Let’s talk about why MLM doesn’t work.
There are some harsh realities in this world of MLM. Most of us try to breeze through life without ever facing these realities. Here is an experience many of us have had, before:
You walk in to a local store, looking for whatever is on your mind, that day. The store owner greets you with a smile, and welcomes you by name. She asks how you’ve been. She excitedly tells you about her upcoming vacation. She can’t wait to get away for a while. She leans in and says something like, “I paid WAY too much but I have got to get away for a little bit!“. You both laugh and you tell her, “Good for you! Enjoy your much needed time away.” You find what you were looking for and go along your way.
“She’s a nice lady. I hope she has a great time.“, you think to yourself. You’re glad you shop there. Part of you looks forward to hearing about her trip when she gets back.
A couple of weeks later, you get a call from a friend. She is very excited and quickly starts telling you about a new business opportunity she has found. Someone she knows just started a business helping people get better deals on travel. “All you have to do is get a few people to sign up and you start making money, too! This is sooooo easy!”
You catch her excitement and you say, “I’ll take a look. Send me the info.“. You hang up the phone and you give a little grin. You go on with your day. A couple weeks later, you run into this same friend at the mall and you ask, “Hey. How are you doing with that business opportunity you called me about?”
“Oh.“, she says, “I gave that thing up. I couldn’t get
anybody else to sign up. I tried but it just didn’t work.“
“I’m sorry to hear that.” you say. “You seem so excited. What was it, anyway?”
She looks down, shrugs her shoulders, and says, “It was one of those MLM things.”
Of course, I made this story up. But the theme is real and probably hits really close to home for many of us. Most of us have someone we know that tried “one of those mlm things” and had similar results.
Sadly, this story is all too common and it’s a good reason why mlm doesn’t work for a lot of people. These “toe-dippers” and “dabblers” give the industry a bad name because they think they can get rich by just signing up and talking to a few people they just KNOW would crush this thing!
How did this happen? The simplest one word reason I can give is: Mindset.
Let’s compare:
The shop owner we talked about in the first story probably invested tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in to her store. She had real estate costs, inventory costs, taxes, payroll, insurance, liability coverage, and more. And, that was before she even opened. She knew she could forget about any free time for a while. That vacation she mentioned will probably be the first day off she has had since she opened the store.
IF she’s lucky, she will be able to generate enough cash flow to keep the store open and some income for herself to provide for her family. Profits MIGHT come later if she manages to stay in business.
Her commitment level was “all in” from the first day and she has committed herself to making a successful run of it. Her family is counting on her.
The friend was, understandably, lured by the idea of a fast return. The promise of potential financial freedom was certainly appealing. Who wouldn’t enjoy an awesome life full of fun, travel and abundance? Another appealing factor was the very low barrier to entry. Her start up cost was probably somewhere between a few hundred and a couple thousand dollars. Real estate costs, inventory, payroll, etc, were not a factor. She had the word of her sponsor and had seen a reflection of a life that was available.
The part she missed was this:
MLM is a business. When people think they are going to be rich by inviting a few people over a couple of weeks, they experience what they believe to be failure and this is why mlm doesn’t work for them. They didn’t actually fail. In most cases, they just gave up before they had learned and developed the skills to become successful.
Building your MLM business part-time can absolutely be done. In fact, most people start part-time, as they should. They add their mlm business to their daily schedule. They work nights and weekends. The smart move is to transition to doing MLM full-time only AFTER your business has reached the point that your job is actually getting in the way.
The reality of the successful business people in MLM is this:
They know that this model is actually genius. There is an incredibly low barrier to entry. Pretty much anyone can get started at some level and build up from there. By learning and applying a few skills, anyone can learn how to build their mlm business. You can literally build your MLM business to whatever level you are willing to work for.
These folks who “try it out” are why “mlm doesn’t work”.
These folks who don’t get the proper training are “why mlm doesn’t work”.
If you want to experience success in MLM, get ready to learn new skills, try new things, and pick up new habits. Be prepared to spend some time learning and developing those skills.
When I first got started in MLM, over 20 years ago, I failed miserably. I thought my experience in corporate America made me way smart enough to be successful in one of these MLM deals. I was wrong. I made good money at my job. I was in sales. “I got this.” I thought to myself. I was another reason “why mlm doesn’t work” for so many. But things changed for me.
When I found a good coach, was willing to humble myself and learn new skills, I started experiencing success and was able to support a family of 7 with the residual income model that MLM makes available.
What are your thoughts on these options of starting and building your own business? I would love to get your thoughts.
Want to see the model I am using? I can save that store owner a LOT of money on her vacations! Check it out here: http://umustsee.net/XLP4
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A second income stream is an absolute must! I have unapologetically proclaimed this truth since the year 2000.