How to Review Any Home-Based Business
by: Erica Jones
With more and more people turning to home-based businesses to make money, there are a lot of questions about the stability of these companies and opportunities. This list of 5 key things will help you review any home based business to see whether you are looking into a legitimate work from home opportunity or just another scam.
The Company
You need to take a hard look at the company, it’s founders, the CEO and board members. Ask yourself and the corporate team members if they are available:
* Do they know what they are doing?
* Do they have experience running a company?
* Do they have the financial backing to keep the company running for a long time?
* What kind of employees do they have?
* What is the long-term goal for the company?
* What is their business model and mission statement?
Many companies in this industry are started by former distributors of another company that want to cash in on short term profits with no plan to continue the company after 3 or 4 years. If you are planning to retire and build life long residual income with this company you had better make sure it will be around in the future.
The Products
* Rule #1… If there is no product… It is a scam! There has to be a product to sell otherwise it is a purely for profit scam.
* Be sure to evaluate the products the company offers using these guidelines:
* Is the product something people use everyday?
* Will it use up in a short time so they have to buy more?
* Will they want to buy more each month or is it a one time only purchase?
* Is it a product you can be proud to be associated with?
* Would you recommend it to your friends and family?
* Would you use it yourself?
* Is it something that people are looking for right now?
* Can people afford to buy it?
The more you can answer yes to these questions the better the product line is for you and the success of your business.
The Compensation Plan
* Do you know how you will make money? If you don’t have a full understanding of where your money comes from you will never be in the position to make the most of it you can. Most compensation plans are challenging to understand but you should know these basic things:
* When you get paid?
* How much you get paid?
* What your investment is in order to get paid?
* What qualifications do you have to meet in order to get paid?
* What the system for payout is?
You don’t need to know the compensation plan inside and out but a basic understanding is important.
As a suggestion, I would avoid binary plans that require you to have equal volumes on two sides of your business to get money. These rob people of the cash they deserve because it is very difficult to judge exactly what each of your distributors will do each month. In a binary plan, money is always left on the table for the company to benefit from. Look for a plan that pays you top dollar on all the volume you accumulate in your business regardless of what leg or level that volume is on.
You also want to look for a plan that pays out on consistently as you build your business. Some reward you when you first enroll and others require huge amounts of effort before you ever see a dime. Find one that pays you whether today is your first day or you have a team of 1000s.
Timing
People that brag about getting in and capitalizing on a ground floor opportunity are talking about joining a company at its formulation stage. There are 4 stages to growth of any successful business.
1. Formulation- This is the founding stage of a company.
2. Concentration – This is where employees and financing are added along with product refinement.
3. Momentum – Here the product and concept become popular and people begin to hear more about it while sales start growing exponentially.
4. Stability - The consumption base is built and growth slows to a stable level.
Tremendous wealth is made by those that get started during the formulation stage, but be aware, many of these “ground floor” opportunities are unstable and in many cases unsuccessful. Unless they have strong capitol backing and team of experienced leaders I would be wary of investing a lot of time or money into one. Getting in early is fantastic as long as the company can sustain itself through to the stability stage.
Training and Support
In the network marketing business this is a key ingredient. For most people, this is their first home- based business or first attempt at entrepreneurship all together. These are people from every walk of life, with every type of background. Most will not have a strong understanding of what it takes to run a business or even where to start. That is why it is very important training and support are provided by the corporate offices and upline leaders.
* Here are some things to consider when it comes to support and training:
Can you get in touch with someone at the corporate offices when you need to?
* How do you contact them? By phone? Email? Fax? Website support forum?
* When you do talk to them, are they knowledgeable?
* Do they respond to your questions in a timely manner?
* How did you find your upline leader?
* Do they know how to market a home business effectively?
* What kind of time do they have to dedicate to you and your success?
* What systems and techniques do they use to build their businesses?
* Can you easily duplicate what they do?
* Can they teach you to be a master marketer and how to be a leader in your company?
Finding the right team is the most critical part of your business. The truth is, most products can be sold, most compensation plans can be profitable, most companies can have at least decent growth but if you don’t have a system to train your team and duplicate your efforts you are wasting your time, money and energy on something that will never work!
Use these guidelines when judging the worth of any company or opportunity to avoid the being scammed of the things precious to you. Your time, money and effort. Make an informed choice before signing up with any company and be sure it is the right fit for you, your family and your goals.
Home- based businesses can be extremely rewarding if you find the right one. Take the time to review the opportunity and the team you will be joining before signing your name to the dotted line.
To see how I review companies, check out my review of a new company on the market, Trivani International on this blog post. http://www.gotrivani.com/blog/?p=13
About The Author
Kenny & Erica Jones are Humanitarians and Online Marketing Mentors. Their Free Report “Trivani Secrets Revealed” will show You How to Use the Internet to Dominate the Home Based Business Industry While Saving Thousands of Children From Starvation. Get your copy of their FREE report at http://www.gotrivani.com now.
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