I see literally hundreds of them a week. What makes me stop and consider an opportunity?
You want a mobile business, but which one will work??? They all sound good, obviously somebody is making money or they would not be around, right?
While there are no guarantees, there certainly are guidelines. Here are a few of mine:
* What is the Value Proposition?
Is the product or service something you would buy if your business wasn’t supported by it? Is the price reasonable to what other people will pay? If this is a luxury item, how will the state of the economy affect your business?
* Who is in management and what is their background?
If you can’t find any information on where the company is and who is running it, you could be building a sandcastle that washes away when high tide comes in.
* Is this a legal business model?
I can’t stress too much that it is. I was a member of Zeke Rewards. You can Google it and you will see that the company is in receivership as of August 2012. Although we were to complete an FTC compliance course to maintain membership, although we had a real product and stores, the SEC shut down the businesses that thousands of people were living on. The word Ponzi was whispered in some judges ear and they swooped in. I have been hearing this same word whispered about a couple of the opportunities that the drowning victims of the Zeke disaster jumped to. I am distancing myself from that even if it is not true. I just can’t risk my income or my credibility.
* What is the compensation plan like?
If it is too convoluted, I stop the person or video presentation. No need to waste anyone’s time. Some compenstion plans just don’t work even if simplified. My favorite is a residual income because once my work is done, that frees me up for other things.
* What is the attrition rate?
Attrition is falloff. It is the rate at which people leave a company. A high rate means you will need to constantly be sponsoring LOTS of new members to build your buisiness. It is typical of a lot of MLMs to have an attrition of 4 months at which point the new member decides that the autoship or products are too expensive and/or sponsoring someone is too difficult.
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* What is the support system like?
Will you have access to training and mentors?
* How does this opportunity fit into my portfolio?
I would never recommend anyone find one solid business and concentrate on that. Things happen. If your company closed its doors permantly one day, where would you be? You entire network is going to be disallusioned and you lose credibility, not to mention your livelihood. Therefore, I have several programs that I am working with. There are several small, easy to do programs that take little money to start up. There are programs that mesh with others. I have a website construction business, hosting, list building affiliate, training affiliates and even personal needs for the marketer. Having a theme can also generat multiple streams of income.
There you have it, I hope my list is of some help. Please add your tips or questions, or your glowing comments below.
