The man who brought a Canadian Christian bookstore chain back from the brink encouraged conventioneers yesterday to be good stewards with what God has entrusted them.

Mark Hutchinson, president and CEO of British Columbia, Canada-based Blessings, was the featured speaker during Christian Trade Association International’s (CTAI) Global Worship Gathering.

Also an accredited preaching pastor, Hutchinson developed a multimillion-dollar carpet cleaning franchise before entering the Christian products industry in 2006. Buying a bankrupt company with a $2.1 million debt, he took Blessings from a chain of 27 corporate and franchised stores to three physical outlets and an online store whose sales volume is a third of the larger former group.

Speaking from Matt. 25:14-28, about the parable of the talents, Hutchinson said: “We are all in sales; we are all farmers. Our goal is to sow seed, and sow it well where we have been planted.”

He then shared several ways how Christian retailers and suppliers can be good stewards in business, including identifying their biggest fear, being flexible, living their passion, crafting a marketing message and being creative.

“Serve well, but not pushy,” Hutchinson said. “Humility underpins everything. … People buy people before any product or service.”

Michael Berghof, publisher of Copenhagen Publishing House in Copenhagen, Denmark, said Hutchinson “gave a very well-thought and practical introduction to what it means to be Christians in business.” “It's not a journey without struggles and problems, but a journey where God is with us and wants to use us as His good stewards,” he told Christian Retailing.

Rachel Whaley Doll, a new author attending her first ICRS, said she was encouraged by Hutchinson's talk.

“He gave me so much to consider,” she said. “He said, 'God gave us gifts not be mediocre, but to be amazing.' Together, we [in the Christian product industry] can be a force to be reckoned with.”

CTAI consultant Gary Foster said Hutchinson was “right on.” “I love his quote that 'people buy people before any product or service,' ” he said. “We can be as technology-driven as we want, but it still comes back to that. It was wise counsel for the businesses here.”

• Prev
• Next