Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs

     4. Entrepreneurship-Islamic Perspective

     5. Business Ethics

     6. Assessing Your Entrepreneurial Aptitude

     7. 10 Rules for Small Business Success

     8. Going Into Business for Yourself

         a) Business Plans

         b) What is the Best Organizational Form

         c) Raising Capital

         d) Financial Statement & Cash Flow

     9. Your Future as an Entrepreneur

    10. Social Entrepreneurship

Fee: $ 50.00                            REGISTER HERE           

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Please read

Belief and business Speaker at SU describes virtues of faith-based entrepreneurship from a Muslim perspective By Stephanie M. Mangino 

The Winchester Star — The faith of a person engaged in business should inform everything he or she does in personal and professional life. At heart, that was the message of Dr. M. Yaqub Mirza as he spoke to about 90 students, faculty, and community members on Wednesday in Shenandoah University’s Byrd Board Room. He spoke as part of the Harry F. Byrd Jr. School of Business’ Distinguished Entrepreneur Speaker Series. Dr. Yaqub Mirza speaks about faith-based entrepreneurship on Wednesday in Shenandoah University’s Byrd Board Room. 

He addressed the topic from the perspective of a Muslim who brings faith into business practices. Mirza, president and CEO of Herndon-based Sterling Management Group Inc., is also a former board member and chairman of the Amana Mutual Funds Trust, and serves as an adviser to the board of trustees for Amana Mutual Funds, which makes investments based on Islamic principles. Saturna Capital Corp. of Bellingham, Wash., manages Amana. Dr. Miles K. Davis, assistant professor of management for the Byrd School of Business, said the subject of faith has been a part of the entrepreneurship speaker series, which featured Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy earlier this fall.

Cathy is well-known for bringing his Southern Baptist beliefs into his business practices. Davis said Wednesday’s presentation was an attempt, in part, to answer the question: “Are there things that can be shared across faith?” Mirza said various faiths often require similar acts of their adherents — some Christian churches encourage tithes, while Muslims give Zakah, a part of income that exceeds a year’s living expenses. Zakah paid from investments can range from 10 to 30 percent of profit and must be used for charitable purposes. But Mirza noted some business leaders who appear, visibly, to be people of faith — such as the late Kenneth Lay of Enron. But the business practices of Lay and his colleagues, and the leaders of other companies such as WorldCom, Tyco, and Adelphia, benefited the few at the expense of thousands, he said. 

On the other side are leaders such as Cathy and Sir John Templeton, founder of the Templeton Growth Fund Ltd. Mirza cited the latter for his belief in an “attitude of gratitude,” through which his greatest joy comes in building kinder hearts, minds, and souls. Mirza said Islam’s holy book, the Quran, advocates the pursuit of knowledge and the belief that a better way may be found to accomplish a task — which can be seen as an exhortation to entrepreneurship. However, it also prohibits bribery, dishonesty, and fraud, and encourages kindness. A Muslim businessperson has a number of responsibilities, including giving his customer the best product for the lowest price, while providing employees fair wages and safe, clean workplaces free of child labor or sweatshop conditions. Competitors must not be frozen out with monopolistic behavior and communities should benefit as a business pays all the proper taxes and also provides for those in need, he said.

Faith-based business practices can be expressed in many ways, Mirza said. He said he once spoke with one of the managers at a Chilean juice production in which he had an interest. He felt the manager was being unfair about wanting to fire an employee and asked if the manager believed he was acting as a good Christian would, encouraging him to think about his position. The man returned the next day and admitted he had been unfair. In another instance, the company he was with acquired a dairy farm in Zimbabwe at which tobacco also grew. The Islamic faith does not allow the use of tobacco products, so the plants were cut down, Mirza said. Additionally, Islam does not condone interest or borrowing. For funds such as Amana, that means the firm does not invest in financial companies or those with high amounts of debt. Its investments are more equity-based, he said. 

To those who wish to be entrepreneurs, Mirza advised against arrogance, imprudence, institutional self-centeredness, and pride. Pride is concerned with who is right, whereas humility deals with what is right, he added. Mirza said he has tried to ensure that employees of the companies in which he invests are treated well. Also, he noted, happy people tend to be productive people. He did address the apparent contradiction of providing high-quality, low-cost products while paying employees a fair wage. At the Chilean juice factory, the solution came through investing in more high-yield technology after the market was flooded a few years ago by low-cost, low-quality juice from China, Mirza said. This year, the facility is back on track to make a profit. A Muslim believes that every action of a faithful person is considered worship — so a faith-based entrepreneur’s every move could be thought of as such, Mirza said. He also noted that the work of companies such as the Amana Mutual Fund Trust is also attracting attention. Many of the investors in Amana aren’t Muslim, Mirza said, but they do appreciate the funds’ socially responsible stance. — Contact Stephanie M. Mangino at smangino@winchesterstar.com