Why I Wrote This Book

I didn’t always believe that I could start a business with no money. Like everyone else I bought into the myth that “It takes money to make money”. Or that getting a Master in Business degree (M.B.A.) actually made you a master in business. After each degree I obtained my suspicions grew more and more. I thought, “But what if you don’t have any money?  It took me many years to get my answer.

While talking to and feeding numerous gifted and talented homeless (mostly African-American) men and women on Skid Row (downtown Los Angeles) God revealed an idea to me. “In the long run, wouldn’t it be great if the people you are feeding actually knew that they have already been given something to give to others? Wouldn’t it build their self-esteem if they didn’t have to come to you for food but knew how to provide for themselves?” In other words, giving increases a person’s self-esteem while constantly being on the receiving end has the opposite effect. What would happen if  people were taught to find and give away the gifts and talents God has given them rather than experiencing the degrading effects of constantly being on the receiving end? I knew it wasn’t a novel idea but at that moment it was for me.

After many years of learning biblical business principles through my mentors and wealthy Christian business leaders, Al and Hattie Hollingsworth (BossTheMovement.org), myself and my husband Mark, discovered that starting a business with no money was actually possible. After my season in accounting and a homeless experience of our own, we did so with our own coffee, then, snack foods mobile product distribution modules. Then my passion was re-ignited many years later on the Wilmington Ave. off-ramp in Compton, CA.  Sitting in line waiting to make a left turn I witnessed something that pricked my heart. On the median were two individuals. One gentleman was selling oranges for $5/bag and the other gentleman was asking for a handout. I thought, “What if the gentleman who was asking for a handout had a product to sell or, even at the minimum, helped the other gentleman sell his oranges, wouldn’t that have given him more dignity in his own eyes and the people he was approaching for money.”

This encounter gave me the idea to create a simple, biblically based, practical book based upon the principles taught by our mentors and lived out in our own lives! And that’s what I’m presenting to you today. My prayer is that this information will start you on your road to being, not just a job seeker, but also a job creator. God bless.
Irene
Irene@eStudiesGroup.com