? SCHOOL OF DESTINY
Course Title: PRINCIPLES OF DESTINY (Lecture 12)
ii. Project
The first step in planning is programming. Indicate when each event will take place. For purpose of illustration, let us use the building of a five bedroom duplex as an example.
1. Digging of foundation 30/9/2021-5/10/2021
2. Pouring of concrete in the foundation 6/10/2021
3. Laying of blocks for german floor 7/10/2021-9/10/2021
4. Sand-filling for german floor 11/10/2021-13/10/2021
5. Weaving of iron rods for german floor 14/10/2021-16/10/2021 etc.
After the programming is the project. The former is fixing the date and the time while the latter is determining what is to be done. If you look at the above example, you will discover that on the 30/9/2021-5/10/2021, the project is the digging of the foundation.
In a good planning, you fix a date and also indicate what is to be done at the date. What you want to do is referred to as the project. "For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost." Acts 19:16.
Paul planned to be at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. The day of Pentecost is the date fixed to be at Jerusalem. Pentecost was the program while Jerusalem was the project. A good planning will have the program and the project.
iii. People
Apart from the above factors, it must also stipulate the people who will be used to do the project. In case of Paul, he would travel to Jerusalem by ship. It means he would need the service of a sailor. You have to determine the kind of people you will need to do the job.
iv. Products
You must determine also the kind of material(s) and tool(s) that will be needed for the work and how you will get them. This is what I mean by the products. Let us again look at the building of the five bedroom duplex that we used as example above. On 6/10/2021, the project is pouring of concrete in the foundation. The people who will do it are masons. You must determine how many of them will be needed.
Then the materials to be used are cement, gravel, sand, water, shovels, and other things that are needed for the job. These are what are mean by the products. They are the tools and the materials needed for the work to be done.
v. Price
Finally, you have to determine how much the people who will do the job will take. How much are you going to need to get all the materials and the tools needed for the work? The total amount needed for the project is what I call the price.
Remember that at the beginning, we say planning is determining the cost of the project. And we said standard costing is to determine what a project will cost even before you start. We called it budgeting.
These are the five factors which are involved in planning. A good planning is the bedrock of Financial Management. If you know what a project will cost, the next question to ask yourself is whether you have the money or not?
By the time you ask the question, you have started practicing what is called Financial Management. You have moved from costing to finance. "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?" Lk.14:28.
The next question a financial manager will ask is if I don't have all the money, how can I raise the remaining part? By the time he is sure of the money, the project will then start. And to the glory of God, nothing will stop it until it finishes.
Financial Management is very crucial in the realization of your dream. "A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things." Eccl.10:19. Without finance, your dream may not become a reality.
