What is it like to run a Business as Mission company? 

From an article by Business as Mission (BAM)

What is it really like to run a BAM company, especially in the kind of challenging contexts that business as mission practitioners often find themselves?

Let's look at the experiences of one CEO (names have been changed).

Z Engineers, a construction company, is one of the oldest BAM companies in the world, having been founded in the late 1960s by Christian expatriate engineers in a majority Muslim country in Asia. Its current Managing Director, has been in the position for 5 years. Here he shares some of his experiences and insights into what it is really like to run a BAM company:

Z Engineers serves the construction industry across a nation in Asia, with a specific focus on remote rural areas where access to quality infrastructure is often a significant challenge. Our business model is built on providing comprehensive design, consultancy, and construction services with honesty and integrity. We take pride in our inclusive employment practices, hiring a diverse team of engineers, quantity surveyors, and architects from cross-cultural groups. Our work isn’t just about building structures; it’s about bringing high-quality standards to regions that have historically been underserved and have no hope.

Our foundational vision at Z Engineers is threefold: to build quality, build people, and build for God. This calling to the workplace is what sustains us. The strong focus and burden to introduce honest business practices and integrity to the construction sector, to provide job opportunities for the large unemployed segment keeps us moving forward. Beyond the construction side, my wife and I have also established another company that focuses on creating safe, dignified full-time and part-time employment for young women moving from rural areas to a major city, specifically to provide an alternative to the high risks of sexual exploitation they often face. 

Running Z Engineers has been a journey of perseverance. The hardest challenge has been the financial strain of managing overheads during lean periods, coupled with the ethical struggle of the bidding process. We frequently face the reality of losing projects because we refuse to participate in the systemic corruption common in the industry.

We are also navigating a significant ‘brain drain’ within the local Christian youth, as many seek to relocate abroad in search of financial prosperity. It is a constant challenge to offer tangible hope to these young people when the local environment provides so little to convince them to stay. Since taking over the company, these past five years have been a profound period of personal growth - the phrase ‘blood, sweat, and tears’ is no longer a metaphor; it describes the literal reality of my journey as I strive to stay faithful to the workplace.

On the other hand, there has been unexpected joy. We recently won a project that made up for a previous project we lost because we refused to cut corners. We are also entering a ‘redemptive technology’ phase by pioneering non-fired bricks, which aligns our environmental stewardship with our construction goals. 

Looking back, I wish I had understood the level of personal and familial sacrifice required. A BAM company operates differently than a secular business; the spiritual and ethical weight often falls heavily on the leadership, and navigating those challenges can place significant stress on family life and work-life balance. 

I also wish I had been more prepared for the mental health toll. There is a constant, exhausting pressure to maintain a ‘successful’ outward image for clients and marketing purposes, even when the business is facing internal crises. Learning to manage that tension between professional optics and the reality of the struggle is something I am still learning to do.

Read the full article here.

Some practitioners give their wisdom for those considering starting a BAM organisation:

1. Understand what you are good at. Yesterday is a training ground for tomorrow. That doesn’t mean that you never try new things, but understand your skill set. 
2. Understand what real need exists that I can meet better than current solutions. “Better” might mean cheaper, faster, more trustworthy, more accessible, or more relational—but it must be meaningful.
3. Understand the competition. Who else is already meeting this need? How many competitors are there? What do they do well? Where do they struggle? 
4. Do I and my team have—or can we realistically acquire—the capability to do this well? That includes skills, funding, technology, operational capacity, and support networks. 
5. Can this business become sustainable and scalable? Sustainable means it can run without constant cash infusions. Scalable means it can grow its impact—jobs, customer value, community blessing—without breaking the model.
6. Can I envision—and eventually measure—Kingdom impact? Profit matters, but so do disciple-making, ethical employment, local blessing, and care for creation. If impact is always vague or postponed, it will likely disappear.
7. Will this work give me joy and hope? Not constant happiness—but a sense that the effort is life-giving rather than soul-draining.
8. Will cashflow be a problem? Will selling be hard and it will take effort convincing your customers? How long will they take to pay?
9. Understand how will I know if this is working and how long should I give it? If you can ask—and answer—those honestly and courageously, you’ll save yourself a lot of wasted time, money, and emotional energy. Appoint a voluntary board of strong people who will challenge you and keep you to account.

Not every question will have a crystal-clear answer at the start. That’s normal. But if you get a strong, definitive “No” to any of them, that’s a signal to stop and seriously reconsider. If the lights are mostly green—even with different levels of brightness—then it may be time to move forward, trusting God to guide your steps and work through the business for His glory.