Do Business Well

Will you make money — a lot of it — overnight? Direct selling can make you rich, but not overnight. Network marketing is often presented as a get-rich-quick scheme.

However, nothing worthwhile ever came without a struggle, and rewards are modest at first. The average earning for someone who puts in considerable effort could be R300 to R5 000 per month at the end of the first year. But this varies from company to company.

This is not much, you may say. But consider this: if you went to university to study engineering, you might end up with a job that paid R100 000 per year. During the three to four years you studied, you would earn no money. (We’ll exclude vacation jobs.) The cost of a three- to four- year residential course is about R45 000 to R60 000. So you’ve lost between R45 000 and R60 000 and three to four years of income as well!

The advantage of network marketing is that you earn while you learn. Right from the time you start, you make money. What’s more, throughout your life your earnings continue to grow as your network grows. In the case of a salaried man or woman, the salary eventually reaches a plateau and you receive an annual increase that, in all probability, is close to inflation.

Must you work full-time? Most prudent entrepreneurs wait until they have some experience of network marketing or party-plan selling before going into it full-time. You need to be convinced that the system works (it does!) and have discovered how easy it is to succeed.

How can you be sure you will be successful? Over 18 million people from all walks of life can’t be wrong. In network marketing your sponsor, the person who introduces you to network marketing, has the responsibility to ensure you are successful. She will show you what to do and work with you, helping, coaching and encouraging you until you are confident you know what to do.

You will be expected to take exactly the same actions with the people you introduce. It is a team effort with everyone working together to ensure the success of the others.

What support will you receive if you work through one of the established direct selling organisations? A professional direct selling organisation makes it easy for you to succeed. The newcomer is invited to training sessions; receives one-to-one training, product brochures and literature; is shown videos on networking; receives a comprehensive starter file and policy manual; and so on. Everything is done to ensure you achieve success.

Does it take long to learn the business? Not at all. The basics are explained to you in a short introductory session with a company trainer or your sponsor, lasting less than hour. You are able to start straight away. It may take you a week or two to become familiar with the product range and a couple of months to become really confident in what you do.

Do you start your own company or lock into an existing company? There is no reason why you should not start your own company, but the more popular route is to lock into an existing, successful company. It is easy to convince prospects they are on to a good thing when you work with a household name. But there is nothing to stop you from starting your own business. The spirit of entrepreneurship is what drives the economy, provides jobs and creates wealth. If you do start your own company from scratch, you will have to find or manufacture the right product. This could mean large start-up costs, such as building a factory.

You might also consider starting your own business after gaining some experience with an existing direct selling organisation. Experience is something you can pick up quite quickly. You could find joining an existing direct selling organisation valuable, whether it concentrates on network marketing or party-plan selling or some other variant.

Surely that means you are working for someone else? When you start in direct selling, no matter which company you work for, you are starting your own business. It doesn’t really matter what products you buy in and sell or what brochures you use, the principle is the same. The people you recruit into the business, either directly or indirectly, are your customers and your business.

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