I can definitely appreciate other's view points, even in opposition.
My main point was that it is possible to conduct business and make
money by the end of the first month. For a 20 year old, it would be
a good place to start. And this is not in a service industry, which
requires moderate to large amounts of specialized skill (neither of
which I have).
The 30% is just a general rule that I personally use when selling
capital assets. And it is a minimum ROI. The more the merrier. My
favorite and best ROI number was approximately 33,000%. I had $100
in a deal (which actually I borrowed, so I don't know if that really
counts) and walked away with over $33,000 in profit (after all
expenses, except capital gains tax).
I never had that kind of result in any MLM. I remember some of the
products that you got "points" or whatever stupid term was used. The
profit margin was like 3-5%. And that was for the products that were
terrible. The decent products had profit margins of about .5%.
I do get your point about entrepreneuriship as well. I never lasted
that long in any MLM, so maybe your point about the aversion to
groups is more accurate. Perhaps, he just wants a business card to
hand out. The only plus I can say, is that hopefully this kid is
taking advantage of any tax write-offs allowed to him (assuming his
income is high enough for tax write-offs to be of assistance).
I always hated the team meetings. A bunch of people sitting around
getting all hyped up about this money they were "going" to make. And
none of it ever panned out. I can say that I had a friendship
dissolve over the Nexgen thing. My up-line was a friend of mine.
After they collapsed, I never associated with him again. And I
didn't really cause the dissolution of friendship. He just kind of
disappeared. He was really gung-ho with the whole thing, and I think
he was ashamed when he finally realized it was a scam.
The only thing I believe I gained with the MLM is fairly tough skin.
You get pretty used to rejection, lol.
--- In mlmsurvivorsclub@
>
> On Wednesday 02 April 2008, tpm782001 wrote:
> > First time post for me. I hope I'm doing this right.
>
> You are. Thank you for posting. Please do not take my
disagreement
> with some of your points personally and influence you to not post
in
> the future. This is a forum and it helps us to discuss and debate
> these things so we see it from all angles. Going back and forth
on
> different topics is an important way to pick out what's good about
your
> view and mine so we can take the best of each part.
>
> > My first involvement in MLM was with Amway. I was in college,
and my
> > upline was my Mom. I thought, at the time, "If I'm not
successful in
> > college, at least I have Amway."
> >
> > I soon realized that Amway was not the path for me. And soon
enough
> > your son will also. While undergrad work is, at times, boring and
> > unfruitful, I would think that one question will help him see the
> > light.
> >
> > Ask him if he is making a 30% return on his money. It's a simple
> > question and the one that most successful business owners know by
> > heart. If you're not making 30%, then you are not in a successful
> > business venture.
>
> Interesting. I never heard that rule, but then again, my actual
> financial investment in my company has been quite low. I just had
to
> put together a few computers and start programming. Then, about 3-
4
> years later, buy parts to make 2-3 new computers and besides some
> technical references, that's about it. The rest is my paycheck.
>
> > I was once part of Nexgen. They went out of business because,
from
> > what I hear, their sole monetary income was from new recruits.
Ask
> > him how he makes money. And tell him that a true business venture
> > makes money immediately. Otherwise your expenses far exceed your
> > profit, and you lose in the end.
>
> Not true. Many times a business can take a year or more before it
> starts making a profit. On the other hand, a "real" business
includes
> a business plan. You can map out what your expenses will be and
> actually plan it out over several years so you know you'll need
certain
> equipment and have to pay certain expenses and you can look at
what is
> coming in and compare it to your plan and see if you're making too
> little to make it work.
>
> An important point here: QUITTERS WIN!
>
> Okay, not all quitters, but I am running my own business now
because I
> knew when to quit what wasn't working and refocus on what was.
The
> MLMers will say that insanity is doing the same thing over and
over and
> expecting different results. They use that to refer to going to a
9-5
> job, but it applies to MLMs as well.
>
> > Don't, however, stifle his entrepreneurship. It is a gift. Just
let
> > him know that he needs to focus his energies on profit. If he
spends
> > 600 bucks, he might as well buy a jet ski (or something else)
that
> > he can sell for 900 bucks within the week. That's a business.
>
> It's important to be aware of the difference between this and
actual
> entrepreneurial work. Remember, a setup like AW/QS plays to
people's
> desires to be the big cheese without giving them the
responsibilities
> someone in charge has. They tell you that you own your own
business,
> but they own it in reality. They say you're independent, but your
> upline tells you what to do, how to speak, how to act, what to
wear,
> and so on. They use the term IBO, but it's not a real business
(does
> not pay taxes, have it's on existence on paper as a separate
entity),
> it's not independent and the person "running" it doesn't own a
damn
> thing. (There have been many examples of the upline taking a
business
> from the downline if it's working well.)
>
> I can make my point best with an example. A long time ago I used
to
> subscribe to Writer's Digest and after a few issues, I realized
that
> most of what it said was stuff I had figured out or knew and the
reason
> I kept up my subscription was because of one column by a
screenwriter I
> deeply respected. I dropped my subscription when he stopped
writing
> for them.
>
> Later I was reading a story somewhere on targeting your market.
The
> author had asked a group, "What is the market for Writer's
Digest?" A
> would-be editor said, "Writers!" and the response was, "No, it's
for
> people that think they're writers or who want to be writers.
People
> who are writers don't need it." (Other than for getting Writer's
> Market when it comes out, that is.)
>
> It's a subtle but important point. It's for people that think
they're
> writers and like the "lifestyle." They like having nice pens or a
> special pen to write with and being able to cultivate habits
associated
> with a writer, but it's not for actual writers who are at their
> keyboards pounding out work and dealing with editors to get their
work
> published so they can make a living at it.
>
> Can you see where this is leading? An MLM like AW/QS is not
always for
> true entrepreneurs (boy do I hate typing and trying to spell that
> word!). It is for people who want to be entrepreneurs, people who
want
> to say, "I own my own business," or people who want to feel
important
> by handing out their own business cards and such. I admit, when I
> started, it was a thrill to do that, but now I tend to downplay
it --
> especially on dating occasions since I've noticed the words "my
own
> business" can trigger responses in gold diggers that make them
seem
> interested in parts of my life that mean a lot to me that they
don't
> care for.
>
> It may be that this young man has a true entrepreneurial spirit,
but I'm
> not so sure. Such people want to be independent. They are often
the
> ones that don't do well in groups that demand conformity. I know
if I,
> or my friends that run their own businesses, tried QS, we'd be
trying
> to debate and argue from the beginning about if other ways might
> work -- not out of stubbornness, but out of a need or drive to
explore
> and see what works.
>
> > Let him mature to a true businessman. It could reap rewards in
the
> > long run. For now, show him how much he has lost, and then show
him
> > a better way.
>
> And remember to show him with questions. If I tell you a fact,
you can
> dispute it, if you learn it or discover it on your own, you know
it's
> true.
>
> Hal
>
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