Home Based Business

Tim_L

Far better to have tried? Well maybe, but if you want to start a business, actually start a real business rather than to try to hang off the coat tails of an MLM organisation. MLM gives you the worst of everything: you have no influence on products, you have no real business of your own, you have no employment or income protection. You bear the overhead costs of advertising and marketing, but you give your profit away up the organisation.

I think businessbloke fairly explicitly stated that he made money from his downline, not by pushing catalogues through doors. That is presumably why he is here pushing the concept. The way to make money from MLM is to have a downline; the higher up the pyramid you are the more you make. The organisation is the real product, and the customers are the members of the pyramid.

Peter_Pan

Why do people join NM? Because they don't have the money to start their own Business, this is one way NM is advertised and that again is aimed at those people who probably need the extra money just for those little luxuries or normal everyday living expenses not the type of people who will be able to invest back into the Business and build it.

NM will work for some but the majority it won't, its like any aspect of it its a numbers game, if you put enough catalogues out you WILL get orders, if you generate enough leads someone will join, if you recruit enough people someone will work it but then how long before they drop out and you areat square one.
My sponsor once said to me its like its one step forward and three back most of the time you just have to keep on keeping on BUT FOR HOW LONG?

Ayrshire_2

Tim_L wrote: »

MLM gives you the worst of everything: you have no influence on products, you have no real business of your own, you have no employment or income protection. You bear the overhead costs of advertising and marketing, but you give your profit away up the organisation.

Surely though the same could apply to a franchise ... are they bad also ?

Where does anyone get income protection?

Tim_L wrote: »

I think businessbloke fairly explicitly stated that he made money from his downline, not by pushing catalogues through doors. That is presumably why he is here pushing the concept. The way to make money from MLM is to have a downline; the higher up the pyramid you are the more you make. The organisation is the real product, and the customers are the members of the pyramid.

To be honest i think businessbloke merely pointed out another way people could "up their income". From reading the thread I think one of the few things everyone has agreed on is that not everyone will make money in MLM.. but that doesn't mean some don't/won't/can't.

As for me ... i get up and go to my job 5 days a week where if we all work hard and the company does well the punters up the line, sorry the owners get the financial benefits. Funnily enough that sounds just like this nasty pyramid/MLM scam.

Ayrshire_2

Peter_Pan wrote: »

Why do people join NM? Because they don't have the money to start their own Business, this is one way NM is advertised and that again is aimed at those people who probably need the extra money just for those little luxuries or normal everyday living expenses not the type of people who will be able to invest back into the Business and build it.

NM will work for some but the majority it won't, its like any aspect of it its a numbers game, if you put enough catalogues out you WILL get orders, if you generate enough leads someone will join, if you recruit enough people someone will work it but then how long before they drop out and you areat square one.
My sponsor once said to me its like its one step forward and three back most of the time you just have to keep on keeping on BUT FOR HOW LONG?

In some respect i think you're are right, some people do go into MLM because they don't have the money to start, what most people would call, a traditional business. I also agree that a large majority go into MLM looking to make a few extra quid rather than to have their own business. Maybe that's where the bad press, negative comments stem from ... the expectations are all wrong.

In truth the majority of us ain't cut out to be business owners, be it lack of discipline, lack of drive, lack of skills whatever and in truth ... is that really a bad thing.....i don't think so. It takes all kinds of people to make the world go round.

I'm not sure who the baddies are meant to be in the anti-MLM world ... is it the people higher up the pyramid for getting in early .. is it because they exploit those below them in the pile... or is it the MLM company for going down the network marketing route rather than employing a 'traditional' sales force.

I also agree that NM won't work for probably the vast majority of people but as you say it will for others. Maybe the people who go into NM need to open their eyes and make sure it's something they want to, and can, do. Too many probably go into it thinking they join, sit back and tomorrow they will be rich. If only life were that easy .... i'd sign up tomorrow !!

Regards,

Craig.

Gillybean

Ayrshire I think you've got it right. Not everyone has it in them to run their own business and it's easy to get blinded by the potential without giving enough thought to the practicalities. Whether they want to for example be out in the evening doing presentations and parties, whether they are prepared to 'prospect' every person they come into contact with.

I spent a couple of years playing at it in an MLM company before deciding it wasn't for me. It no longer fits in with my lifestyle and I'm lucky that I've now gone into business with a friend doing something that suits me.

However I have every respect for those who do make a go at MLM and I know from experience that it's not only the people that got in at the start that are the high income earners. It takes a very specific type of person with certain qualities/attributes to be successful in MLM/NM.

eco123

Couple of questions spring to mind.

Why do some people make money from MLM?

Are people saying only those that 'got in at the start' make money?

What's the alternative?

Answer 1: Because they get there first & have dumb friends.

Answer 2: Yes (& you are too late)!

Answer 3: Get a job !!!

Tribulation

Ayrshire wrote: »

I'm reading plenty of people knocking MLM on this thread, some say it's from experience, some from the 'eye witness' mindset.

Couple of questions spring to mind.

Why do some people make money from MLM?

Are people saying only those that 'got in at the start' make money?

What's the alternative?


I appreciate everyone is entitled to their opinion but some of the replies suggest businessbloke is exempt from this rule. For what it's worth businessbloke i wish you the best in your chosen field, you've decided to aim for something and are at least making an attempt to achieve it. Far better to try and fail than to never have tried !!


Regards,

Craig

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I wish businessbloke all the best. My Great gran lived till she was over 100 but smoked like a chimney. If she was alive today, she could be on a forum saying that there's nothing wrong with smoking and it's not damaged her health in any way. From her point of view, if she said that, she would be 100% right, and yes she would have the right to express that as her opinion. But I would still have the right to say that while you get the odd exception to the rule, numerous people have died (or ended up seriously ill) way before their time due to to smoking.

I have no problem with thebusinessbloke expressing his opinion, however whenever I see people advertising/recommending schemes like this, I will always warn others of the potential pitfalls. A family member sells FLP, they aren't doing very well, both them and their partner have put a lot of time and effort into it, have done so for numerous years and every time I see them it's the same old story. The next 12 months they're going to give it their best (plus a load of excuses as to why they failed the previous 12 months). I know that in 12 months time I'll get the same story, YET they will be speaking about FLP in the same way thebusinessbloke is talking about NM, and if they saw this site, would wade in on the businessblokes side. I've already seen them fail in various other NM schemes, yet as usual, this time, with their latest NM company, it's the one that's going to work, and can list me 100 reasons why it's different from their previous NM experiences, all of which are complete rubbish, but they're sucked in by the hype.

I also have seen that whatever family event they go to, where ever in the country it might be, wedding, birthday party, whatever, rather than enjoying themselves, they spend a majority of their time saying how great FLP is, how they have a product that they can let xyz have at "the family rate" and it's very sad to watch.

Tribulation

Ayrshire wrote: »

As for me ... i get up and go to my job 5 days a week where if we all work hard and the company does well the punters up the line, sorry the owners get the financial benefits. Funnily enough that sounds just like this nasty pyramid/MLM scam.

Except that you will be on anything from minimum wage upwards, your employee will be paying NI contributions for you, you get a guaranteed wage at the end of the week/month, paid holiday etc.

A lot of companies also pay for training which while benefits the company, also benefits the employee when he/she decides to climb the rung of their career.

Tim_L

Ayrshire wrote: »

Surely though the same could apply to a franchise ... are they bad also ?

Franchises can be good and they can be bad. As a rule though they are run as proper businesses, i.e. someone invests cash in a business and makes it work. There is no recruitment of franchisees, they essentially rent a brand from which they can make money over and above the cost of the rent. It's possible to create a business plan a bank will take seriously for a franchise, where it would be very difficult indeed for an MLM membership.

Ayrshire wrote: »

To be honest i think businessbloke merely pointed out another way people could "up their income". From reading the thread I think one of the few things everyone has agreed on is that not everyone will make money in MLM.. but that doesn't mean some don't/won't/can't.

No-one is disputing this. The point is that this is completely incidental to the network, which exists to make money in its own right. MLMs start out by telling a big lie, which is that network marketing is an efficient means of getting products out there. It's not. These products are mostly tat, and they are overpriced because multiple layers take a slice without adding value. Yes, you can potentially make money selling anything if you have a gift for selling, but by the same token you'd probably make more in conventional sales.

Ayrshire wrote: »

As for me ... i get up and go to my job 5 days a week where if we all work hard and the company does well the punters up the line, sorry the owners get the financial benefits. Funnily enough that sounds just like this nasty pyramid/MLM scam.

This is another thing MLM advocates and Ponzi scamsters push hard: conventional businesses use pyramid structures. They don't. They are organised hierarchically, but minimise the layers deliberately because they are expensive overhead. Very few organisations use multiple layers of selling: typically businesses might sell direct via salespeople, have some sort of catalogue channel, and maybe sell via distribution agents (like a wholesaler selling to a shop). Any sales channel must minimise overhead and justify itself not by adding further layers, which is what MLM *ACTIVELY SEEKS TO DO*, but by maximising margin.

In fact for most companies, shareholders get the benefits, which is reasonable as they have put up the money in the first place. Most of these are pension or investment schemes in any case.

As an employee you do get certain protections, which MLM members don't have. Ultimately it's a choice: do you work for someone, or do you attempt to work for yourself. MLM just combines the worst parts of both, they are relentlessly sold to the vulnerable, and it's a pretty shabby industry overall.

Ayrshire_2

eco123 wrote: »

Answer 1: Because they get there first & have dumb friends.

Answer 2: Yes (& you are too late)!

Answer 3: Get a job !!!

Answer 1 & 2 would suggest to me you know very little about network marketing but maybe i'm wrong.

Answer 3 - yeah that's what most people do and for many ... it's the ideal solution. But for some..... it's a very depressing thought to spend 40+ years being told what to do, when to turn up, when they can go home, when they can have holidays. I don't see or hear many people excited about going to work every day.


It's a good thing we're all different i guess.