Multi-Level Marketing As a Smart Business Idea

Network Marketing Is Proving a Smart Vehicle For Wealth Creation

The rank of unemployed citizens has continued to grow: new school-leavers, loss of jobs to privatisation, concessioning and consolidations, civil service reforms and downsizing, etc. Though the ultimate effect of ongoing reforms should be healthy for the economy, the immediate job-loss impact is huge. As this is written, the Federal Government is in the process of disengaging over 33,000 employees from its workforce. Now, add the countless number that's merely hanging on to jobs they have since mentally disengaged from but cannot leave until they find an alternative and you begin to get an idea of the size of the job market. The supply side, that is.

Self-employment As A Viable Way Out
Interestingly, many more people are finding wisdom in self-employment. At a recent workshop of the Fate Foundation on generation of business ideas, one was amazed at the massive turnout, an eye-opener that an increasing number is choosing to go it alone, if only the right business ideas can be discovered.

The Odds You Face
No doubt, starting a business is a challenging project. People worry about the risk of failure. People worry about meeting the capital requirement, which for any business of significance will run into a few hundreds of thousands or, more likely, some millions. There is worry about a proven product to sell or service to render. There is concern, too, about procurement sources and reliability. What about finding the right hands to work with you, a factor that could define success or failure? The bottom-line: it takes guts and grit.

The Good News
Is there any other way out? The good news is that there are ways out and what this article offers is one tested option: a peep into what has proved a smart system for starting out in business, once there's the vision and drive to succeed. This is particularly so when very limited capital is available. Smart people in the smart economies across the globe have since delved into this business model which has helped create million of successful new businesses. The next good news is that opportunities to ride this vehicle to business success are now entering our economy. As has happened elsewhere, people's fortunes are already changing and millionaires are being turned out. The big idea is Network Marketing!

How It Works
Network marketing, also called multi-level marketing (MLM), is simply the business model of marketing a company's goods or services through person-to-person promotion and distribution. People buy directly from the company and are encouraged, through commission-incentives, to introduce them to and share their experiences with friends, family members and others. By doing this, the user 'recruits' other users. As each new entrant repeats the process, the network of users continues to grow, usually at an exponential rate. Because this process is formalised and structured, each participant who opts in is identified and registered. Most companies will call them distributors, partners or a similar title. The network of members spinning off a particular distributor is called his downline. The business in network marketing is that he gets commissions for the recruitments and purchase activities in his downline. Such commissions could gross to several millions monthly, when the network has grown substantially.

This Has Worked For Many In America and Elsewhere
Network marketing is, by any account, a smart way to play big, even with limited resources. As Robert Butwin aptly captured it in his Street Smart Network Marketing, " where else but in Network Marketing can the average man or woman invest few hundred dollars - with the real potential of earning as much as the CEO of a successful corporation?"

So, here are the attractions of Network Marketing

  1. It offers a business platform that moderates the risk of business take-off. After all, the company offering the product is already in operation and running smoothly. If it wasn't, why would you select such a company? There is also a tested business model. The network marketing company develops a viable system which distributors are trained to apply. Joining such company therefore provides a highly protected framework for starting a business, while assuring of some potential earnings milestones. You just duplicate the system.


  2. By design, MLM ensures that you get generous assistance in building your business. How? The success of the company as well as your upline (the person that introduced you and those above him), depends on the results you achieve. It's therefore in their self-interest to provide all the training and support to give you a head-start and get you in the driving seat. This will include marketing materials (videos, brochures, publications, tapes, samples, etc), seminars, conferences and other programmes to give you the leverage to perform.


  3. Capital requirement is minimal. Network marketing simply expects you to buy only a few products on a regular basis and, more importantly, to promote the products to your relations, friends, associates, colleagues, etc and encourage them to buy and enroll as distributors. No stocking, no warehousing, no bank loans, no insurance cover, no sales team! Often, this will not cost more that a few thousands of Naira. If you are unable to use some or all of the products you buy, you retail them and recoup your money with profit! So with much less than N50,000, you are truly in a business that could take you to any level.


  4. Most companies have generous compensation plans (that is, the commissions and other incentives). How is this possible? The MLM companies sell on person-to-person basis and so save the huge amounts spent by big companies on extensive advertising and running a large in-house sales force. The customer-distributors get a piece of this saving by way of commissions. Why? They are the ones selling for the company and saving the money. The compensation plans are structured to confer more rewards as you contribute more and climb in the system. In addition to commissions, cars, yachts, jets and sponsored holiday trips often form part of the package. One of the MLM companies is known to be giving out brand new BMW cars to qualifying Nigerian members.


  5. Your earnings are literally determined by you. You no longer have to wait for a promotion or salary review by the employer to enhance your earnings. Simply set your goals, drive yourself and earn what you work for. In a sense, there is no limit. How much is a realistic expectation? It's up to you. Abroad, where they've been on this for a while, huge figures are common. In Nigeria, a sizeable number already picks a few millions every month. Want to confirm? It's simple: spend some time and make enquiries from members of GNLD, Tianshi, Tahitian Noni or Forever Living.


  6. There is no other business where you can 'employ' a lot of people to work for you without paying a huge salary bill. In network marketing you pay none. Who works for you? Everybody in your downline. That's how it works. So, with a downline of, say, 1000 active people, working hard to grow their own businesses, you literally have 1000 men working for you because you earn commissions from each person's activities. And you pay no salary! Can you beat that?

Give Yourself A Break And Get Going
It's time to get going, now that you have a vehicle to ride to business success. You'd probably want to know if anything could go wrong with this seemingly rosy picture. Yes, you could pick the wrong company. So you must choose well. It could be the wrong product, with questionable product value. This will not sustain a long-term performance, so, research the product. It could also be you lacking in personal vision, passion or drive for superior results. Network marketing simply provides an opportunity. The life-changing results will come from your personal commitment. I'm sure you have what it takes to take charge and drive yourself to success.

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