“You are the only one who can use your ability. It is an awesome responsibility.” – Zig ZiglarThe figures are staggering; a startling 150 million individuals are making over 400 billion dollars in home-based business income. This figure eclipses the food industry. It even puts the pharmaceutical industry to shame.By some estimates, home-based entrepreneurs are earning an average of $63,000 or more annually. The freedom of being self-employed allows many home-based business owners to consider a return to the corporate world something they’d avoid at all costs.Consider some of these findings…* Owning and operating a home-based business offers entrepreneurs an achievable point of entry. More than 40 percent of all home-based businesses require less than $5,000 for startup.* Home-based entrepreneurialism is growing in importance and diversity. It offers opportunities for entrepreneurs and at-home professionals in every demographic and ethnic group.* According to IDC, a top national research firm, there are between 34.3 million and 36.6 million home office households in the United States alone.* According to The Success Factory International, America is in the midst of an extraordinary workplace transformation; the home-based business phenomenon shows no sign of slowing down* Information technology (IT) has made it possible for e-commerce and has enabled small, medium-sized, and home-based businesses to compete more effectively in the global market. Ecommerce makes it possible for more people to start their own businesses.Many home-based business startups are an outgrowth of either personal interest or a profession that severely limited the individual freedom of the worker. In either case, there seems to be growing satisfaction among those who have chosen a home-based business alternative.Interestingly home-based businesses are extensively populated with women or aging workers. The reasonings behind this trend would require an article of its own, but the point is the Internet is filled with highly successful non-traditional business owners.What comes as a surprise to many home-based business owners is the fact that their business started at home in an effort to save money with full intentions of moving the business to a brick and mortar store front. However, it is estimated that only 5% of existing home-based businesses will ultimately move out of the home.Part of the lure of home-based businesses is the empowerment provided to the owner who understands the return of control in their life as a priceless benefit of home-based businesses ownership.”My list of ingredients for success is divided into four basic groups: Inward, Outward, Upward and Onward.” – David Thomas
Passion – A Key to Your MLM Home Based Business Success
As a veteran network marketer and business owner who has walked the trail of tears, I am weary of the lies and deceit that pervades the industry.Too many people join a MLM home based business based on the promise of wealth and fortune alone. They enroll with the simple idea that all they have to do is “sign up three who will get three who get three”. The concept sounds so simple that they jump right in, and after a short period of time, quit because “the system” didn’t work for them.While MLM home based businesses have various compensation plans, the traditional MLM model of “three who get three who get three” is an example I am using here. It is a simple business model that looks easy to do. Simply, it is a business template that a company implements to help the company’s representatives market the company’s products and grow their business. The process of building a MLM home based business requires much more effort and desire to succeed than is seen on the surface.While it’s true that there is potential to make a lot of money in this industry, it is also true that it takes time and effort to envision the opportunity as an ongoing journey. When people join a MLM home based business solely because of the promise of wealth and fortune, it doesn’t take long before they are checking out and are never heard from again. The reason? Greed is not a long-term motivator. Most want to get rich quick and when that doesn’t happen, they quit.A Key to SuccessIn my opinion, a key to succeeding in this industry is having a strong belief and passion for the company and its products or services.It’s interesting that many sales training books don’t elaborate on the need for belief and passion to succeed in business. I believe all of the attributes of a great sales person are backed by a passion of some type. In our case, passion is an intense, extreme, or overpowering feeling for a cause represented by the company’s products or services.The authors of sales books talk about having the right mental attitude – that is, desiring, to succeed, setting goals and achieving them, and becoming a great leader. How do you find the drive to enact these without a passion for the MLM home based business – and its products – you have chosen to build? For example, how can you have a positive mental attitude about your business without having a belief and passion for it?Too many people are brought into a MLM home based business because of the promise of an easy business to do and a ton of money to be made in a short period of time. Oh, the products and services are presented, but the major push is on the big money that can be made.The challenges we all faceWhen beginning a MLM home based business, so many challenges lie ahead. Here are just a few that a new owner may confront:
· Complacency – many new business owners never get started. They are afraid they don’t know enough or don’t know where or how to start
· Anxiety and fear about sharing the business or the products and services to people, including friends and family – becoming a secret agent of the business. What will they think about me?
· Fear of rejection – a “no” for some people is a nail to the heart. They would rather sleep on nails than be told “no”.
· Fear of failing – nobody likes to lose. A few “no’s”, and the very thing that’s feared actually becomes reality.
· Negative self-talk – that inner voice saying, “I told you this wouldn’t work. What were you thinking, joining this business anyway?”
· Lack of strong leadership – another reason many people fail in a home-based business. No leadership and guidance means trying to do something that has never done before and doing it right the first time. That isn’t likely to happen.
· Giving up – it doesn’t take long for the new business partner to say, “Maybe this business isn’t for me. It just didn’t work out.”When a person starts a MLM home based business for the wrong reasons — primarily greed, wealth and fortune, and the desire to get rich quickly — then all of the aforementioned factors will have an adverse affect.When enrolling because of belief in the company, the MLM home business owner often has very positive experiences with the products and services offered and becomes a passionate evangelist for those products and the company. Add to that a strong leadership team that keeps the business owner plugged into the latest news and product information; teaches solid skills training; and consistently gives positive feedback and encouragement, a strong belief and passion slowly will begin to develop. This will go a long way in enabling endurance for the many challenges that lie ahead.Passion will make a differenceLook at what can happen when belief and passion for the products and services are the key reasons for signing up for the MLM home based business opportunity:· Because belief and passion are so high with the products and services, the business owner is compelled to share them with friends and family; thus, no longer operating like a secret agent.
· When belief and passion are the driving forces within the business owner, complacency no longer exists. Likewise, issues that once were barriers to getting started are now banished.
· Knowing that the fundamental purpose in any business is to “show and tell” the company’s products and services, the business owner understands that everyone does not have the same feelings about what is offered; everyone is not the niche prospect. He markets accordingly, letting the prospect be the one to decide if the products and services are right for him, and knowing that a “no” to the offer is not a personal rejection.
· Understanding that the mission of sharing the business and the difference it can make in the life of another person, the business owner discovers that the fear of failure and negative self-talk disappear when leading with passion.
· No matter how slow the start, the business owner understands that quitting is not an option, that owning a business is a long-term mission and there’s no challenge too big to conquer.In all of the years I have been involved in MLM home based businesses, I have yet to see anyone climb to the top of the mountain and stay there for the long-term without a belief and passion. Oh, yes, I have seen people — through the passion of getting rich quickly — climb to the top, but it is built upon greed and not upon sound principles. Their business is built like a house of cards and in a short period of time, many fall apart.It is imperative that anyone desiring to build a MLM home based business for the long run must have a passion for the company and its products and services. That passion will attract others who also want to be a part of the marketing campaign. They, too, will embrace the owner’s passion, and this will drive them to success, too.Check out the top leaders who have been with a company for many years. Their passion for what they do will be evident. It is rare to find anyone at the top for any length of time just because they saw the money.So, it is necessary that a potential home business owner — before signing up with any MLM home based business — must research the company to make sure it is all that is written about it. It is essential to use the products and services for a period of time to make sure that there is a positive experience with them. Check out the leadership and make sure they have the experience and a system that will insure success. And, finally, a potential MLM home business owner must ask himself if this is a business that he can believe in and could eventually have a passion to build.It’s only when the answer is “yes” to these questions that signing up and becoming involved with any MLM home based business opportunity should even be considered.Too many people get into this industry for the wrong reasons and that is why they fail. Joining for the right reasons will make a huge difference in succeeding or failing. Passion is a key reason for successful growth in any business – either a present one or a future one.
20 Reasons You Shouldn’t Use A Broker When You Sell Your Business
Nearly 80% of all business owners, even highly successful ones, admit that they don’t have a plan for exiting their businesses.Owners often fail to make succession plans because they have assumptions about the future which may or may not be true.For example, a business owner may believe that his business will naturally pass to his spouse or other family member. What happens, though, if that designated family member is unwilling or unable to take the reins?Another common assumption owners make that causes them to avoid succession planning is the idea that they will be able to run the business until they die. They don’t put a plan in place because they don’t like to think about the possibility of having to leave the business sooner than planned, perhaps due to ill health or family problems.What happens in the absence of proper exit planning is that am owner can find him or herself in the unanticipated position of having to sell quickly, perhaps for less money than they need in retirement.Frustrated, tired, stressed, and sometimes ill, business owners who need to sell make what they feel is a logical decision and turn the process over to their local business broker.Over the years, my partners and I have reviewed over 300 selling deals and have come to the conclusion that using a business broker might be the worst decision any seller can make.We began to question the entire sales process, wondering why most businesses in America never sell, and those that do sell often do so under extremely unfavorable terms for the sellers.Looking for common threads in those deals, we eventually came to the conclusion that a major culprit hindering the business selling process is the typical business broker.This came as a surprise as we initially assumed the logical fallacy that someone with the title “broker” is sctuslly experienced in facilitating deals.The vast majority of business brokers we have run across, however, have disproved this assumption time and again.Here are just a few of the reasons that I believe you should NOT engage the services of a business broker if you are trying to sell your successful business.
Most business brokers have never owned a business themselves.
They are often more motivated by commissions than they are by doing what’s right for both buyer and seller.
In most states, brokers are not required to have any training, licensing, or continuing education, unlike real estate or insurance brokers.
Many of them are super at selling their services, but poor at actually providing those services once you’ve paid.
They could care less if they get referrals, so they don’t care if clients complain about them to others.
A lot of times they are simply lazy and don’t do much of anything to help the seller.
Many brokers lack basic financial literacy, business intelligence, and organization that is essential to a successful outcome.
They don’t know how to plan and excute a successful sales strategy.
They try and cover their lack of knowledge and training with slick self-serving rhetoric that makes them look better than they really are.
Many brokers get into business because they’ve failed at other ventures.
They often have no clue of how to properly valuate a business, thus potentially cheating the seller out of thousands of dollars or causing the sale to drag on longer than necessary.
They don’t understand risk.
Often business brokers let sellers think a business is worth whatever the seller wants, however unrealistic that figure may be, just to get the listing. They then pass the buck to the potential buyer, who is made out to be the bad guy for showing the seller the business isn’t worth anywhere near that much.
Business brokers often ignore confidentiality agreements.
Many are willing to lie, as long as it serves their purposes.
Commission-hungry business brokers are obsessed with getting mass listings because they know that without a listing there is NO possibility of getting a commission.
Focusing on mass listings means they don’t have the time to push the listings they get, causing listings fall through the cracks.
Many business brokers don’t understand due diligence.
Most brokers will never tell a seller the truth about their success rates: 87% of listings NEVER sell at all, and of those that do, 3 out of 4 FAIL to meet the sellers initial goals. Sellers have less than a 4% chance of a successful exit.
Brokers have been known to lie about their personal track records. Many brokers are lucky to complete just 2 successful deals in a year, much less the 10-20 about which they will brag to you.
These are only a few of the reasons why I urge potential sellers of businesses to avoid using business brokers.Instead, it is much better to seek out the advice of a business acquisition specialist; someone who has experience in the process of buying and selling businesses, who thoroughly understands valuation, and who is not focused on getting as many listings as possible but rather on the needs of the seller and buyer.Having such a mentor can assist you in developing a viable business exit plan. This means that you will not be forced into making hasty decisions if you are forced by circumstances to sell.A good business acquisition expert does not work on commissions, and has the best interests of both buyer and seller in mind. He or she also has a tried and true process for selling and a verifiable record of success, along with references and client testimonials.My suggestion is that before you ever need to sell, you should contact a business acquisition expert first. Most selling specialists are more than wiling to give you a free telephone or in-person consultation.Prior to this meeting, be sure to write down all your questions, your goals for the sale, even your fears and apprehensions about the process. This will help you make the most of this initial consultation and get a gut feeling for how this particular business solutions provider operates.If your primary reason for meeting is to ask for business succession planning assistance, discuss fees and expectations and ask for some professional references.This will help you determine if this is the kind of person you want partnering with you on one of the most important changes you will ever experience in your life.If you’d like to learn more about the selling process and how to be successful with it, please download the free resources on the website listed below or email me at [email protected]
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