Building A Kingdom Business : People & Profit (w./ Special Guest, Philp Kulishov)

Discover how to build a Kingdom business that thrives in both people and profit. In this episode, I sit down with Philip Kulishov to explore the mindset, principles, and strategies that create lasting impact and sustainable success in faith-driven entrepreneurship.

What’s Covered:

• The misconceptions about faith-based business and profitability
• Why profit and purpose should go hand in hand
• How to lead with integrity while scaling your business
• The key to attracting the right team and clients
• Overcoming challenges when faith and business intersect

Philip is the co-founder and a board member of EBM, Inc., a holding company dedicated to developing businesses that positively impact lives. At EBM, Philip leads efforts in manufacturing, leadership development,managerial training, and fostering company culture.

He also hosts Business 300, a podcast offering concise, actionable insights on business, with new episodes released twice weekly.

Philip is the author of The Transcendent Bottomline (coming soon).

Check out Philip's blog https://inmirkwood.com/

Connect with Philip at https://x.com/kulphil

Simple & strategic marketing solutions for the busy coach and consultant. Visit www.reinventingperspectives.com

Transcript

Philip Kulishov: [00:00:00] we get bored as business owners. And so we want to move on to the next thing, move on to the next thing before we actually finish executing the thing that we're on right now. And so to be able to expect the business building to be work that maybe is boring.

It's not as exciting as some of the Instagram reels. Portray right? System building process building is execution work where I just need to keep my butt in the seat and do the work. Get the work done. I think that's what our customers need

It's Tizer Reinvent

Priscilla Shumba: Welcome to the lessons of entrepreneurship, the journey of reinvention. Today, I have a very special guest. This is our first episode of season five, and I have Philip Kulishov here, and he's a co founder and board member of EBM. There's so much I want to talk to you about, because I think [00:01:00] you'll.

Speak to our audience in a really special way today, but I'll let you introduce yourself for the

Philip Kulishov: Hi, it's a delight to be here. My name is Philip. Yes, I'm a co founder board member. Like you said, at EBM Inc. I'm one of seven partners there. So there's seven of us and we're building a business holding company. So we own a few different businesses together. And real estate development, construction, manufacturing a few different locations there.

So that's what we're doing in business. 

Priscilla Shumba: exciting. Seven partners, , I need to know the backstory to how this happens.

Philip Kulishov: Yes, for sure. Yeah. When people hear that there's seven partners, They usually are surprised because it's difficult to have one partner in business a lot of the times, but in one sense, having more than two partners maybe becomes a little bit easier in the sense that it's not just a tug and pull because there is more voices

but yeah, for us me and my brother together on there then [00:02:00] there are two other brothers together. There are two other friends. So a lot of it is friends and connected in that way. And a big thing that connects us fundamentally is our Christian faith. So we're all brothers, Christians in that way and so we are building business under the Lordship of Christ and unto that end.

And so having that sort of vision and mission is what unites us and what keeps us together on the same page going forward. 

Priscilla Shumba: That's amazing. I think, a lot of the problems that you see when entrepreneurs are starting out, sometimes it's because it's just you. And if you had some other people. In it with you, it wouldn't be so heavy and you wouldn't be knocked out by the smallest thing. , you talk about the theology of business

And I like that statement, but I said, I'll let you unpack it for us a little bit.

Philip Kulishov: Yeah, absolutely. So the two greatest commandments are to love God and love your neighbor, right? So we love God with all our heart mind soul and strength [00:03:00] and we love our neighbor as ourselves and so that is what Jesus has commanded us to do and how to live Out our life here. In a lot of ways business falls right in line with that and even flourishes out of that.

When we look at the things that God loves, the things that God cares about things within creation that he has made and the things that he has told us to go and take dominion, to subdue the earth, to become fruitful and productive. When we put our hands to work in loving God that way, we start to care about the things that he cares about and grow in caring about them to that extent that he cares about them as well.

And the primary creation that we are to care about. Are other people and business does not exist without a person caring about what you have to offer. So if you're just doing work just for yourself, that might be great and fine, but you don't [00:04:00] have a business yet until you have a customer.

That customer is , a critical part of business ownership. Without having somebody who wants what you're offering, you don't have a business yet. And that customer is a person. It's that neighbor who we're called to love. Loving our neighbor is not some kind of, superficial, spiritual, maybe sprinkling on top of what we do where a lot of Christians maybe come into work and they think that the work that they're doing is maybe like neutral.

It doesn't really matter, but what matters is how they treat the people. What I'm talking about is the work that we do for the people matters. We have to be making good quality parts. We ought to be serving that customer well. So when Jesus talks about giving a cup of cold water to somebody, that good work is in that cup of cold water.

Business is all about serving that customer. So I think the theology of business is in submitting to the Lordship of Christ. We unleash [00:05:00] unfetter our effort to actually get good at serving customers well, because it's not just a contract. It's not just some kind of payment, but it's a person who derives value from what it is that we're offering.

So that's maybe sort of summary of the theology of business. We have to care about what God cares about, and we ought to serve people really well with what we're doing. 

Priscilla Shumba: I remember when I started thinking about getting into business and, I was joining all kinds of groups, Christian groups, with entrepreneurs and I would get so frustrated because there was no differentiation between your Sunday service and your group of Christian entrepreneurs where you are expecting that it's going to be practical aspects of how you bring that into your business and how you use your faith.

To work and serve in your business. I like that you have seven team members your partners that are also Christian entrepreneurs. How did that come to be?

Philip Kulishov: In a lot of ways, it was very practical and pragmatic. So It wasn't [00:06:00] that we started with some big vision then tried to figure that out. It was what we needed to do. Next. In my case, I stumbled across this because I wanted to get married and I needed a job.

And so this was 13 years ago. And so I found a little startup endeavor with a hardheaded entrepreneur who needed some help. And he had a lot going on. And so I came on board with him to help him structure and organize his business. And then that led into partnering with him in the longer term.

And then as we went along, we brought on board more people who were like minded in that way. And so it started very small, very practical. That we were just doing that next work that we needed to do and as we learned how our faith applies to our work, we wanted to get better at doing that work. And so I think even what you're talking about regarding Christians not being able to apply their faith or maybe having a difficult time to apply their faith [00:07:00] into their work where they see faith and work in this separate, maybe contrasting.

view where I have my Christian life on Sundays and maybe, my Bible reading time and my prayer but then the work that I do is separate from that. I just, I go there maybe just because it's necessary. but Jesus doesn't actually care about that work, right? People think that people have a hard time understanding that.

And so they think that, in order for me to make the work matter, I need to Christianize it. So I need to, demonstrate my ethics in some way. That's how I'm going to make the work matter. Or I need to use an opportunity. to evangelize to my customers or to my co workers, that's how it's going to matter.

But when we learn, when we realize that God created this earth and everything on it, and He loves it, He calls it good, and He wants us to be productive, then us actually doing that work is what God has intended for us. We apply our faith into [00:08:00] work by getting very good at doing that work, right? And so it's not separate, it's not distinct.

So as we were learning that together with our partners as well we wanted to get much better at doing that work. If God cares about Us being productive, then we ought to get good at being business owners, good at being business managers, good at serving customers. And so we're still on that journey on that path.

And so we're learning how to get better. And we're calling other people along with that as well.

Priscilla Shumba: I did read your article and I liked what you talked about. Sometimes we think it's about Christianizing the business and yet it's about what we're doing in the business. It's the application, the everyday and God cares about that too. I know you also speak about the next era of business we're in, the Trump administration, the whole world is standing on their toes right now, checking every day y, what's new. And there's so many things that are happening in business with this Trump, with it's AI, with it's just the global economy.

From your perspective, what do you think the next era [00:09:00] is going to look like?

Philip Kulishov: Yeah, I am very optimistic. and excited about the opportunity for business ownership and productivity, specifically even what Christians can do for the kingdom through business, through the economy. I think that, there are different seasons of life for the Christian, where maybe it's a season of battling or a season of building, right?

We have to be able to do both. But even when we battle. The point of that is to be able then to build again. So we get through some kind of obstacles and then we want to build and be fruitful and productive. So if God opens our doors to be productive, then we ought to run hard through those doors, as opposed to relaxing, right?

So if things are going to get easier for business owners because there's a business minded leader or something like that, then I don't really need to work as hard. No, that's wrong. If there's an open door, there's an opportunity. We ought to work. That much harder to be able to build and do a lot of [00:10:00] good through that.

This sort of era, apart from even market conditions, maybe aligning in some way, but also certain kind of era of technology innovation. What we're seeing with AI, what we're seeing with even the blockchain economy with controlling information through token approvals in that way.

Contract control I think there's a lot that is untapped there and things that I'm still trying to learn and discover and figure out how we could implement some of that stuff. But there is definitely a lot of exciting things that we're able to do with that. And so I think for Christians to have that sort of mindset of how can I get to work instead of just sitting on my hands waiting for that to happen.

Three sort of things there again, market conditions allowing things , to unravel to a certain extent things like technology with AI innovations, and then figuring out how to make the blockchain economy productive with us is some of that new era that we're entering in and trying to discover as well. 

Priscilla Shumba: It's an exciting [00:11:00] time. What used to work is not going to work anymore, but that's okay. Because like you said, there's a lot that's happening. We just have to learn. It's a lot of learning because everything is new to everyone. What interests do you write about now in the business space?

Philip Kulishov: I think a lot of what I'm trying to get at right now is to instead of focusing on maybe some kind of dreams or visions in the future, actually getting the work done that's right in front of me. And so I think a lot of business people or maybe business minded people get ahead of themselves in that way as well, where.

They dream and aspire and all those things are very good. They have a lot of visions but what action are we taking today? How are we executing towards that? And so what I'm trying to do, what you're saying where my mind is at is being able to execute very well, right?

What's in front of me? And not get distracted maybe by some future long term visions that are not there yet. How do I actually make progress? Towards those visions as opposed to just making plans and aspirations [00:12:00] and so that sort of execution is what I'm after and what I'm trying to get at.

In our business what that looks like with actually building those systems and processes actually managing those people, those employees training them up to get very good at what they're doing, that is much more ground level work where the rubber meets the road. Again, as opposed to just high level, high elevation thinking and dreaming.

How do we actually make this thing happen? that requires, rolling up your sleeves and getting to work getting those things done. It has a lot to do with getting into the details, getting into the mess of things. Creating order out of chaos and so a lot of my mind is there right now building those systems, building those processes for our businesses that we own for them to actually be productive and reliable and have true value long term as well.

It's important , for a business owner to dream and have visions and aspirations, but it's equally, maybe even more so important. To be focused [00:13:00] on what's right in front of you to get that work done, to build those systems and processes and train those people to get it done.

And a lot of my mind is there with that? 

Priscilla Shumba: It's very interesting that you say that. Maybe you can tell us a little bit more because for the entrepreneur who's just starting out and they're thinking, like you said, we can get so caught up in what it is that we want to build and. Bringing it down to the execution of the day, execution of actually creating something of value.

What would you say in terms of , whether it's structuring your day or, thinking through what needs to be done. 

Philip Kulishov: Yeah, for sure. I think 1, maybe fundamental aspect of all of this as well. As a business owner, your business is not about you it's about your customer. And so a lot of people get into business making it about themselves. How can I manage my time?

How can I make more money? How can I have more control and freedom? Those are all good things and things that a business does bring [00:14:00] with it. But that's not the purpose, the essence of the business. The purpose of the business again is to serve that customer. And so for the business owner to figure out how could I actually serve this customer, my aspirations, my dreams and visions have a lot to do with what the business can accomplish for me, maybe.

And again, those are good incentives, but how to execute today is to focus on what does the customer need me to do? How can my business serve this target audience, whether it's current customers or potential customers that I'm trying to pursue? How can my business serve them better? How can I bring better value to them?

And so instead of starting with, maybe being grabby. What the business can do for me, start by giving what can I do for that customer? And then with that again, a lot of that work that it brings isn't very exciting. It's More boring because it is, down in the weeds, getting those systems and processes figured out.

And so [00:15:00] you end up just having to keep your butt in the seat to get the work done. And so , we get bored as business owners. And so we want to move on to the next thing, move on to the next thing before we actually finish executing the thing that we're on right now. And so to be able to expect the business building to be work that maybe is boring.

It's not as exciting as some of the Instagram reels. Portray right? System building process building is execution work where I just need to keep my butt in the seat again and do the work. Get the work done. I think that's what our customers need. And so when I'm focused on that action, I'm focused on okay 

for this next 13 weeks, for this next week, = today, for this hour, what task, what action, what work do I need to get done in order to move the ball forward in order to make actual progress in that direction? And so taking it maybe smaller bits at a time to actually move forward as opposed to just again [00:16:00] looking at these big aspirations that are neither here nor there. 

Priscilla Shumba: Because of the Instagram real culture, we do get carried away with, Ooh, blockchain, Ooh, AI, Run away from the actual work of sitting still and you get carried away with wanting to know the next thing .

Philip Kulishov: right 

Priscilla Shumba: Rather than how does that help?

It's fine if it's blockchain, if it's going to help your customer. And if you're thinking about the customer and how you can improve, and they can tell because they are watching and they see oh wow, last time it was like this and this time there's a significant improvement, they want to stick with that kind of a business, so. 

Philip Kulishov: trends will come and go, right? And so you have, what's the next hot thing? What's the new thing that people are on? Whether it's, content creation or AI or blockchain, exactly what you're talking about. But how does that apply to my actual work?

To Not get distracted by these shiny objects. that are out there. These are very good tools that we could put to work if it's applicable, if it's relevant. And sometimes it takes, imagination, creativity for a business owner to [00:17:00] figure out how to get productive. A business owner does need to what you said earlier understand when technology is changing the landscape when it's changing what the market conditions are.

And how I could make that productive, make it useful, but that filter is your customer base. How can this serve my customer base? Or if I even need to redirect my business to serve my customers differently or to serve potential customers better again, focusing on that execution, focusing on that action, I think is what keeps our head in the game. 

Priscilla Shumba: I always love to hear people's business stories, experiences of when things went awesomely right. And when things went awesomely wrong because it gives a sense to the listener, sometimes you think, maybe I'm not smart enough for this, or maybe I'm not cut out for this.

And it's a different ballgame, being in business. Yeah. If you're free, we could share anything, Philip, and I think our audience would be happy to hear that,

Philip Kulishov: Yeah, absolutely. A lot of what I've been saying I'm saying from my own mistakes, [00:18:00] from my own problems that I caused when I did not keep my butt in the seat when I was, chasing aspirations, revisions and jumping from one thing to the next these are lessons that I had to learn 

from my own experience and I've lost millions of dollars because I chose to jump to the next thing instead of staying focused on what's in front of me, instead of building out the process in the system to making sure it's completely done and the business is sustainable maybe handing it off and abdicating too soon in that way, I think is a lot of.

My lessons that then I had to pay for to come back and build those systems and build those processes and train those people keeping my head in those details in that nitty gritty is some of those issues. When I'm relying on, either my own tribal knowledge or other people's tribal knowledge in our business, then our business gets too complex, too big.

It becomes too big for just one person to be able to handle. We hire new [00:19:00] people and they make other mistakes. But if I would have built those systems, those processes our customers would have been served better. And so a lot of those sorts of stories. are connected to me not holding on longer to get those things nailed down.

And I think where I've seen success, where I've seen progress is when I've put in the work to build those things out when maybe metaphorically when I've pulled those weeds and plowed those fields, right? That's when the crops start to grow and sprout. But if I neglect that work, I'm not getting any sort of fruit that I'm after.

And so again I talk about these things because they're close to my heart. These are issues and mistakes that I've made and that I have had to pay for in that way as well. 

Priscilla Shumba: When you talk about, taking your time to make sure that the foundations are right and things are working as they should, because, there's that sort of tension between you've got to grow [00:20:00] slow and steady at the same time, there's this Entrepreneurship needs speed, for success.

Dealing with those two ends, because sometimes we can be all speed. And we don't want slow because we think the speed is the success. So I'm just wondering, like, how do you balance those two, 

Philip Kulishov: yeah, I want to move as fast as I can, but as slow as I need to. And so to be able to continue moving forward if the door is open in front of me, I want to run through it. Keep going. Keep going. But to move as slow as you need to, it means you're paying attention to your 

domain.

, when the Book of Proverbs talks about, having a good count , on the condition of your herds and flocks and fields and that sort of thing. When you're moving fast, you're still responsible to be attentive to the condition of your business. How are my employees? Are they happy?

Are they frustrated? Are they exasperated? How are my customers? Are they being served well? Or are there a lot of problems that continue to [00:21:00] arise? How is my time at home with my family, with my spouse, with my kids right? Are they not seeing me? Am I not spending enough time with them?

And so I think when we're moving too fast, when we're not moving as slow as we need to, That's when those sorts of wheels start to rattle and shake and fall off the cart. And a lot of people are not paying attention to that until it's already maybe too late. We need to move as slow as , we need to.

However, also, I think you're exactly right, where there is A sense of speed that is important for business owners to be able to execute and to serve and in one sense, why I really appreciate, business and profit institutions is because there is an innate sense of accountability built into doing the work, right?

If I'm doing work for a nonprofit or for a government agency, that's also. Necessary work and there's a place for that, but there is no direct accountability built into that where in profit, if I'm doing a [00:22:00] bad job, I'm going to lose money. I have to close down the business. And so I can directly see when I'm doing a bad job.

And so because there's that sort of maybe fire under me that is naturally there it forces me to move fast as well. And so I can't just continue sitting Enjoying what I've already built, I have to continue to move forward and continue building more and moving quickly. Market conditions change, new customers come up, customer problems arise from existing accounts.

I have to move quick because , there's actual tangible Issues on the line that will affect me, right? And so in that way, I move as fast as I can, but as slow as I need to. 

Priscilla Shumba: I love that you brought that into every aspect of life, because, think about you go out with your family and you're trying to go somewhere fast and you walk so fast, you leave the kids behind. That doesn't make any sense

When you're with the kids, you've got to slow it down. So Your fast is them moving as fast as they can.

And then if you're on your [00:23:00] own, of course, that's a different thing that you can move at a certain speed. Um,

I like that recognition of your leadership to your family, to the people you work with, to your employees and in the marketplace as well. Philip, I know you are writing a book and it's called The Transcendent Bottom Line.

What is that about?

Philip Kulishov: Yes. That's a project I have in the works right now and so that sort of World view thinking that I briefly talked about today where to be able to connect the bottom line of our business our profit making endeavor, right? We're after making a profit. The bottom line is that net profit to be able to connect it to transcendence, to the Lordship of Christ.

How does The Lordship of Christ affect the way we pursue and make profit. How Does it affect the way we run our business? How Does Lordship of Christ affect the way we do productive work? And so my thesis, my argument is that submitting to the Lordship of [00:24:00] Christ liberates us. to run hard in our work liberates us to pursue profit that it's not profit or people Those things are not in competition profit serves people and so one the other are in line together and when we submit to christ as lord, we can start to see how that works and how a for profit institution, a business with the bottom line is able to be successful and competent and thrive in that sort of worldview. 

Priscilla Shumba: I'm looking forward to that. Thank you so much. And I really enjoyed reading your blog. I'll put a link at the bottom of Philip's blog. A lot of thoughtfulness that goes into your blog. And I appreciated that. I don't know if there's anywhere where you'd like people to follow you, or are you active online? 

Philip Kulishov: Yeah, you can find me on X. Cool. My last name K U L and then Phil P H I L cool. Phil is my handle there. You can also find me my podcast is a business 300. So that's 300 [00:25:00] seconds about business. I do twice a week release just five minute episodes for business people for different topics for them to consider and help them in their business endeavor.

So that's business 300 is my podcast. 

Priscilla Shumba: Thank you for that. So that's business 300 podcast, and I'll put a link for his blog and you can follow him on X at cool Phil, K U L Phil. Thank you so much, Philip. I look forward to speaking to you again when your book comes out, if you'd give us that time,

Philip Kulishov: Yes. Yeah. It's been a delight. Thank you for having me.

Priscilla Shumba: Thank you.