Live The Lifestyle You Deserve
Frequently Asked Questions
Starting the entrepreneur path takes long working hours, dedication, and a passion for your new career path. Before you get started you should take a few minutes to answer a few question that can really help you succeed.
1. Do I Have What It Takes To Be My Own Boss?
The most important question you need to ask yourself is 'If you have what it takes to be your own boss' before embarking on your journey to be financially free. You have to remember to not only set a schedule, but it is essential that you committed to that schedule to be successful. You will be working longer hours than you would if you were employed by someone else at the beginning of building your business. Remember you want to be your own boss, it comes with sacrifices that you must be willing to live with. You must come with the mentality of succeeding from day one to become and stay your own boss.
1. Do you become bored easily?
2. Do you crave day-to-day interaction with others?
3. Are you able to set goals for yourself and stick to them?
3. Do I Need a Business Plan?
Planning can sometimes take away from you putting actions to start your business. It can make you feel like you have to plan every detail before you move on to anything. A formal business plan is important when you need to go out and get outside funding. Sure you are risking money, time, energy on this new venture, but remember if you do not let people know about it nothing will take root. Do not spend all your time planning, spend it learning about your niche and the people you plan on servicing. Ask yourself these simple questions..
What is your business? are you selling jewelry? A bike repair shop?
Who is most likely to buy what you will be selling, whether it’s a product or a service?
Why is a customer willing to come to my business instead of the competition?
What are the best ways to promote to your target customers?
What are the first steps you need to take to get your business underway?
How will you price your product or service and what do you expect your costs and revenue to be?
5. How do I research my competitors’ prices and services by calling them or being notice as competition?
If you are thinking of starting a new business the best policy is to be upfront and honest with existing businesses. A long-standing business will, for the most part, be able to detect a would-be competitor on the spot. Some business owners may not be willing to part with information while others a more than happy to help out a newcomer. If they are overloaded they may be willing to even refer customers who need your specialties in certain areas. You will find that some entrepreneurs are just too happy to provide newcomers with opportunity as a mutual help to the both of you. It all depends on how business is doing in your particular industry to how much people are willing to share.
You want to do the obvious, go on the internet for information, it never fails to give you a good start. Many businesses post their rates and services on their website for everyone to see. If it is a special type of product or service that comes at a much higher rate they may only have a phone number for you to call. Find out if any new technology could give you an edge over the competitors. Try providing a special offer like "same-day service," "free consultation," "no overnight charges," or any other service related to your business. People are more than willing to pay for great service, do not be afraid to let them known what you provide for the right cost.
How about hiring someone to make the calls for you. This may only be them calling to request your competitors’ brochures and other sales materials. Make sure it is someone that has enough experience to answer a few screening questions that they will be asked. Try someone with a little marketing research background to get the best results. Try creating a unique business by answering these questions:
What is each business doing that sets it apart from others?
What’s special about what they are doing?
Who are their customers? Who is this business best suited to serve?
How well are they delivering the product or service they claim to offer their clients?
How, as a customer yourself, do you feel about the product or service they are offering? How can this be improved? How could you make this even better?
A final tip: If a large number of your competitors have been doing things the same way for a long time it means most likely that it works. It is what customers want and they provide it, so you will want to think about that. You can still use their practice and ad your own special twist to it.
7. How Much Money Will I Need to Start a Home Business?
Starting a business in today's society is fairly easy because most homes have some major equipment's you will need to start. You most likely have a computer, internet access, even a printer, it all depends on the type of business you want to start on how much it will cost. Remember each business do have its own start-up cost, license, training, even certifications can add to the cost. You may be starting a business that requires special software, this will most likely be a costly business to get underway. The cost varies from $100 to $5000, it all depends on what you want to do and what equipment will be required to start.
Remember having your own business means no more paycheck from someone else coming in. You have to cover your basic living expenses such as rent/mortgage, groceries, even health insurance, so make sure to have enough money for your business and your personal expenses.
9. What do you think about direct selling or MLM?
MLM or Multi-Level Marketing is now more commonly referred to as direct selling, which also the name of the industry association (www.dsa.org). Most individuals refer to it as network marketing. The difference is in the direct selling, with sales commission on the product sales is a higher while to make good money in a company that emphasizes network marketing, building an active downline is key.
The Advantages of Direct Selling/Networking Marketing/MLM
-Low cost to start up means that if the business fails you haven’t risked as much money as you would have had you invested in or bought a franchise or business opportunity.
-High earning potential, though only relatively few people reach a six-figure income.
-Direct selling distributorships are designed to be run from your home.
-Working at home and direct selling are extremely compatible.
-You can have a satisfactory direct selling distributorship on a part-time basis.
-You can successfully run a part-time direct selling distributorship in addition to having a job or another business.
-The direct selling parent company generally provides the marketing and promotional materials you will need.
-In many cases, the direct selling company provides bookkeeping, sales tracking, and other business-related services.
-Your downline organization could eventually provide you with some “passive” income.
-Reputable direct selling companies stand by their products and assist with customer support and/or complaints.
-Direct selling companies usually provide extensive low-cost training and motivational materials such as videotapes, audiotapes, books, and special events like rallies, etc.
-You can learn to sell and people-management skills usable later in your career.
-You may find a community of people in your direct selling company that satisfies your social and business aspirations.
The Disadvantages of Direct Selling/Networking Marketing/MLM
-Despite the longevity of industry leaders such as Alticor’s Amway & Quixtar, Shaklee, Mary Kay Cosmetics, and others, a great many direct selling companies only stay in business for a few years.
-Direct selling’s reputation, justified or not, often makes it difficult to recruit people into your downline.
-Keeping your downline motivated to stay active selling and recruiting is sometimes more difficult than recruiting them in the first place.
-Direct selling companies do not offer exclusive territories. In fact, the very nature of direct selling distribution is based on recruiting as many people as possible.
-Some people feel products being directly sold can quickly lead to a saturated market for the products you offer.
-Despite the claims, actual average incomes derived from direct selling distributorships are so low that for most people they are not viable as full-time opportunities. The average gross income of an active Quixtar direct selling distributor, based on Quixtar published figures, was $115 per month in 2003. (http://www.quixtar.com/Documents/IWOV/VIS/010-EN/PDFs_Redstar90104/IBO_Support/sa4400_IBO%20Plan_FIN.pdf). Quixtar is one of the few companies that publish this information, the result of a court case against sister company Amway.
-Direct selling contracts are not as formalized as those in franchising and therefore can lead to more disputes and other problems. For example, rules of termination are far less clear than in franchising.
-You may experience some unpleasant changes in your relationships with friends, family, and associates. By attempting to sell and recruit those closest to you, you may be perceived as pesky, pushy, or worse.
-Direct sellers tend to market themselves with inflated offers and misleading promises. It is sometimes difficult to find out what you can realistically expect.
-It is harder to research a direct selling company before becoming involved, especially since some direct selling companies even deny they are a direct selling.
-Many direct selling companies use highly emotional appeals to address people’s fears and dreams. Such approaches purposely obscure the company’s actual structure.
-The structure of direct selling companies makes the industry hard for state and federal agencies to regulate.
-The complex “matrixes” used to calculate the commissions you will earn from your downline are often complicated, convoluted, and just plain hard to understand.
-Most people won’t get to the point of generating much “passive” income.
-Not everyone can generate the “passion” direct selling uniquely requires for successful sales and recruitment. As a result, the turnover rate of distributors exceeds 100 percent a year.
11. How Do I Find Out If a Business Name Is Available?
“I did a search where I live and discovered no one else is using the name I want to use for my business. There are many other sites on the Web with that name already. Does that mean I can’t use a name if someone else is using it out of state?
If a name is on the popular side and is all over the web it could mean that it is virtually unprotected and open to anyone else using it. But you still have to go and do your research if you plan on using the name as an official business name.
Make sure to check out whether any of the others using the name have taken steps to protect its use within your state or nationwide through a trademark or service mark. Be very careful about using names because there can be serious legal consequences of even inadvertently using a name that’s already protected. This could lead to you being forced to change your name and have to start rebuilding your identity and reprinting all your materials. Even if your name is not protected legally you may want to separate yourself from the rest by being original. You also do not want to get tangled in a bad review that another company that is using the same name as you receive.
Check the availability of a name within your state by contacting the Secretary of State’s Office in writing or online. The online legal service Nexis offers a database called Corporate Filings, which