Photo courtesy of Jacob Bøtter.

Grant Edwards has enjoyed a long standing entrepreneurial career which began in the 3rd grade when he established a used golf ball retail business for golfers at the Green Valley Country Club. Later in life, Grant operated a successful specialty retail business for 20+ years in eastern NC and coastal SC. Currently, he is the Area Chairman for the Upstate SC chapter of C12, a leading business resource group for Christian CEOs and Presidents of Christian businesses.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• [2m 053s] Tell us how God has directed your career. C12 is a national peer advisory group for Christian CEOs. Designed to help Christian business owners see the truth about how they can improve their businesses and use their businesses as ministries for Christ. Grant is one of 90 area chairman. He is the Upstate, SC area chair. Was a business owner for 23 years prior to this. Also served as a lay pastor for 20 years. That helped prepare him to teach business leaders how the Bible is to be lived out in day-to-day life.
• [6m 32s] Worst career failure? Trying to escape a brief stint as a residential real estate agent, took a job in a mergers & acquisition company in Texas. Horrible move! He did not give it a lot of thought before taking the job. Didn’t check it out before leaping. Quit after a month. Boss was a business tyrant! Caustic work environment. Lesson: Be familiar with the company culture – and make sure you match up with it – before taking a job.
• [10m 30s] Biggest career success? Deciding to become a C12 chairperson. Loves to see Christian business people improve. He teaches people that their best career fit is where their talents, gifts, and passions intersect in a career that enables them to create value for other people. He saw C12 as that place for him.

SECOND SEGMENT

• [17m 50s] Number one personal habit? Daily devotional time with The Lord.
• [19m 00s] Number one business habit? Continuous education. Always reading books or listening to audio books.
• [20m 24s] Productivity tool? 1) A calendar of some kind, 2) Evernote, 3) Manifestly (a checklist tool). (Robbie mentioned Workflowy and Calendly.)
• [22m 39s] Top three business tips? 1) Create a business plan, which consists of an organizational plan, a marketing plan, an operations plan, and a financial plan. Also includes SMART goals – Specific, Measureable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Timed goals. 2) Create critical measurements, or KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that would define the success of the business. Create a measurement system that would communicate company progress to everyone in the company. 3) Find great people. Jim Collins in Good to Great says that the success of a business is not what and how but who. When selecting people, be focused on the Three Cs: Competency, Chemistry, and Character. Are your people competent? Do they fit into your corporate culture? Do they have good character?
• [24m 35s] Recommended book: Right Away and All At Once: 5 Steps to Transform Your Business and Enrich Your Life by Greg Brenneman
• [25m 53s]  Advice to high school seniors? 1) Know God, i.e., walk closely to Him. 2) Know yourself. Learn their gifts, passions, and where they can create value for others. StrengthsFinder 2.0 is a good tool.
• [27m 24s] How connect? grant.edwards@c12group.com

BONUS SEGMENT

• [29m 58s] Biggest weakness? Impatience.
• [30m 52s] Biggest strength? Loves to create solutions for people.
• [31m 50s] Ever been confused about which career path to take? How did God clear the smoke? Was burned out on ministry-related efforts after 20 years as a lay pastor. Liked the idea of C12, but wasn’t sure. Was on a trip to Greensboro, NC where C12 was headquartered at the time. Was at a restaurant, prayed for food, and the man behind him thanked him for praying for the food. The man was the then president of C12! Divine appointment!
• [34m 49s] How are you using your career as your ministry? Encourage and strengthen business owners in their walk with Christ. And to show them how to use their businesses to reach others for Christ: their employees, vendors, customers, suppliers, etc. Average small business touches +/- 5,000 people per year. Two creative ways to do this: 1) Employ a corporate chaplain, 2) Create a caring team to conduct the ministry of the business.

Resources Mentioned:

• Good to Great by Jim Collins
• Right Away and All At Once: 5 Steps to Transform Your Business and Enrich Your Life by Greg Brenneman
• StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
• Manifestly
• Evernote
• Workflowy
• Calendly
• Get a free audio book version of Good to Great, Right Away and All at Once, or StrengthsFinder 2.0 with a free trial of Audible.

Sponsors:

• Knights of Siena Fencing Academy
• Amazon.com. Shop Amazon.com via this link and a portion of each purchase will go to support the Career Callings Radio Show.
• Samaritan Ministries If you apply, please list Robbie Romeiser as your referrer to support the Career Callings Radio Show.
• Hostgator.com
• Amazon Prime (Free Trial Offer)
• Audible.com

Killer Resources:

• Get a FREE audio book at Audible.com.
• Daily devotions from Robbie Romeiser at TodaysQuoteFromGod.com.

Subscribe to Career Callings Radio!

Robbie Romeiser is a commercial real estate broker, real estate instructor, and author of the daily devotional Today’s Quote From God (www.TodaysQuoteFromGod.com). Desiring to help his own children follow God’s calling in their lives, Robbie founded Career Callings (www.CareerCallings.net) to help people find, prepare for, and pursue the work God has called them to do. To have Robbie speak at your church, business, professional association, or civic club, please email Robbie at robbie@careercallings.net.