If you are going to put all your energy, your time and, most importantly, your reputation into building a business from home you MUST do your due diligence first. 

We used the following checklist before choosing our company 16 years ago and we have always been so glad we did. So many “great opportunities” and fancy offers have come along in that time and most of them were gone within a few months. Nothing is certain in life but we can definitely keep the odds in our favour so would like to share the list with you.

You MUST be able to tick off ALL 12 to create long-term residual income

1. COMPANY TRACK RECORD
Because most companies fail within the first 5 years its best to pick
a company thats been in business for a minimum of 5 years but 10 years would be better…and is it still growing or is it in decline?

2. FINANCIALLY SOUND
If you are going to put in time and effort you need to ask – will it last? The company you choose needs to be financially healthy and if it is free of debt that’s a big bonus.

3. STRONG MANAGEMENT
Strong Fortune 500 style management is preferable and the company should NOT be ran by MLM guys. They can end up owning the downlines and start making decisions to make themselves wealthy off the backs of everyone else

4. UNIQUE CONSUMABLE PRODUCTS
Products must be highly consumable by ALL and the kind of things people are already buying. People’s budgets can’t be changed especially at a time like this so they must not be required to spend any new money.
I’ll say it again for emphasis. NO NEW MONEY.

5. COMPETITIVELY PRICED
Products must be considerably less expensive than the supermarket they are already shopping at, or of noticeably better quality.
Smart shoppers want you to give them great valuefor being a customer.

6. HIGH MONTHLY REORDER RATE
You want your customers to stay for years so there needs to be overwhelming value and as many reasons to stay as possible so they want to keep ordering month after month whether or not they’re in it to make money.
Hint. (A 95% monthly re-order would be an impossible dream for most companies but it can be done)

7. LOW PERSONAL PRODUCTION REQUIREMENT
Low monthly order requirement and no monthly quotas no matter what position they advance to in the company. They should only have to buy what they can reasonably use in their own home that month.

8. LOW ENTRY FEE
There needs to be a very low cost for anyone to join and the enroller
should not be paid a bonus on the joining fee. The fee should be small enough that anyone can open their account ‘right way’ and they must not be buying inventory with their entry fee

9. TIMING
Don’t go for so called ‘ground floor’ deals since most deals fall apart in the first 5 years
Bad news travels fast and when people get hurt and lose money, they tell everyone they know. That’s why most MLM companies get a bad name so it’s best to steer clear of MLMs.

10. KEEP YOUR CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE
You should NOT be penalised for enrolling someone better than you
nor should you lose a person’s volume because they do better than you do. This is the hidden drawback in many companies compensation plans.
Leadership development should be rewarded… not penalised and a company should be built on a sense of gain… not a fear of loss so check this out before joining anything. 

(Hint. You should actually be hoping and praying that you find a few guys or gals who are better than you are and when you do, cheer them all the way to the top.)

11. NO RISK
There needs to be a 100% Money Back Guarantee on all products and
on the opportunity itself… no questions asked! It needs to be safe for everyone… and everyone needs to feel safe whether they are customers or intend to be business builders

12 IN ALL BUSINESSES THE WELL KNOWN 80-20 RULE APPLIES.
(if you don’t know what that is don’t feel its silly to ask, there are no daft questions here)
But wouldn’t it be great if there was a business that even the 80%’ers could do? Make that a part of your thought process when deciding on your company…Can a single person bringing up children do it? Can a person do it in their retirement years to supplement their pension? Can a very busy person do it in just three or four hours a week? The question you are really asking is…Can I do it?

A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS FOR YOU:

● Which one of these 12 points would you be willing to forego and still throw your time, energy and (I’ll say it again because it is the most important thing) YOUR REPUTATION into the business?
● Are you looking for the next ‘rising star’ opportunity… or are you looking for the last one you’ll ever need?

If the company you are a part of doesn’t meet ALL 12 of the factors, and you’re looking to find a business model that does, we’d love to talk with you. We’ve been building a solid business that aligns with ALL 12 of the factors. We would love to tell you how it all works and what’s involved.

We are proud to promote a company that really cares about the planet we all call home.  In our considered opinion it’s a company where everybody wins: and we would like to tell you why in exactly 500 words.

Direct customers may purchase great products online that make their homes a healthier place by eliminating toxins and improving nutrition.

Preferred customers get all the above plus 30-50% discounts off those products.  If Preferred Customers place their monthly orders before the 25th of each month they get 15% back in points with which they get free products. Because there are nearly 200 products in the range being able to try new ones for free is a nice little incentive.

The Company wins because it always knows in advance what quantities it needs to manufacture of each product. This also benefits the customer because since the ingredients  are natural, they are best when they are fresh.

Preferred Customers also have the choice to come Marketing Executives at no extra cost which means they can introduce other customers  to the company and be paid a little commission on every order those customers place as long as they both remain customers. This commission may start small but it rises according to the number of customers they introduce and there are many bonuses for encouraging their customers to do likewise. This can result in a few pounds off the monthly shop, a few hundred to set against household bills or a full time replacement income with no ceiling. It is entirely up to the individual.

The Manufacturer wins because it gets more customers without paying for advertising. Advertising and distribution is a great expense in business and a lot of the money saved is shared out with the Marketing Executives. Some of the money saved goes to market research and some goes for better safer, natural ingredients in the products.

So the customer wins because they get better quality products, their children and pets win because their homes are safer.

The wider environment wins because there are no harsh chemicals entering the ecosystem through the drains and landfills.

You may be thinking, “Surely somebody must lose if all these people are winning?” Actually no! That’s the great thing about it, contrary to popular thinking that there must always be a loser if there is a winner there is often a way for everyone to win…we just have to look for it.

We were so glad when we found it we have been partners with the company for the last 14 years…what is it called?  Melaleuca, the Wellness Company.

We have travelled the world, we’ve met so many people who have become lifelong friends. We have seen people build solid second incomes that have made a huge difference to their lifestyles and others go all out and develop 6 figure businesses out of their own front rooms. Truly anything is possible

 If you would like to know more, especially how we can help each other send me a message in the comments.

A lot of people ask me the same question and I heard it again only yesterday.  

“How did you choose which company to partner with once you had decided that the Home Based Marketing Profession was for you?

They tend to say things like, “It seems to be a  minefield, and there are so many companies out there. We don’t want to put in lots of effort to find it all fizzles out when the company leaves the country or goes out of business altogether. We’ve heard that happens a lot.”

We felt exactly the same way when we started. Over the years I had been approached to join dozens of companies very few of which are still going strong. The great majority actually folded within a very short time meaning any investment made in them has been lost.  Time, money and effort seem to be the biggest concern on the surface but the loss of credibility and the emotional expense is actually far greater, some people find it hard to get over the disappointment and some have even turned bitter against the whole profession.

Actually in its early days and with some of the sharp players who were involved it deserved its reputation and you could not really call it a profession but times have changed and now many huge corporations use what has become a perfectly legitimate method of moving great products from manufacturer to consumers.

Still I suppose it’s only human nature to be careful. Perhaps a little fear is a good thing if it makes us think more carefully next time…but too much fear could paralyse us for life. Fear and faith are polar opposites.

So how do we pick a company to partner with that will be around for years to come and will continue to reward our efforts fairly. Here are a few of the requirements we had all those years ago when we first started out. Of course times have changed, for instance the internet and social media are certainly playing a much bigger role now, but the fundamentals are still the same. Its always been a people business and it always will be. The computer is an important tool but talking to a real person on the telephone and face to face in meetings or one on one over coffee are just as important as ever, maybe even more so.

Obviously there are no guarantees, even Woolworths closed their doors in the UK, but you can still do your due diligence and give yourself the best possible chance.  If we forget about the Network Marketing type Companies for a moment and consider all types of business startups we find that most of them fail in the first couple of years, in fact 90% go under in the first 18 months and at 5 years only 1 in 1,000 is left.

Who would stake their time, money, and probably most important, their reputation and all their goals and hopes and dreams on a 1000-1 chance.

Not me or Steppy. We figured it would be best for us to choose from those companies that had overcome the early hurdles and were at least 5 years old. Actually the one we chose was almost twenty years old at that time and has gone from strength to strength since. We did not just want to build a business that would last our lifetime but we want to leave a legacy for our children and grandchildren too.

Next we considered various products and services, telephones and utilities were very popular then, some of our friends took that route and one or two have done very well indeed.

We started with 12 essential ingredients which I have covered in another post, and we insisted that we should be able to put a tick against every one of them.

We did look at the utilities company. It was excellent and it did fit all the criteria, but Steppy just couldn’t get excited about electricity and gas and our last and most important criteria (not actually on the list of 12) was we must be in complete agreement. How can two walk together unless they are in agreement.

We were looking for a consumable product that if they were better than what people were using now they would come back for them month after month, year after year. The one drawback with utilities was the fact that if someone else came along with a cheaper deal many of the customers would switch again, so we weren’t keen on price alone being our USP.

We didn’t want to educate people on why they should use a product they didn’t already use, we preferred to just ask them to switch stores and try different brands that were not so different than what they were already using. Of course they would have to be top quality and they would need to compete fairly on price or why would anyone swap? There were a few companies that worked but we were certainly narrowing the field down.

We wanted a privately owned company that could prove it was financially sound and a strong, stable management team was also important. We saw lots of videos of owners and big hitters in their flashy cars and big mansions but to be honest all that hype turned us off.  When I wanted to talk to these people to ask a few questions and get the feel of how they might think of their workforce it proved very difficult. In most cases it was virtually impossible, like trying to meet Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley. So when I finally was able to meet the CEO of one of these multi-national companies and found him to be a humble, family man who seemed like he genuinely cared I suppose I was sold. His name is Frank and he brought nearly two years of research to a close in an hour long meeting. His parting shot to me was “Welcome aboard, I hope we grow old together”. I’ll never forget that. We have spoken several times since and it is always a pleasure for me, and it never seems to be too much trouble for him either.

Our choice might not be the right fit for your family but whatever company you choose let me encourage you to do all you can to get a feel for the character of the people at the top. I don’t care what car he drives, actually I have no idea, all I know is he wants me to succeed in an honest and ethical way…his motto, “Exceptional products at reasonable prices” his company Mission Statement…   “To enhance the lives of those we touch by helping people reach their goals”…and something else I have heard him say many times at various meetings and conventions that sums the man up…  “there is never any need to exaggerate, the truth is always enough”.

So let me finish there, in promoting your products and your business you will have to tell your story time and time again, sometimes to people who know and trust you and sometimes to people who you only just met but if you can’t put your hand on your heart and tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about your company, then you should either pick another company or get out of the business altogether.

Network marketing has come of age, it is a worthy profession, a great way to earn a living or for those that put in the greatest effort, to make their fortune. Jumping around from deal to deal looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is not very professional…many do it and good luck to them, some do make a fast buck, but at what cost?  

As for me and my house we have chosen to build on solid foundations.

If you could be celebrating some great big accomplishments of your own design just 90 days from now, how would that make you feel?

Or you could be looking back at another quarter of mediocre results, still hoping that next quarter will be better. (I like to think in quarters because years seem to be going by so quickly and I reckon if things are not going as well as they could be, the sooner we change it the better.) Unfortunately, most people are in the latter camp and just struggling along in the same old way.

You may have heard it said…“If things don’t change they will stay the same.”

Its really up to you whether or not you stay with the apathetic majority or decide to change things and become the individual you were born to be.

Let me ask you a question…

What could you DO differently, starting RIGHT NOW that would make the rest of your life bigger, brighter, better, and more profitable than you have ever thought possible?

And don’t panic, it’s doesn’t have to be such a big thing.  Don’t say I’d like to do something different Rob but it’s a bit frightening what you are saying. I will come back later when I have time to read this properly.

If you haven’t got time now you won’t have time later either, you are really saying I am going to stay the same…and that’s OK by me, if you are comfortable, you stay there. But remember, great accomplishments are not generally found in the comfort zone.

So Let’s Make a Start

About 600 years before Christ Lao Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

I don’t believe he was thinking about walking a thousand miles so I will assume it was his way of saying however big the goal, whatever it may be, you will need to get started.

Mary Poppins said  “Well begun is half done.” (Actually she borrowed that from Aristotle.)

And the rest of the journey will also be made up of many tiny steps too: so every day if you make a step in the right direction you can be pleased with yourself. If you take no step at all or worse, take steps in the wrong direction you know you have to make some changes.

All great achievers know that they must meet with setbacks along the way. Even at the thousandth step they may meet with danger or difficulty but there will come a time when success is just around the next bend in the road; just a few more steps, but unless they take that next step, unless they go round that bend in the road they may never know just how close they were.  The road is littered with the corpses of those who never took another step, those who lost hope and gave up on their dreams.

Achievers are always willing to take another step, and another and yet another until the goal is accomplished.

Dreamers fantasise about the expected rewards but never actually get to hold them in their hands because they are not willing to do the hard mental work to achieve them, and most of the work is mental. I think we have all been dreamers at times, thats why I am talking about change.

Achievers know they must first look in the mirror to understand where they are.  Then they form a clear picture of exactly where they want to be.  They meditate on the goal, they focus on it until they can see it, until it is real in their spirit and they approach it with a definiteness of purpose that will make them unstoppable.

Because those two ends of the journey are firmly fixed it all the various ways to get there just seem to come into their minds and as they decide which is the best way for them right now they are already taking the first physical steps on the journey. Each subsequent step becomes automatic because progress becomes habitual. When we do something repeatedly it becomes easy, when it is easy it is a pleasure to do it and when we do something with joy we do it well.

We are taught and we have tended to believe that we have free will but actually we are all slaves to our habits whether they are good or bad. If you are going to be a slave it is better to have a good master. Benjamin Franklin observed “It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.”

When you look in that metaphorical mirror you might ask your self some questions.  Here are a few which may seem trivial, but could possibly be foundational examples…

•Am I getting enough physical exercise?

•Am I eating for pleasure in the moment or with an eye on tomorrow?

•Am I reading regularly and is the quality of the material building me up?

•Do I work on improving myself every day

•Am I using social media well, is it the best use of my time ?

When I asked myself those questions a while back, and no excuses, I had asked them many times before, corrected them and subsequently backslidden, but I found that…

•I was exercising but not regularly enough.

•I was eating too much sweet food and had gained weight

•I had not read as much as I should have over the past year although I have been reasonably selective, I am happy with the quality, but not the quantity.

•I had done some self improvement stuff but not recently

•I was wasting a lot of time just chatting on Social Media, honestly, I still am. It’s a tough nut to crack.

So that’s me, baring my soul again, now what about you? What does your mirror say?

It’s Time for a Check-Up

It’s time to give yourself a check-up and identify the habits that are hurting you. There may be more than one habit that you need or would like to replace with habits that will serve you better but we can’t boil the ocean so lets take them one at a time. It is a law of nature that the only way to get rid of a habit is to replace it with another habit. And the only way to bring about lasting change and so get better results in life is to change old habits for new ones.

To quote Welsh rugby star Jack Dixon  “If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.”

So back to the two ends of the journey. Once you have a clear picture of where you are now and you know where you want to be…It’s time to take a scientific look at how we human beings form and can change our habits.

Step 1  Decide what really matters.

Determine what the end should look like and focus on getting there.

Focus…What will be more important on the journey to your legacy, checking on the football scores or writing your blog or the first chapter of your book. Is it better to watch a TV show or spend the time preparing for the interview for your dream job? The answer may be obvious but the dreamer will get to the important thing tomorrow, today they need their relaxation.  For me enrolling my next Business Builder and helping him or her achieve a six figure income in our business is the number one goal right now.

That demands maximum effort. It requires me to do the first things first. To make the best use of every hour.

Napoleon said the thing that made him great was that he knew the value of five minutes. Don’t tell me about Waterloo, everyone meets one of those in the end but he did pretty well up until then. So if you have been in the habit of butterflying from one thing to another, even double minded, come to an agreement with yourself about what really matters to you and let’s get on with it.

Step 2  Create Some Unbreakable Rules

I learned from my friend Craig Ballantine that creating rules for your life will help you stay on the path to success and wisdom. You may slip now and again but it is better to have rules than not, and its better to do your best to keep sound well thought out rules and fail than to end with the  regret of knowing you didn’t do the best your could.

With your written rules posted for you and everyone else to see your habits will be easier to establish, and each of those tiny steps to success much easier to make. Some things that are easy to do are also easy not to do so making yourself accountable will recruit the help of all who care about your success.  Thus you will have a much better chance of getting the important things done first.

Step 3 Choose a Cue

Create or choose a Cue or Trigger that initiates an automatic response in your brain which kickstarts you into action.

The simplest of examples for me, I wanted to get up half an hour earlier every day to spend some extra time reading and praying, but getting up earlier sounds good the night before but when the music starts playing in the morning it is not so attractive. I started by putting the phone which I used to wake me on the other side of the room so I had to get out of bed just to switch it off. I managed to train myself not to get up in the night for a loo break, it’s amazing how even that becomes a habit.

So when the music played I leapt out of bed hit the button on the phone and the next stop had to be the bathroom, it was urgent. The bathroom light would have woken me if I had not been too tired to open my eyes but that was not as easy as it sounds.

So the next step was the electric toothbrush in my mouth, that lovely Melaleuca Peppermint sensation hit my taste buds and by the first buzz of the brush at 30 seconds my eyes popped open and my brain switched on. By the time I had flossed and rinsed, the plans that I had written down the night before were now top of mind.  I bet you think I am joking, it might sound ridiculous but that’s really what it took at first. It was only a week before I woke a minute before the music every morning, and was able to head it off before my wife was disturbed. After a few weeks I decided to get up an additional half hour earlier and this time it was much easier.

So as we begin to replace an old habit and establish a new one we must first…

Choose a New Cue…one that will trigger an effective response.

It could be setting a timer like I did or what if the habit you want to get into is taking a run after work to get in shape? Perhaps you could pin a poster on the wall or on the sun blind in the car. Perhaps a picture of someone with the body you are aiming for.

You can try different cues, and experiment with different combinations of them until you figure out what works best for you! If one starts to get stale change it up for a new one.

But remember it’s YOU who wants to establish these habits. It’s all about you and it’s all for YOU. They are your rules and in this case rules are definitely not made to be broken.

It’s OK to start small, getting up half an hour early to read and pray was quite small. It’s an hour and a half now and it is having a big impact on my life.

Cartoonist Robby Gilbert said…”First we form habits, then they form us. Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you.”  

I am not perfect yet, probably never will be this side of eternity, but I am winning. I find the rules keep out most of the things that might hinder my progress and make the formation of the new habits easier.

Time-wasters must be eradicated

I will give you one more little example because it is the little things that make the biggest difference in the long run.  I was wasting a lot of time browsing through other peoples trivia on Facebook and Twitter, and to a lesser degree on LinkedIn; which would actually have been more useful for me. I do use these media to promote myself and my business, I will promote this post through Facebook for example and that is a decent use of my time. What is not worthwhile is reading somebody else’s outdated opinions on an election or referendum that took place over a year ago, and then becoming embroiled in a worthless discussion with them about it.

“Guilty as charged and full of remorse your honour!”

So I set some rules regarding the times I would allow myself look at social media…and also I am learning how to create and preload several posts that will come up at preordained times over a period of a few days or a week. That will mean I can spend three or four hours preparing and loading them and not have to look at Facebook so often.

Meanwhile my sales systems for the Network Marketing side of the business are all automated as are the lead producing systems. This frees up hours every day for reading and research, writing, thinking and doing the physical things that only I can do like the energy assessments in prospects homes where I am needed to personally design and sell the appropriate renewable energy systems. If someone else can do it cheaper or better I pay them to do it so I can use my time in the best way possible.

To make a great habit solid, we all like to reward ourselves so that’s the final step in our new habits formation plan. The reward needs to provide instant motivation, so that you’ll immediately have a strong desire for it the second your cue triggers your brain. This step also needs reviewing occasionally, especially if the reward no longer has the  same motivational power that it first did. Just choose a new reward, bigger better and brighter, more in line with the progress you have been making. Remember you are your best asset…

If you don’t motivate you, no one else will. So choose a new reward in order to continue building a more powerful habit.

WARNING! Never miss a day, never miss even one time and think to yourself that you will pick it up later. Never, never, never.  “Stay with the Program,” Cue-action- reward, cue-action-reward. Staying motivated is extremely important, particularly when establishing new habits.  I will finish with one last  thing that has helped me stay motivated more than probably anything else.

Keep a journal.                                                                                                                              It’s something I learned from the late great Jim John many years ago and it’s so simple the more you do it the better you get at it and the more you enjoy it. Jim’s recommendation has probably been my most effective motivational tool?

Here’s why I think it’s a good idea to Keep a journal.…

I have found it more important than any monetary reward, it’s so powerful in the tough times when you think you’re not making any progress to look back and see how far you have come. I have more than a dozen books filled with my scribblings and observations over many years. Maybe my children will benefit from reading those notes one day when I have gone home to glory. Maybe they will help or inspire someone: I hope so.

I find creating meaning from even the tiny daily actions is a great way to get the brain excited and the juices flowing. The occasional profound thoughts that lead to breakthroughs and quantum leaps seem to have been growing underground like a volcano getting ready to blow and I am sure it is from the accumulation of those little jottings, tiny thoughts, staying in the game, always being curious, never thinking nothing matter. Even the bad things seem to work out for good in the end.

We all have to deal with setbacks and negative input as part of daily life but by keeping a daily chronicle of progress towards your goals, you’ll be able to reflect on the positives, however small, and the feelings of accomplishment and fulfilment will drive you on.

I often just jot a few things down several times each day in a notebook, I recollect and capture what I achieve over the course of the day, but at least once a week I sit down for an hour or so to think and write up the story of that week, what I did, what I learned, new people I met, places I went to and so on…

Start a Blog

Maybe you would prefer to type it up on your computer. I like to write in a book but I like the blog concept too. So I do both.

If you publish what you have learned it might help someone else on the journey. It is so encouraging to receive comments from total strangers who say how much they needed to read what you have written. That motivates me more than anything. It has become a regular habit now for me. Just one more little thing that’s making a great big difference in my life and in the lives of those I care for.