“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” — Luke 14:28
Lesson
What You Will Learn
- Define entrepreneurship and small business
- Describe habits and mindsets that help business owners persevere
- Weigh the rewards and risks of self-employment honestly
- Complete a personal readiness inventory
Lesson Notes
What Is a Small Business?
An entrepreneur starts and runs a business, taking on risk in hope of reward. A small business can be one woman braiding hair from home or a two-person cleaning service. Most start small, and many stay small on purpose.
A business solves a problem or meets a need in exchange for payment. If no one will pay for it, it is a hobby, not a business.
The Entrepreneurial Mindset
- Initiative: you start things without waiting to be told.
- Perseverance: you keep going after rejection and slow weeks.
- Learning: you ask questions and admit what you don't know.
- Discipline: you keep records and promises when no boss is watching.
- Service: you focus on what the customer needs.
Many women in re-entry have already managed scarce resources and learned to read people. Those strengths transfer.
Counting the Cost
Jesus described a builder who sits down first and counts the cost (Luke 14:28). Ask honestly before you begin: How much money and time will this take? What if income is slow for six months? Who depends on my paycheck? What do my supervision or housing conditions allow?
Many people start part-time while holding a regular job. That is not a lack of faith; it is wisdom.
Rewards and Risks
Rewards: flexibility, using your gifts, serving your community, building for your family. Risks: irregular income, savings at stake, long hours, no paid sick days, and responsibility for taxes and records. Counting the cost lets you start with your eyes open, or decide that now is not the season. Both can be faithful.
Key Terms
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Entrepreneur | A person who starts and runs a business and takes on its risk |
| Small business | An independently owned business, often with few or no employees |
| Counting the cost | Honestly estimating money, time, and risk before starting (Luke 14:28) |
| Side business | A business run part-time alongside a regular job |
In-Class Activities
Readiness Inventory
Rate yourself 1–5 on each: initiative, perseverance, willingness to learn, record-keeping discipline, comfort with uncertainty, support system, and savings. Circle your two strongest and the one you most need to grow.
The Builder's Questions
In small groups, read Luke 14:28–30. List every question the builder should ask before starting the tower. Then rewrite each question for someone starting a business after release.
Assignment: My Cost-Counting Letter
Write a one-page letter to yourself one year from now.
- Describe the kind of business you hope to start (it may still be a rough idea).
- List three costs you will need to count: money, time, and one personal cost (such as time away from family).
- Name one reason a part-time start or a later start might be wise for you.
- Close with a prayer committing your plans to the Lord (Proverbs 16:3).
Graded with the Module Assignment Rubric.
Reflection Journal
Luke 14:28 describes a builder who sits down first and counts the cost. When have you started something without counting the cost? What did you learn? What would it look like to dream boldly and plan wisely at the same time?
Prayer focus: Ask God for courage to dream and wisdom to count the cost.
Weekly Reading & Devotions
Dream Boldly, Plan Wisely
Many women in this program carry a dream of building something of their own: a salon chair, a cleaning service, a catering table, a small shop. That dream is not foolish. God made us creative, and Scripture honors the woman who considers a field and buys it (Proverbs 31:16).
But Jesus also told of a builder who began a tower without counting the cost and could not finish. People mocked him. The lesson is not don't build; it is sit down first. Counting the cost is how a dream becomes a plan that can stand.
Counting the cost means honest questions about money, time, family, housing, and supervision. It may mean starting part-time while you work a steady job. It may mean waiting a season. None of that is failure. It is wisdom.
LaToya dreamed of opening a bakery the month she came home. When she counted the cost, she started instead by selling pound cakes to coworkers and church members on weekends, with permission and within local food rules. Two years later she had customers, savings, and a clearer picture of what a bakery would really take. (LaToya is a composite example.)
Think About It
- What business dream have you carried, even quietly? ______________________
- Which cost do you most need to count honestly? ______________________
- What would a wise first step look like for you? ______________________
Daily Devotions for Week 1
Sit Down First
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?— Luke 14:28 (KJV)
Jesus honors planning. Sitting down to count the cost is the first act of a faithful builder.
Reflect: What do you need to sit down and count?
Pray: Lord, give me patience to plan before I build.
Do: Write down three costs your dream will require.
He Directs the Steps
A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.— Proverbs 16:9 (KJV)
We make plans, and God guides each step. Planning and trusting go together.
Reflect: Where do you need God to direct your steps?
Pray: Lord, direct my steps as I plan.
Do: Pray over your business idea by name today.
Be Strong
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.— Joshua 1:9 (KJV)
Starting something new takes courage. God goes with you into unfamiliar places.
Reflect: What fear rises when you think about your dream?
Pray: Lord, give me courage and remind me You are with me.
Do: Name one fear and write a promise of God beside it.
A New Thing
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.— Isaiah 43:19 (KJV)
Your past does not limit what God can do next. He makes ways where there seem to be none.
Reflect: Where do you need God to make a way?
Pray: Lord, do a new thing in my life.
Do: Write one sentence describing the new thing you hope for.
If the Lord Will
For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.— James 4:15 (KJV)
Good plans are held with open hands. We plan, and we submit our plans to God's will.
Reflect: Which part of your plan is hardest to surrender?
Pray: Lord, not my will but Yours be done.
Do: End today by offering your plans to God in prayer.
Module Quiz
- 1.
Which best describes an entrepreneur?
- 2.
In Luke 14:28, what does the builder do first?
- 3.
Which is a real risk of self-employment?
- 4.
Starting a business part-time while keeping a regular job can be a wise choice.
- 5.
Name three habits of the entrepreneurial mindset.