As I have sown the seed of blessings by faith, sales have only increased.
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April 18, 2010 |
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 Testimony of 2 Nakhong Im, President of Lime Insurance, Inc.
District Leader, 2-17th District; 2-2nd Men's Mission
- Summary from the Previous Issue -
In his youth, Deacon Nakhong boldly proclaimed he would one day become a successful entrepreneur. As the owner of "Flowers at a Lightning Speed," a flower delivery service, he was making every effort to be successful and married. Shortly thereafter, it is revealed that their first child, still unborn, may be suffering from Down syndrome. From this, he repented of his lukewarm faith and began his life anew. When his initial intention of trusting only in God faltered, his business that had been nothing but a smooth sailing also began to falter. He repented of the way in which he had changed. At the recommendation of an acquaintance, he decided to stand up on his feet again in the insurance industry.
After switching careers from a life insurance planner, which guaranteed a relatively high income, to a property insurance planner, I began to suffer financially. I usually had a roll of gimbap [Editor's Note: gimbap is a popular Korean fast food made from steamed white rice (bap) and various other ingredients, rolled in gim (sheets of dried seaweed) and served warm in bite-size slices] and had kimchi as the only side dish at home. When we couldn't pay for the city gas, we made use of butane gas for cooking and when we ran out of rice, we prayed and received it from God. When I was unable to make payments on loans, my properties were seized with some of them put up on an auction. Thankfully, however, none of them were bought out. Holding fast to the message, "Blessing will come when you overcome trials in joy and gratitude," I overcame them through fervent prayer.
Trusting in the shepherd, prosperity in everything
In February 2006, I began a damage insurance company in an office slightly bigger than 71 square feet. I took heed of the lesson while running the flower delivery service the way I wanted to run. I engraved the Scriptures, "Put your trust in the LORD your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed" (2 Chronicles 20:20) in my heart. I made sure to see the Senior Pastor and receive his prayer every week. Furthermore, remembering the Senior Pastor's teaching that I needed to tread the right path in order to receive God's blessings, I made every effort to set my business and run it on the right path.
Then I began to perceive the Senior Pastor's messages in a wholly different way. I struggled to please God by always looking back to see whether or not I had committed any illegal activities even subconsciously, whether or not my heart had been stirred up by greed and pride, and whether or not I was at peace with everyone and serving my employees from the depths of my heart. Then the threads of blessings began to be unraveled. As sales and the number of employees increased, from the 71-square-foot office we moved to 142, then to 250-square-foot offices.
A heart without wavering
As 2007 dawned, I received the Senior Pastor's prayer with my employees and family. At the time, there were four salesmen including myself and the sales goal was $5,000. However, we could not meet that goal at the halfway point of 2007. I thought I had a heart that did not waver but even by December, I was unable to accomplish that goal. I thought carefully over what had gone wrong.
"That's right! God was testing me to see whether or not my heart would waver!"
As I had a heart that would not waver even according to my own assessment, I rejoiced. During the first week of January 2008, I went before the Senior Pastor with my family and employees to receive his prayer. After finishing the prayer, the Senior Pastor said, "May your business prosper in 2008."
Without skipping a beat, I declared in a loud voice, "Amen." At that moment, my heart was deeply touched and from that point on, I made every effort to deal with others in goodness and run the business on the right path. God then sent my way good-hearted employees and we were able to close deals at places we hadn't expected. By the end of January 2008, sales exceeded $5,000, $7,000 by the end of February, and $12,000 by the end of March. The staff increased in size to 30 employees.
Contracts flooding in, selected as 'Excellent Corporation'
In April 2008, I founded Lime Insurance, Inc. in a 534-square-foot office. At the time, instead of a guarantee insurance product from Hanhwa General Insurance, a savings insurance product, an investment-technique item, from Shinhan Life had been just launched.
'The moment is now!' I thought to myself. 'Let's change the product.'
After devoting some time to prayer, I became convinced that the new product would be a hit among the clients and I boldly made the switch. Of course, the contracts flooded in and by July 2008, our office had become too small for a forty-member staff.
Unexpected things took place when I ran a business. At such times, as I made sure to receive the Senior Pastor's prayer and devoted myself even more earnestly to prayer, God led me to prosperity.
As the office space became cramped, I wished to move to a bigger office. At the time, many insurance companies had policies of supporting the branches with paying rents when the branches have met certain qualifications. As our branch had been recognized by Shinhan Life's corporate office as an "Excellent Corporation" within three months of the founding, our branch was qualified. We were to receive financial support from the corporate not only for the new 5,338-square-foot office, with 2,847 square feet for exclusive use, but also the security deposit, monthly rents, maintenance fees, expenses on the interior, and even the furnishings. The only condition the corporate provided was that we raise the sales correspondingly but I was not worried about this. The corporate, however, demanded the landlord that he establish collateral security more than 2-3 times the leased floor space.
"It's is actually quite difficult to establish collateral security to an office space whose rent is paid every month."
The broker also added that there had never been collateral security established at this building. At the moment, I realized the only solution was to receive prayer from the Senior Pastor and all of the employees united in prayer. Then something that could not have happened indeed happened. The landlord agreed to accept all terms put forth by the corporate.
Secret to blessings? Running the business on the right path
In April 2009, we celebrated the one year anniversary of the branch. During the month of April, our sales exceeded $75,000 in the monthly insurance conversion. Compared to $7,500 a year before, the sales had increased 10 times. In June 2009, monthly sales exceeded $100,000 and $175,000 by December. These blessings, however, did not fall from the heavens.
During an employee workshop that April, I discussed with my employees the strategies on growth and all of us vowed to tread the right path no matter what and to sow seeds of blessings by faith every month. All officers and employees became one, made every effort to be at peace with each other and boost one another's morale, and served the clients as if they were members of their own family members. During a monthly meeting in February 2010, we vowed to drive away from us harmful habits in making sales, unscrupulous hearts and minds, and words of no use. In the two months since that policy was implemented, conflicts with clients subsided, earnings could be accurately predicted, and the incomplete sales rate has been noticeably improved. I gave thanks and glory to God as I saw the employees recognizing and rejoicing at the blessings God was pouring upon them.
"God who delights in honesty, goodness, and peace is unceasingly pouring His blessings upon us. The Senior Pastor's teachings and obedience to them are the driving force behind undeniable blessings."
From early 2010, the number of employees has been on the rapid rise and many more have been contacting us about joining our company. As the monthly sales increased steadily, we rented another 1,673-square-foot office and by the end of March, the number of employees increased to 108.
I set my sights on our company becoming the best in this industry, and hope this will be an enterprise of faith that gives glory to God through the right-path management.
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