Author: Henry Murphy

You might start out by yourself, but if you’re serious about building something real, you must first lay the foundation for yourselfand for those you will eventually employ.

If you’ve been following my blogs for a while, you know I run a school called The Ground Up Academy, where I teach entrepreneurs how to build their brands from the ground up, starting with foundational principles. It’s easy to skip over these foundational steps because, honestly, they don’t seem important at first. Most of the time, the main goal is to “get to the bag.”

But because of my passion and the mistakes I’ve made in business my declaration is simple: I don’t teach side hustlers. I teach people who want to build lasting brands. Even if you’re starting out as a so-called solopreneur, you’re still an entrepreneur. I actually hate the term “solopreneur,” but let’s not get stuck there.

Many times in business, you’ll start out alone nd that’s okay. But it’s also the exact reason why you need to build your brand with the future team in mind. This is why having a mission statement and core values is critical. They will drive your decisions now and, eventually, the decisions of everyone you hire. They shape the culture of your business.

If you’re that person using a quality industrial heat press to create shirts, you need to know exactly how long it takes to produce those shirts. Why? Because one day, you’ll hire someone for that role, and you need to ensure they’re doing the job not just correctly but efficiently. That’s where standard operating procedures come into play.

You also need to understand how essential brand identity and trademarks are. You should be able to tell your brand’s story in the blink of an eye. These things are just as critical as knowing where you’ll source your products wholesale, how your website will function, calculating costs of sales and profit margins, and designing the customer journey.

All these elements are essential to building a successful business. As the entrepreneur, you need to have a firm grasp on every aspect because your ultimate goal should be to work on the business, not in the business.

God Bless The Entrepreneur 

I hate the word tithe. Not because of the word itself, but because of how the culture has misused it. The word is often thrown around carelessly. When I was a young Christian, I was always told to tithe, tithe, tithe. Of course, I did it, not fully understanding why, but because it was taught as the right thing to do in the eyes of God. So, I tithed.

But when I started experiencing financial issues, I was still told to tithe, and it frustrated me. At that point, it felt foolish. I went through a period of rebellion where I decided I wasn’t going to give at all— nd I didn’t, for many years.

Over time, I realized that my issue wasn’t just about giving; it was about financial literacy. I didn’t understand how to handle money. When I turned to the Word of God, I saw that giving was good and essential, especially for advancing the Kingdom agenda. But what was the disconnect? I didn’t know how to manage what God had already given me.

I didn’t understand living within my means.

I didn’t understand saving.

I didn’t understand investing.

And I’m not alone—most people don’t.

I’m not here to blame the Church for focusing on tithing while neglecting financial literacy. I believe God has placed people in the Body who specialize in this, and many are already doing the work of teaching believers about managing their resources. But the need is still great.

One scripture that deeply resonates with me is Proverbs 3:9-10:

“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”

When I read this, I get it. God deserves the first because He gives us the power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18). Giving 10% and operating on the remaining 90% is a reminder that everything we have belongs to Him.

But the story that connects with me most is found in Genesis 28:20-22. Jacob, after dreaming of angels ascending and descending on a ladder, made a vow:

“If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God… and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

Jacob’s vow feels so real and personal. He essentially said, “God, however You bless me, I’ll give You 10% of everything.” That story hit me deeply, and it shifted my mindset.

As I started learning about financial literacy, I began to balance my lifestyle. Once I understood how to live within my means, save, and invest, I could freely give not just 10%, but morebecause I wasn’t operating in chaos anymore.

I’m writing this for anyone who struggles with the concept of tithing. The issue isn’t the word itself; it’s often how it’s presented or pushed without context. But here’s the truth: God has put people in the Body to teach us how to handle our finances. If we’re willing to learn, we can do incredible things for His Kingdom.

Let’s settle up with God not just in giving but in being good stewards of all He has entrusted to us.

God Bless The Entrepreneur

Time moves fast in this day and age of social media. The way we present our companies has changed dramatically. There was a time when traditional ads drove sales, but that time is long gone. Things are changing so quickly that it’s more important than ever to understand the market you’re in and how to appeal to people.

I’m digging into a series of books by Brendan Kane over the next few weeks to help me improve how I present my product, Unapologetic, to the masses. These three books are packed with strategies to help anyone stand out:

One Million Followers is all about building a large social media audience quickly. It explains how to get your content in front of the right people so they follow, engage, and stick around.

Hook Point focuses on capturing attention in just three seconds. It’s all about crafting messages that instantly connect and keep people interested, especially in today’s fast-paced world.

The Guide to Going Viral breaks down how to create content that spreads like wildfire. It shows what makes people share and how to get the most reach on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

I’ve also signed up for a TikTok webinar to learn more about its culture and where advertising is headed. TikTok isn’t just a trend—it’s shaping how businesses market to people, and I want to stay ahead. On top of that, I just downloaded an app to study my industry clothing and figure out what’s working for my competitors.

Here’s the thing: when you’re investing money in your business, you owe it to yourself to understand as much as you can. That’s just good stewardship, plain and simple.

I call myself the nerd that dropped out of school. It’s not that I didn’t like learning. I love learning. I just love specialized knowledge, the kind that’s directly connected to what I’m building. I’m all about learning new skill sets that help me serve people better.

If you want to make it, learn how to observe and adapt. That’s how you stay in the game.

God Bless The Entrepreneur

If you hang around me now and you’re not an entrepreneur, I might get on your nerves and that’s because my mindset shifted a while ago.

I remember seeing a reel that asked, “Are you a producer or a consumer?” The speaker described consumers in a way that hit home for me. In my own words, consumers don’t value assets over liabilities. They buy things that lose value, spend every dollar they earn, and binge-watch TV or scroll endlessly on their phones. Over time, these habits add nothing to their live they actually take away. You’re just existing, stuck in a cycle of working to give your money away.

I’ve been there. It feels like being on a hamster wheel, running but going nowhere.

Then the reel described producers the millionaires and billionaires. Producers read books, invest in assets that generate residual income, and focus on growth. I understood that deeply because, when I started making those changes, everything in my life transformed.

Now, I’ve got a spot on my calendar every single day dedicated to education. Whether it’s a book, podcast, YouTube channel, or an entrepreneur I follow on Instagram, the content I take in adds value to my life. Every reel I watch teaches me something.

Here’s the truth: becoming a producer isn’t hard, but it does take intentionality. You have to want to serve by solving a problem. You have to desire growth in your skills and genuinely care about helping people. Ask yourself: What do they need? What can I master? Then, you have to put in the work.

I’ll tell you right now, living as a producer is worth it. It’s amazing. You wake up with purpose. You feel alive, knowing you’re contributing to something bigger than yourself.

Now, I don’t want to be so hard on consumers that it breaks someone’s spirit that’s not the goal here. We all have a choice. The question is simple:

Do you want to be a consumer or a producer?

God Bless The Entrepreneur

There’s a lot that grabs our attention throughout the day, but I present to you four things we must give careful thought to every day: God, food, money, and community.

Let’s start with God. God is the beginning of wisdom. He gives wisdom freely to those who ask. He desires time with us, and the more we understand Him, the more we understand ourselves. Life doesn’t make much sense without this relationship. I can’t imagine a day where I’m not talking with God—pulling His principles, His wisdom, and His strategies from His Word.

Now, let’s talk about food. This has become a major focus for me over the years. I’ve been on this journey for a long time, and I’ve suffered some hard blows congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, diabetes, and even becoming legally blind. These challenges came from not thinking about food the way I should.

Thanks to people like Dr. Caroline Leaf and her book Think and Eat Yourself Smart: A Neuroscientific Approach to a Sharper Mind and Healthier Life, my thought life about food is changing. I’m learning to pay attention to how food is made and where it comes from. Let me pause here for a moment. My relationship with God, paired with eating food the way it’s meant to be eaten, has given me mental clarity that I can’t even put into words. The connection between nourishing my body and nourishing my spirit is undeniable.

Now, let’s move to money. We need money to live. I don’t have to go further than that but I will. I love entrepreneurship. For me, money isn’t just about having it; it’s about earning it honestly and with purpose. What will I do to earn this money? How can I serve people? What do they need? If I serve them well, the money will come. Every day, I ask myself these questions: What systems can I create? What automations can I put in place?

You also have to ask yourself, what am I going to do with the money once I make it? How am I going to invest it? And then, when that money makes money, how am I going to re-invest it? These are things that we must think about and have a plan for. This is also stewardship.

Finally, community. Community is everything. Even God exists in perfect community the Trinity. Before He made Adam, He declared that man should not be alone. He gave Eve to Adam, but it was about more than companionship. We were made for community to share life with others, to build each other up, and to provide hope and encouragement.

Here are my final thoughts: Build your relationship with God—your Creator. As you do, everything else starts to flow. You’ll take food more seriously because your body is the temple of God, and taking care of it is stewardship. You’ll take money more seriously because it’s a way to serve people and earn an honest living. And you’ll embrace community because it’s an opportunity to love people as God does.

God Bless The Entrepreneur

A lot of you reading this may haven’t started your business yet. Maybe you’re just at the beginning stages, or you’re building your team or already have one. If you don’t have core values in place, then you’ve missed an essential step in the foundation. This is why you will hear me say over and over again about your mission statement and values.

OK, let me get back to it. I travel a lot as a vendor selling my apparel for Unapologetic®. For many years, Southwest Airlines was my friend because they allowed me to carry two 50-pound bags free of charge. Let me tell you something that was a game changer for me. I had a bright neon orange suitcase and a bright neon green one, so when they popped up on that conveyor belt, I knew they were mine.

You have to start thinking about your core values. When I was doing my research to write this blog today, I looked up Southwest Airlines’ core values and they align. I am a passenger who has been flying for many years and countless trips, and they are pretty much spot on with these core values. These core values point everybody in the same direction. It influences who you hire and why you hire them everything is part of the process.

Let me briefly go over Southwest’s core values (but let’s simplify them):
   •    A Warrior Spirit: They work hard, stay persistent, and innovate.
   •    A Servant’s Heart: They prioritize kindness, respect, and putting others first.
   •    A Fun LUVing  Attitude: They keep the experience fun and lighthearted.
   •    Integrity: They build trust by doing what’s right, even when it’s hard.
   •    Safety First: They always prioritize the safety and well-being of everyone onboard.

Here’s the takeaway: The values begin with you as the leader, and you build a culture around those values. They are more important than you think.

God Bless The Entrepreneur

My friend and colleague, Dolly Carle Henley, used to stay on me about having a Drip Drop Schedule. Now, I know that’s not the technical term, but that’s what I call it because Unapologetic.®️’s got the drip. Get it?

I used to drop apparel throughout the year with no real plan. Don’t get me wrong people loved the designs, and our visuals and photography were on point, but I honestly believe I hurt my team by not having a proper schedule. If we had a clear plan in place, they could’ve better prepared, and we could’ve been more aligned. That means more input, more structure, and ultimately better results. What we did in a good year could have been amazing with just a bit of forethought and a plan in place. It reminds me of Jim Collins’ book Good to Great. We were good, but with the right processes like a product release schedulewe could have easily been on the path to greatness.

As a leader, I learned the hard way that neglecting the small things in your business can be costly. Things like schedules, mission statements, and values they matter. They help guide every decision you make, especially when it comes to your apparel brand.

When I first started dropping apparel, it was chaotic no focused effort or attention on what was coming next. And trust me, that costs a lot of money. It’s easy to make this mistake, but it’s crucial to make a change. Start small: create a quarterly release schedule. As your brand grows, you can move to a yearly schedule, and eventually, even a monthly one if you’re big enough. The key is to build that structure so you can avoid losing money and start scaling in a smarter, more sustainable way.

God Bless The Entrepreneur

I’ll never forget my Cadillac Cimarron. I’m not even sure how many of those cars they made, but I loved its shape. I had it decked out: rims that gleamed in the sunlight, tires that gave it a bold stance, and a sound system that shook the neighborhood. You could hear me coming from blocks away.

But here’s the thing about that car one winter evening, I took my wife out on our first date, and it was freezing. Guess what? The heat didn’t work. And to make it worse, the coolant reservoir was practically bone dry.

That car looked sharp on the outside, but it was struggling under the hood. It had all the shine, but none of the essentials.

This is how many of us treat our businesses. We polish the exterior: the website, the social media presence, the branding. We’re so focused on making it look good to the outside world that we neglect the internal foundation the very things that keep it running. Before long, the cracks begin to show, and the whole operation starts to fall apart.

Foundation is Everything

I’ll say it again: foundation is everything. Without it, the business won’t last. Here are the foundational principles every e-commerce brand needs to secure:

    1.    Your “Why”

The core reason you’re in business. Your “why” fuels your passion and keeps you focused when challenges arise.

    2.    Your Brand Story

People connect with stories. What’s the journey that led you to create your business? Sharing it authentically builds trust with your audience.

    3.    Your Mission and Values

What do you stand for? Your mission and values not only guide your decisions but also resonate with the people you’re meant to serve.

    4.    Your Trademark

Protecting your intellectual property is critical. Your brand name, logo, and other assets need legal safeguarding so your business identity remains yours.

    5.    Your Systems

Without systems, you’ll constantly operate in chaos. Whether it’s how you process orders, manage inventory, or deliver a seamless customer experience, your systems keep the business running smoothly.

    6.    Your Understanding of Business

A great idea isn’t enough. You need to understand the basics of running an e-commerce business: managing cash flow, marketing effectively, and building a sustainable infrastructure.

These aren’t optional they’re essential. Without them, your business is like my old Cadillac: shiny on the outside, but broken where it matters most.

Don’t get so caught up in the appearance of success that you neglect the essentials. Build the foundation first. Because when the road gets tough, it’s not the rims that will keep you moving it’s what’s under the hood.

God Bless The Entrepreneur

Curious George, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, My Life by Magic Johnson, and Proverbs from the Bible. These were the only books I read by the time I was 16, and all of them had a lasting impact on me in different ways. Yes, I said I read Curious George, a series of books, which was funny and spoke to my playful nature. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobesparked my imagination in a new way. I loved basketball, and Magic Johnson was my favorite player at the time, so My Life, his autobiography, felt like a must-read.

Now, imagine a gap of over 30 years where I really didn’t read much at all. That was a lot of time wasted. I could’ve changed my life in major ways if I had just picked up a book.

Oh wait a minute, there was one book, The Majesty of Calmness—and my dad was persistent that I read that. But other than that, there was a lot of wasted time.

Now, I have 100+ books in my Audible library, with my Audible wish list growing by the day. I’m passionate about businessm productivity, processes, credit, investing, and everything that comes with running a business. It took me a while to realize that I learn better by listening, so that’s what I do.

It feels like I’m just beginning, though, even at my age. When I heard Dan Sullivan, in his 80s, talk about his love for reading and writing, it made me smile. I’m in the right place. I’m going to keep reading. I’m going to keep writing. I’m going to keep getting better.

Pick up a book.

God Bless The Entrepreneur

I used to say that I went from a hustler to an entrepreneur, but the truth is, I was an entrepreneur the entire time. An entrepreneur is someone who takes value from one state to another, creating something greater in the process. I didn’t realize it back then, but even when I was hustling, I was laying the groundwork for something bigger.

Back then, my business model was simple: take 24 tees, flip them, flip them again, then flip them again. That hustle taught me tenacity, but it only got me so far. I was one of those people who swore “cash is king.” I didn’t understand credit, and honestly, I didn’t care about it. Growing up, I never even wanted a house my only goal was to build my business.

But as I got older and my vision got bigger, I realized I needed to know more. I got a coach to teach me about credit. She walked me through the process and broke down terms I had never paid attention to:

    •    Utilization: How much of your credit limit you’re using.

    •    History: How long you’ve had credit.

    •    Inquiries: The requests made to check your credit score.

    •    Hard pulls vs. soft pulls: Hard pulls affect your score, while soft pulls don’t.

That season of flipping tees had its place it led me to a point where I was making $3,000 a day. But imagine what happens when you combine that same hustle with a 750 credit score that gets you an $80,000 business card. Imagine the possibilities if your business was structured right. Your “why” was clear, your brand story was solid, your trademark was protected, and you fully understood how business really works.

A greater starting point changes everything.

Sometimes, when we’re getting into business, we think we know it all. But the truth is, we don’t and that’s okay. The key is being willing to pause, seek guidance, and learn what we need to know to execute at our highest level.

Understanding credit changed everything for me. It wasn’t just about flipping tees anymoreit was about building something sustainable, something that could grow beyond me. Don’t be afraid to invest in knowledge. Whether it’s credit, e-commerce, or any part of your business journey, that foundation can take you further than you can imagine.

God Bless The Entrepreneur.