Build a solid, profitable business. Be fruitful in what Jesus expects of you. Both, at the same time.
Third Fish Academy is IBAM's free membership in faith-driven business training. Find out what God is calling you to, then build it with real skills: 22 short sessions, a coach on every page, a planner that sets business goals and spiritual goals side by side, and a certificate when you finish.
No cost. No card. Nothing to buy later.
Why free? It costs you engagement, not money. Along the way you will meet IBAM's work with entrepreneurs in some of the most remote and difficult places on earth, built on these same principles, and you can take part in their loans and training if you choose. Always voluntary, never a bill.
See the membership benefits ↓
Steve's welcome · 2 min22 sessions, the planner and the coach. Yours the moment you join.
- Starting, dreaming, or unsure? Faith-integrated training and a real plan.
- Seasoned business owner? Redesign the business you already run.
- Multiplier? Carry this to thousands.
Free · 22 short sessions · Works on your phone · Proven over 20+ years on three continents
Give a fish. Teach to fish. Then the third fish.
- 1
Give a fish
Someone eats today. Capital, a grant, a gift. Good, and gone by tomorrow.
- 2
Teach to fish
They eat for a lifetime. That is training, and most business courses stop here.
- 3
The third fish
They teach others, who teach others. A whole community eats for generations. That’s multiplication.
Third Fish Academy exists to make you the third fish.
What your free membership includes, and what is coming
Everything in the first list is yours the moment you join. The second list is where we are headed. Nothing on either list will ever cost you anything.
- All 22 sessions across 5 modules. Short enough for a lunch break, built to work on your phone.
- A coach on every page. Ask anything as you go: a pricing question, a hard conversation, a verse you want to understand.
- The faith-driven business planner. Build your plan as you learn, with business goals and spiritual goals side by side.
- A certificate when you finish all 22 sessions. Something real to show for the work.
- Your own group, when you want one. Set one up from your dashboard for your church, company or network, and see who is engaged.
- A free membership. No paid tier, no card on file, nothing to buy later.
We are building toward these. None of them is live yet, and none of them will ever cost you anything.
- Community tools. Places to meet other members, share what you are building, ask questions and encourage one another.
- Human coaching: training and help. Trained coaches you can bring your plan and your hard decisions to, and training that helps you coach the people God has placed around you.
- Cross-cultural business. Sessions on doing business across cultures and in specific countries, for those whose calling crosses a border.
- Growing and expanding an existing business. A track for seasoned owners: scaling, hiring, new markets and expansion, redesigned around deeper faith integration.
No cost. No card. Nothing to buy later.
Why free? It costs engagement, not money. As you engage you will meet IBAM's work in hard places, and you can take part in it if you choose.
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Three kinds of people join. Which are you?
One free membership covers all three, and most members end up doing more than one.
Faith-integrated training and a real plan
You have an idea, a side hustle, or just a question about whether business is your calling. You want training where faith is built in, not bolted on, and you want to leave with a plan you can act on.
Redesign the business you already run
You have years of experience and a company that works. You want to be challenged: how you lead, hire, price, serve and give, redesigned around deeper faith integration, so the business bears fruit beyond profit.
Carry this to thousands
You want the vision and hope of this model to reach far past you: your church, your network, your city. Pastors and ministry leaders, business owners in the pews, anyone who wants to walk others through it.
For churches, ministries, agencies & groupsLeading a group and want to talk it through first? Book 15 minutes with Jeff.
Plenty of training mixes faith and business. The difference is what you walk out with.
Third Fish Academy is a formation experience disguised as business training. It is measured on two outcomes at once: more fruitful for God's Kingdom, and more profitable for you. Not one at the expense of the other.
The name says it. Give someone a fish and they eat today. Teach them to fish and they eat for a lifetime. Equip them to teach others, and a whole community eats for generations. That's multiplication. That's the third fish.
- Two scorecards, one plan. You leave with a business plan that sets business goals and spiritual goals side by side, and tracks both.
- Formation, not just information. Character, peace, trust and clarity grow in you while you practice marketing, finance and planning.
- Clarity, not convincing. If you discover business is not your calling, that is a win we celebrate, not a lost sale.
- Multiplication is built in. The last module is about launching and multiplying, so what you build keeps giving.
What's inside: five modules, 22 sessions
Every module names who it is good for. You will find yourself in more than one.
- 01
Business as a Calling
Good for a person who wants to understand how faith, work, and business fit together, whether or not they ever start one.
- 02
Discerning Your Path
Good for a person who isn't sure business is their calling and wants clarity to move forward, or peace to walk away.
- 03
Marketing & Sales
Good for a person who has something to offer but doesn't know how to find customers and help them say yes.
- 04
Finance & Stewardship
Good for a person who feels nervous about the money side and wants to budget, fund, and steward it wisely.
- 05
Launch & Multiply
Good for a person who is done learning and ready to launch, grow, and build something that outlasts them.
Each session pairs a short video on growing your wealth with a short video on growing your impact, then a reading, a quick check, and one action you commit to before the next session.
Built on the same training IBAM uses in the field
The sessions grew out of more than 20 years of equipping entrepreneurs across Africa, Central Asia and Indonesia, organized for people in the West who want their work to form followers of Jesus. The first graduates finished all 22 sessions this summer, and churches, ministries and agencies are now setting up groups of their own.
“As a Christian, if you actually want to uphold biblical principles, Third Fish is the way to go.”
“Some graduates launch businesses. Others discover God has a different path for them. We count both as wins. Clarity, not convincing.”
God stirs it. Third Fish Academy helps you build it.
Session 1 takes about 25 minutes, and it is waiting for you now. Momentum matters more than timing.
Accept my free membershipNo cost. No card. Nothing to buy later.
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