In a recent posting, I discussed three basic requirements for those who have never been involved in a home based business. In review, those points were: You need a legitimate home based business opportunity. You need Desire. You need Time that can be set aside to work your business.
Once you’ve established you have the true desire and are willing to set aside specific time during the week, then the most challenging task is finding an opportunity through Network Marketing that will reward you for your efforts.
After struggling to find the right opportunity, 4 failed attempts, I found what I call a ‘yardstick’ to use in determining whether an offering measured up to the known formula called the 5 Pillars for Success.
Pillar #1 Does the company management have personal experience building their own networking organization? Have they done it with Integrity?
There are several ways to determine a company’s management history and integrity. Reading about them on the company website is a good place to start and then google them by name. Have they created past Network Marketing businesses? What was the outcome of those ventures? If they’ve never been a distributor or built a downline, are they going to be more concerned about you, the distributor, or the financial outcome for the company?
Another great way to determine the integrity of a company’s foundation is by reading the Policies and Procedures. Always keep in mind that those documents are written by lawyers, whose sole purpose is to protect the company first. Clauses like “xxx has the right to terminate an affiliate agreement without without cause” or statements like “xxx has the right to change, modify or do away with the compensation plan…” are statements that should cause concern. I’ve heard many people over the years say “Oh, they would never do that” and then the company does just that.
Pillar #2 Has the company passed the “early failure” Time Line? Are the company’s Products timed with the beginning of a massive trend of consumer demand?
Ground floor opportunities are a big risk for someone who wants to build a business once and then enjoy the fruits of their labor later. Most startups will have growing pains, among other issues. Some will never get out of pre-launch. If an opportunity is good, a better time to join is typically after the 2 year mark. Usually the major bugs have been worked out by then.
When we look at products and trends that’s a whole other matter. If the product deals with technology, will the company be able to adapt with the constant technological changes or will it be just a flash in the pan? Here today, gone tomorrow… here today for a price, tomorrow it’s free.
Pillar 3: Does the company have a Remarkable product(s) at a reasonable price(s)?
Most legitimate companies have remarkable products so what you have to evaluate is the product’s price. The success in building a sustaining business lies in selling product, not recruiting others into the opportunity. If you are selling a product that is not value priced, then you will have difficulty in obtaining customers who just buy the product and are not interested in building a business.
Pillar 4: Does the Compensation Plan Pay Part-Timers?
The best way to determine this is to crunch the numbers in the compensation plan and figure out HOW many customers a person needs to make their desired income. If your company requires an autoship, which many do, how many customers do you need to just cover your costs? So many times we look at a presentation and see the BIG numbers at the bottom of the chart, we do not stop to do the math. Those big numbers cloud our clarity and reality.
Pillar 5: Does your Mentor/sponsor offer a System for Success that will work for You?
Is the system your mentor/sponsor uses something that YOU can do? Is the system current for today’s marketing environment? What is the cost involved? Is the system duplicable?
Joe Sponsor may be able to walk up to strangers and pitch the deal, give a 45 minute presentation, have endless resources of people to talk to, but do you? Joe Sponsor may be able to afford buying hundreds of dollars worth of leads a month, but can you? Joe Sponsor may be able to cold call, but can you? Remember, people, themselves, are not duplicable.
If you would like help in learning HOW to look for that legitimate opportunity or are looking for a system, I recommend downloading the Free E-book, Success in 10 Steps, as step #1. If you are willing to invest the time to learn, and if you have the desire to earn, the information in the Ebook is the beginning of the short cut to locating the right fit for you and may provide you with a system you can duplicate in your business building.
~Jennifer Fisher
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