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Andrew Ferguson (Business Mentor)
Andrew and Ann Ferguson
Personal
How it started: Andrew was raised in California as the middle child in a family of five. His Adventist father was a carpenter and strict disciplinarian who demanded hard work and good grades to the point of being oppressive. All five children were privately educated in a boarding school for a portion of their secondary grades, and college educated in spite of their modest family background. Among these “over achievers” Andrew got the best grades and drove himself the hardest. He graduated from high school at 16 and was on track to graduate early from college. For six years starting at the age of 12 Andrew developed a mentoring relationship with an elder in their church that added some of the pastoral influence missing from his own father.
Andrew and Ann were sweethearts from the age of 14 and married in college. Before Andrew graduated, he grew discontent with the disconnect between school and the real world and took a “sabbatical” as a youth pastor in Canada for one term. Before his term was over, the church offered him a pastoral position until they realized he was only 20 and didn’t have his degree yet. After graduating from college he took a job as an associate pastor for a year and a half. During that time, Andrew worked to develop small groups, with an emphasis on relationships and community that wasn’t always welcomed in the denomination. That conflict was the springboard for Andrew’s “adventures” in being an entrepreneur.
His business experiences includes:
Currently Andrew is the CEO of Mobile Spike, a national product developed for installation on police cruisers.
During this entire adventure Andrew maintained his pastoral personality and value for relating to and helping mentor those in need. He is a natural business coach with an ability to cover business, family and spiritual issues.
Personal passion: Andrew is a rare combination of pastoral and business expertise. He is an institutional maverick who values authenticity, freedom and independence. At every turn he has chosen to take the risk to pursue his personal dream and has found God very much in the process. The degree of difficulty associated with his own business experience provides a wealth of perspective on strategic business issues. He is a natural CEO. Though he is still goal-oriented he enjoys helping others define their purpose and achieve their own vision.
Personal benefit: Andrew enjoys mentoring and influencing the progress in others. He and Ann help people sort through the baggage that holds them back. They are naturally pastoral, entrepreneurial, hospitable, relational and capable… they cross between spiritual and natural issues very easily. Their counsel can touch emotional, marital, and financial issues.
Value to others: Andrew and Ann have a sense of walking with others through life’s issues and lifting their burden. They can give hope and encouragement and leave people with a sense that someone else cares and has the expertise to make a difference.
Business upside: Andrew has developed a great appreciation for the real-life issues that confront entrepreneurs and businessmen. He can easily see the big picture and prioritize the sequence of future events. His experience with contractual, legal and growth issues serve him well as a mentor with personal experience rather than just head knowledge. He an Ann have experience in product development and distribution on a national level and have seen how profits can skyrocket… and disappear. Andrew loves the creative process involved in starting and optimizing a business.
Business downside: Andrew has been through an amazing number of ups and downs. He and Ann have learned to navigate the pressure business can put on a family. Andrew learned that failing in a business is not the “end” of an entrepreneur – it is simply a launch for his next idea.
Vision for the Kingdom: Andrew’s vision is to help entrepreneurial people find success and connect with their Kingdom purpose. In the future he will gradually move from CEO of one business to mentoring multiple businesses with four simple goals:
Impact from Releasing Kings: Andrew found a sense of “permission” from the Lord to be himself in reading Releasing Kings. The book helped him consolidate his thoughts in areas he intuitively felt for years that weren’t really confirmed in church.
How can Andrew help you: Andrew is a great resource for mentoring business start-ups and for dealing with problems at strategic junctions. He has a wonderful grasp of the various pieces needed to create a successful business. His spiritual heritage is a natural connection with marketplace ministry.
The place to start is to call or email him to talk through your business plan and give him the opportunity to make some suggestions. The ongoing relationship can be structured to identify solutions with the least amount of time and effort. Some of the kinds of things Andrew can add are:
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