"I have been a carpenter for 26 years, and if only I knew then what I now know from the seminars…" Testimony from one participant at this month's seminar series in Ulaanbaatar. This man - I'll call him Enkhmunkh - was commenting on the teaching we give about the very important distinction between businesses and charities. This is a distinction that is all too easily forgotten in cultures like this, where extended family and other obligations bear down on a business's operating funds, often leading to business collapses and continuing financial need. Testimony of this sort comes up again and again from our training.
Making the distinction, however, gives the business permission to be a business, and can ultimately enable it to become more charitable once it has got itself on a firm financial footing. What we say is in effect, 'Let your business discharge its own immediate obligations, and it will be in a better position to take care of the rest later.' We wait with anticipation to see where Enkhmunkh's learning will take him, his business and his family.
Pictured here are some of the other participants in the training with their certificates, some of whom already have businesses, and some who are thinking about what they might start. Exciting and challenging times ahead...