Top 9 tips for starting a Christian business

Christian Minister, Paul Unsworth runs a successful coffee shop in Brick Lane, London. He is the founder of Kahaila Christian Fellowship which began in June 2012. We’ve outlined some helpful tips based on his story to get your Christian business off the ground.

1. Decide on your ministry objective Paul got inspiration for this by looking at where the community gathered in a Brick Lane market. The example he gave is 'reaching an unchurched generation' and 'reaching out to the community.' 
2. Choose your location – You’ll need to consider your ministry budget and research property prices in the area before committing. You could also consider renting if you belong to a smaller church for example. 
3. Identify your target group – Understanding your target group is vital if your Christian business is going to have any chance of getting off the ground. For the Kahaila ministry, the target group was isolated city people 
4. The Need - This really depends on the area and community you’re targeting. For Paul, he noticed the obvious problem was isolation and lack of community in the Brick Lane area. What is the need in your area? 
5. USP (Unique Selling Point) – Kahaila run a café so coffee and cake is the obvious one but more importantly, giving people a sense of belonging in an individualistic culture. 
6. Investing in the best equipment/business product – Paul and the team determined they were going for the best and so they invested money in the top coffee makers. In the first three months they were doing four times as much business as they anticipated. So it’s popular and self-sustaining! Don’t sell your target group short in this area. The quality of your business product is extremely important. 
7. Events - Planning and managing events to make your presence known and keep building relationships with your target group. 
8. Don’t just invite Christians – When Kahaila began the coffee shop, Paul told himself if the café was just full of Christians they would be failing. So don’t forget to invite your non-believing friends and relatives! 
9. Branching out – the success of the café allowed Kahalia to expand into other areas of ministry. Consider ways that you can do this for your business. Kahalia opened a luminary bakery targeting women from abusive backgrounds. The women do the cake baking for the church business in order to make an income. This in turn profits the business and keeps the women out of dangerous lines of work. 

You can listen to the full interview with Paul Unsworth below or find out more about the work of the Kahaila ministry by visiting: http://kahaila.com/