When billionaire entrepreneur Roger Barnett bought one of America’s top network marketing companies in 2004, he didn’t come about the decision easily. Barnett spent more than $20 million dollars conducting due diligence on some of the nation’s best know brands before settling on Shaklee, a leader in the health and wellness industry since 1955. For Shaklee’s 750,000 members and distributors, Barnett’s arrival not only reinvigorated the company’s product research and development, it ushered in a bold new era led by a relatively young, well-educated and savvy investor who didn’t choose the company because it was close at hand, but because it perfectly reflected his business and personal philosophy.
How many of those seeking a home based business opportunity are as discerning?
All too often, according to long-time business leaders in network marketing, new distributors sign-on simply because the opportunity presented itself. No due diligence. No research. No real connection to one’s own values, personal philosophy, or business objectives. It’s as if choosing a new career and livelihood demanded little more consideration than what cereal to buy at the supermarket. In fact, joked one business leader, “I’ve seen couples and individuals spend more time considering what movie to add to the cue of their Netflix order than on what company to partner with in network marketing.”
So how do you decide what company best fits your life? Here are five steps to help narrow your decision:
First, conduct an audit of your own consumer values. Let’s face it. You won’t be happy in the long-run representing a company that runs counter to your own basic beliefs. In the network marketing arena, the type of products run the gamut. Vitamins, nutritional supplements, cosmetics, tonics, cleaning products, and Internet programs just to name a few. You have got to identify with the products in order to represent them well and build a business. As motivational experts have agreed throughout generations, enthusiasm and passion are the first ingredients to success. It just doesn’t make much sense to invest in a company whose products don’t excite you. You must value the products before you put a value on the business in your life.
Second, evaluate your own personal values. In searching for the right home based business opportunity, assess the core mission and objectives of the companies you put on a short list. What do the companies stand for? Are they striving to make a bigger difference than simply increasing a bottom-line? This is the type of evaluation that Barnett made in his search for Shaklee. As a strong advocate of environmental responsibility and stewardship, Barnett was immediately attracted to the company’s safe, clean and environmentally friendly product line. You should bring the same introspection to your own search. Are you truly going to be proud of working with this company, or are you just attracted to the commission structure? If it’s the latter, you may find yourself lacking in both commissions and integrity. True success can only if you are motivated by more than just your wallet.
Third, analyze the company’s financial portfolio to the best of your ability. That’s not just about making a dollar. It’s about the ability of the company to create new products, bolder business initiatives, and reach beyond the current status quo. Take HerbalLife for instance. The public company had record revenues in the first quarter of 2010. That’s an achievement that will help the company to increase share holder value, but to continuing bringing new, bold products to the market. Partnering with a company that has not added to its product line in years probably will lead to a pretty stagnant relationship all around. With relative ease, the Internet allows for extensive data on many companies and offers you the chance to make an informed decision before investing your hard earned dollar.
Fourth, talk to referrals. Don’t just take that nice business builder’s word for it. Ask to talk with others in their down line. Attend online team meetings and listen to the tone and tenor of the interaction. Is there a sense of excitement or is it just another boring Monday night? And, more important, conduct an online search on the company. In your browser search window, put the name of the company followed by “reviews.” You might be surprised at what others out there are saying about the particular home based business opportunity. Visiting the Better Business Bureau site, does a search reveal anything unusual about the company? Or, can you find third-party evaluations that shed a new light on where you about to invest? Barnett and other other successful investors don’t just look at the financial prospectus. Sure, the literature is invaluable. But more important, are the opinions of the marketplace. Even top companies will have their public detractors, but you will be able to determine a general feeling about the company, it’s management, products, and values by doing your homework.
Fifth, and finally, assess the company’s training and development capabilities. This may be your first foray into MLM and social network marketing. If your are serious about building a new career, there’s no way to do it by simply winging it. The most reputable network marketing companies include robust training courses for its new distributors. And, if you are joining a solid team, it’s leaders will have developed team training programs that are seamless with the company programs, but add a dimension of individual attention that is impossible in a larger setting. OmniDestiny is a company that also coaches new distributors through the process, an outside mentor that can help relieve the anxieties that come with any job or career. If your company prospect doesn’t appear to offer the training you need, don’t consider it. That would be a waste of your valuable time and money.
