One question aspiring entrepreneurs frequently ask is: How do I get started? It’s a difficult question to answer, because every person is different and every business idea is unique. But as you go through the journey of starting a business, there are three things you need to get started. I love the following verse in Genesis because it hints at the process entrepreneurs go through when starting a business.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” [Genesis 1:1-2]

If you’re looking to start a new business venture, right now your business is without form – and it’s void. Some Bible translations tell us that God was sitting over chaos when darkness was filling the whole world. Maybe you feel like your idea is ‘chaos’. But before ordering the chaos, God stopped for a while to hover.

As an entrepreneur, it’s vital that you learn how to hover.

Hovering is the process of envisioning and planning your business idea. There are three components to hovering that you must develop to get started with your business. I believe these are the three things God was doing when He was hovering.

3 Vital Questions to Ask While Hovering:

PURPOSE – Ask why? 

What do you want & why do you want it? God wanted someone to fellowship with Him. [Genesis 1:26]

When you’re in the dreaming stage of a business, ask yourself what is the purpose? Not only do you need to determine the purpose of your idea, but you need to discover specific reasons that back up your purpose.

When you figure out your personal reasons, you can do amazing things. Your reasons can and should be specific. They can also be personal or missional – like paying off $20-grand worth of debt or creating curriculum for students because you experienced difficulties in school. There are certain things that will motivate you in your life and you need to figure out what those motivating things are.

Ultimately, discover your purpose.

VISION – Ask what?

When you close your eyes and start to dream about your business, what do you see?

The vision for your business has to come from your heart. Otherwise it will struggle to grow, succeed, and make a difference. Then, in addition to having a vision, you also must have hope and faith that your vision will come true.

For example, take the dream I mentioned earlier of creating curriculum because you struggled in school. If this was your dream, it must be rooted in your heart. When you close your eyes and think about creating the curriculum, you see the children enjoying the workbook, celebrating that they are no longer struggling. You see beyond the basics and beyond the business. You see the impact.

As you are hovering, spend quite a bit of time dreaming and casting a vision.

KNOWLEDGE – Ask how? 

Finally, I believe that God was figuring out the details while he was hovering. Do you know how to start? No matter how grand your vision and purpose, you need to know how to implement your plans. We have to apply ourselves to learning.

Proverbs 24:3-4 says a house is built by wisdom. In the same way, a business is built by wisdom. So, if you are truly aspiring to be an entrepreneur, start taking classes, reading books, and listening to podcasts.

Develop a step-by-step plan for how you are going to implement your plan. Create a business model canvas. Set goals.

Then, get started.

While hovering, you define your purpose, vision and knowledge.

As you are hovering over the “void” of your future business, make sure to develop these three components. In this initial phase, you don’t need to define every single detail, but you do need to hover and develop about 70% of your plan before moving forward.

That 70% could include how you’re going to make money, your marketing plan, your revenue streams, your cost structure, etc. When you think about it like that, hovering might take a while. But with patience and intentionality, you can really create a foundation for your business.

Hovering is worth it. After all, look at what the God of the universe created. We do serve a creative & majestic God!

What purpose does your business dream have? How about your vision? What it is? Share with me!