Where Will You Be In 5 Years?
By Bonnie Ramsey
Whether you are an employee in a manufacturing plant or the CEO of the company, your job may be eliminated at any point with little to no notice. You may even have 20 to 30 years on the job and still find yourself in an unemployment line, benefits running out and having difficulty finding a job due to lack of experience and training in other areas, age related health problems and many other factors that will decide your future employment.
So what can you do to protect yourself from this situation to insure that you will have an income that will be steady and not dependant on the call of the "upper hand" of management and ownership? The only way to be sure that you will have conitinuous income is to create a business network of your own that you know will continue to grow and prosper. The most profitable way to accomplish this is in network marketing, also known as MLM. Now, you are saying, "You have got to be kidding! I could never do that!" Well, I am here to tell you that you CAN! It is no different than telling all your friends about a great product you just bought at the local discount store that you loved or telling them about a new club you just joined! All you have to do is be sure to do your homework and make the decision to become independent. In order to make a good decision on the business you choose to market, simply read and ask questions!
First, you will need to do some research on companies that offer products that are consumable (to be sure that the demand will be steady). Then research the products to be sure that they are of good quality, affordable, unique and in very high demand. This product should also be something that you would use yourself. After all, how can you honestly say that you believe in the products if you don't use them yourself? If you find these products favorable, research the compensation structure of the company to be sure that you will be able to meet the qualifications for your commissions. For example, some companies may tell you that you will receive a certain percentage of commissions for purchases made by your team members. However, in the fine print, you will find that in order to qualify for these commissions, you have to meet a certain sales quota per month for your own personal sales as well as certain quotas for the group sales. While this is quite acceptable for gaining certain bonus levels, it should not be a qualification of receiving your commissions altogether. You should be able to see profits from personal sales as well as your commissions from your team without meeting a particular buying quota for the work you have put forth to recruit and train. Be sure that the requirements are reasonable before you join.
Next, consider the start-up cost! Some companies offer you a sales kit for so many hundreds or even thousands of dollars and in it you receive nothing more than printed information that you could find through other resources for free. Be sure that the package you are paying for has a retail value so that you can get a return on your investment quickly by selling the products you receive. I will give you an example of this. I have joined many MLM companies over the past 25 years so I have been burned before by this. I actually paid 2 different companies $500 each for a start-up kit. In both cases, all I received was a small box of printed materials telling you how to market to your family and friends, a few catalogs, some"tips" on starting your business and so on. This was all information that is easily accessible in many places for free. Nothing in these packets was marketable to my customers so I basically paid for a box of free materials.
Also, if the company requires a monthly auto-ship to qualify as an active dealer, consider this cost. Is it affordable to most? (This will determine your success in recruiting.) Many companies require hundreds of dollars in auto-ship per month. If it is not affordable to most people then you are limiting your prospect field. Also, consider what you receive in your auto-ship. Can you sell these items and make an immediate profit? If so, then the auto-ship becomes a short term investment as apposed to a monthly bill that you have to allow for. If you can not profit from this auto-ship, you are more likely to drop the business during slow times.
If all these factors are favorable and you want to join that company you should think about how you will come up with the initial start-up cost if you don't already have it. Just because you don't have the funds readily avaliable doesn't mean that you can't afford to join. There could be several ways that you could be able to produce the funds needed. I can give you an example of this that was given at a business meeting that I attended recently.
A man wanted to join our business, yet he did not have $50 at the time to begin the auto-ship. He was really fired up and ready to get started so he had to ask himself what he could do to get the funds he needed for the first shipment. He asked himself what he could give up for 30 days that would equal the fee for the shipment. He then sat an empty soda bottle on the table and said he had figured he could give up 2 of those a day for 1 month in order to start his business. Today, that man is on his way to building an excellent business just because he was willing to make a sacrifice in order to change his future. This was only necessary for the initial shipment due to the fact that the products received were profitable and when sold, could pay for the next auto-ship. This is why it is so important to be sure that any auto-shipment you agree to is resellable for a profit. This, in return, pays for itself to eliminate the worry of a "monthly bill".
Now that you have come this far, consider the different ways to make money with this companny. Is it strictly retail profit or are there several different avenues of making money? For example, can you do fundraisers, home parties, office parties, flea markets, internet sales, open your own store or other avenues of selling this product? Can you make enough profits to earn a good income without recruiting if you didn't want to build the team? Be sure that the company will afford you a good profit income in whatever avenue you decide to take. If you are strictly into the sales without recruiting and building, you need to be sure that the profit from retail will be sufficient without the team income. If you choose to do fundraising, will you be able to earn enough in that area without the other profit avenues?
The next thing you should consider is how much time you have to build your business. If you work another job at present, will you be able to build this business working it part-time? If it is not something you can do on a part-time basis, will you be financially able to quit your present job in order to get it started? If not, be sure that it is something that you can build in your time off until you can get it going enough to go full time with it. If you have a family and will be working extra hours, you should consider whether or not it is something that you can involve your family in so that you aren't abandoning them for work. Is this a business that could be family friendly? Can you get your children involved in building your business and selling your products? If so, they can be a great asset to you as you spend more and more time in the initial start-up phase of your business. This is a definite PLUS because your business can be fun and profitable while spending time with family as well.
You should also ask if the business is willable. It would be awful to spend several years building a business that is excellent income just to have it reveret to the company if something happened to you. It is very important to protect your family's interest as well as your own by making sure that they can carry on the business without you!
Another very important factor to consider is your company support. Will your sponsor personally train you in getting your business started? Will the company offer free materials and documents to help you build a successful business? You don't want a business that will sign you up and throw you to the wolves! Be sure to talk to other members and ask questions about the company support as well as some assurance from your sponsor that they will teach you what you need to know to be successful. If you ask your sponsor a question that they can not answer, see how they respond. If they tell you that they don't know the answer but will get back with you on it, see if they carry through. If they get back with you soon and have found the answer, then you can be assured that they are willing to go the extra mile to help. Also, ask about training calls, meetings in your area, company meetings and anything else that is offered for training. Be sure to ask if it is manditory to attend company meetings in order to qualify for commissions. Some companies add this in the fine print and then charge a fortune to attend the meetings that are a must in order for you to get paid. So ask about this as well as any motivational books and tapes you may be required to purchase each month. I have been faced with this problem as well in the past.
You should also check into the company itself to be sure it isn't a fly-by-night gemmick. Read any press releases, newspaper articles or any other info that you can get on the company to be sure they are what they say they are and that they are here to stay. Never assume that just because a company has been around for a while that they must be holding up to their promises. You would be surprised how long a company can do business and not always carry through on their promises. Make sure that the people who run or own the company had expreience in network marketing before starting their company. This affects how the compensation plan is developed as it is more likely to be a good business plan if the person had to start from the ground and build up. It is easy for someone who has never had to start from scratch to tell you that you can invest this and that and that you can build a million dollar business overnight with investing a lot of money in your business because the funds were readily avaliable to them. Be sure that they have been where you are and that they can give you sound advice on how to get started on a reasonable budget.
If you have completed these steps and the company is favorable, you should be reasonably safe in joining the company and beginning a new business that will change your life for the better and put you on the road to financial freedom! And when you hit the rough spots and consider giving up just remember that there is NO job security as long as you work for someone else! If you can commit 20 years of your life to a job with no security at all that it will remain, you should be willing to commit fully to your own business that you can be assured will be steady in growth and profit!
© 2007 Bonnie Ramsey
Bonnie Ramsey
Independent Representative
for Scent Sations, Inc.
http://www.businessscents.biz
About the author: Bonnie is a recruiter, trainer and coach in her own business. Bonnie was selected to be in the 2007 Biltmore Who's Who Among Executives and Professionals. She is a writer of poetry, short stories, articles and a monthly newsletter called Business Scents. You can subscribe to her newsletter at http://www.businessscents.biz/Subscribe.html