Lesson 44: Generosity
This is the last newsletter in the year 2024. You have been generous to read along as I navigate this transformation into a business leader and I want to thank you. However, the gift I am most grateful for during Christmas is the gift of Christ. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” During the Christmas season, I get so wrapped up in wrapping gifts that I wait to celebrate the greatest gift I have ever received. Why would I wait?
Moreover, this is the season of giving. You are probably more generous than me, but I usually start my Christmas shopping before I start thinking about ways to give during this season. It comes to mind eventually, but that is not enough. Waiting to be generous is not how I want to live. Generosity is a habit to form now.
If this plan to acquire a business and sell it in the future works, then I will have the resources to give back in ways I cannot today. It would fill my heart with joy to dedicate funding for initiatives for which I am passionate, such as housing insecurity and K-12 education. Why would I wait?
Small business owners give back to their community all the time. Although owning a business is hard work, we must make a habit of generosity. One of my favorite examples of generosity while operating a business is the Black Farmer Fund. This is an investment firm that provides capital to Black farmers in the U.S. The fund launched in 2020, and in 2022 they added the Rapid Response Fund for emergency funding for Black Farmers and Food Business owners in the northeast U.S. to receive support up to $10,000. Their generosity has provided over $120,000.
My values are to act with love, humility, and wisdom. Loving my community as a small business owner will be shaped in part by my own generosity. Whether a small business owner or a student, I cannot wait until exiting the investment to start giving back. This Christmas season, I celebrate the gift of Christ and am inspired to explore ways I can be generous moving forward. It is a habit to form so that the community where my future business operates is better off than how I found it.
Generosity is Lesson 44. Next week, I will share Lesson 45: Growth.
