Your Home Based Business Opportunity Guide:
Analyzing an Opportunity
If you've already read My Story and Why You Should Trust This Website, then you know my intent is to provide a straight-forward on-line Home Based Business Opportunity Guide to analyzing an opportunity. We want to ensure you make a decision based on research and analysis – which, surprisingly, is something few people do.
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We recommend a three-step process in this Home Based Business Opportunity Guide
1) ANALYZE YOURSELF:
Home Based Business Opportunity Guide:
Starting a Business Checklist: Self-Analysis
2) Learn how to sniff out an online business system Scam.
3) Conduct a detailed analysis using the following 5 areas.
Business Partner(s), Upline Sponsor, or Mentor
The Company
The Product / Service
The Compensation Plan
Personal Fit
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Business Partner(s) / Upline Sponsor / Mentor
“You don’t have to be great to start,
but you do have to start to be great.”
- Joe Sabah (American speaker)
Picking the wrong business partner is a common mistake that many make in starting a home business - whether they are starting a home business, a traditional business, or even network marketing.
Business is about building relationships with people that have a vested and personal interest in your success – a mentor, a partner, or your upline sponsor in multi-level marketing. Any success you have will come back to them. Even if you are going it solo, you should at least tap into the advantage of a mentor. Having said that, here are the things you should look for in a sponsor, partner, or mentor.
A 6-digit earner (> $100,000 a year). If you’re sponsor/partner is not already making 6-digits a year in the opportunity, you should have weekly and one-on-one access to someone who is. Bottom Line: Your sponsor/mentor should be making some money and there should be someone available who is making A LOT of money so they can show you how to do the same.
Established Marketing System. Your sponsor / partner should have an established and professional marketing system. This is one of the major benefits of network marketing – an established franchise-like system without the investment or time required of a franchise business.
Established Training System and Resources.
“95% of the people who hear, understand, and agree with a principle
do not have the ability to apply it to their lives
because they do not have the necessary resources.”
- Stanford University
An established system will jump-start your business and shorten your learning curve so you’re making a profit faster. Click the link below for a short checklist of questions to ask a prospective sponsor or mentor:
Home Based Business Opportunity Guide:
Find the Best Small Business Partner
Commitment Level / Availability.
“Most people who fail in their dreams fail not from lack of ability
but from lack of commitment.”
-- Zig Ziglar (best-selling author of Over the Top)
What will be their personal commitment to you? How much time are they willing to invest? A realistic expectation is about 1-2 hours a week until you’re generating some revenue. Are they easily available? They should not and will not be at your beck and call and, hopefully, you don’t have that kind of expectation. However, it shouldn’t take more than one day (at the most) for them to return your correspondence and answer any questions (unless their vacationing in the Bahamas, and then I would give them 2 days).
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The Company
It’s not always the best jockey that wins the race. Victory usually goes to the best horse. Though the jockey must be skilled, it is best to find a good horse and then ride it for all its worth. The company that you choose should meet the following criteria:
$100+ million in annual sales. There is a point in a company’s business cycle called critical momentum: the point where as many customers are coming to the company as the company is actively bringing in. In other words, the company becomes a household name. That point generally occurs at $100+ million dollars in annual sales.
3rd Party Validation. This is basically bragging rights. The company should have references or accolades from other organizations, trade magazines, journals, and so forth.
5 or More Years in Business. According to the Small Business Administration, 30% of businesses fail in their first year. 60% fail within the first five years, the toughest period in the business cycle. It takes that long to establish a reputation in an industry and establish solid financial control. Though not 100%, 5 years in business means an established track record that can generate some more confidence in a company. A new company may be worth the risk, but the increased risk should require more in-depth research.
Stable, Debt-free, and Publicly-traded. Company stability and debt-status are obvious considerations, whereas being publicly traded is not quite as important. A publicly-traded company is basically run by a board – a private company by an individual. Both have advantages.
Good Reputation in the Industry and with the General Public. The company should also be in good standing with the Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org/), the Direct Selling Agency (http://dsa.org), and the local District Attorney.
Allows Real Marketing. We qualify this as a requirement. Believe it or not, many companies will restrict your marketing. You will find yourself extremely frustrated with these companies once your business starts to take off. A company should allow you to market your business however you see fit (as long as it’s legal and ethical). A company that allows real marketing enables you to be an independent distributor or associate and provides a greater degree of autonomous control in your business.
International Presence. This one is also critical. Any company should have at least one foreign market (not counting Canada or Mexico), but the more the better. An international presence means the company is expanding and growing.
Truly Seamless Downline. Some network marketing companies will require you to open a new “financial center” (or some equivalent) in a foreign country. Here’s an example: You have someone in Korea who wants to start working with your company. You may have to start a whole new downline from scratch in Korea. A seamless downline means you could place your Korean contact directly into your current organization without any hassle.
Low Hype. This final point is mostly subjective. The company should not use hype or promises to position the opportunity. Does the company lead you to believe that you can get rich with little to no effort? Or do they emphasize that this is a business and it WILL take effort and some investment to make it succeed?
Finally, does the company emphasize the 4 Cornerstones of Business Success:
1) Time
2) Effort
3) Vision
4) Discipline
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Product / Service
A business is the exchange of a product or service for something else of value, usually money. It’s a simple concept, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t get that. For a home based business opportunity to be legitimate, a service must be offered or a product must be moved. Here are some of the things to look at when analyzing the product or service:
Unique. Products should be patented or proprietary. Trademarks and copyrights are good as well. If the product is not entirely unique, then it must have some strong differentiating qualities from the competition.
Consumable. This is absolutely essential to generating a residual income. A consumable product is used over and over again. The key to success in business is repeat business. Any business owner will tell you that. If the product is not consumable, you’ll have to constantly find new customers and your business could run you instead of you running it.
Auto-Ship Program. Auto-ship is automatic monthly shipping. The product or service should be shipped or offered every month automatically, with the cost automatically charged to the customer. This falls in line with the concept of the product or service being consumable (i.e. repetitive) in nature. Additionally, auto ship from the company means no overhead or inventory management for you to worry about.
Product Advertised as Much as Opportunity. The company should put at least as much attention on the product as it does on the home business opportunity. Check out the company’s website. If the site is all about how you can get rich with a home business and there is little to no mention of the product / service, then the company’s approach is unbalanced, borderline illegal, and definitely unethical.
Competitively Priced. The product/service price should not be overly inflated in order to support the company’s compensation plan. High prices should have a reason (better quality, efficiency, delivery, customer service, etc.).
Money-Back Guarantee. This is an indicator of the company’s confidence in their product or service. It also gives you a no-risk opportunity to try the product/service. It will be very difficult to sell a product or service you don’t believe in or even use.
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Compensation Plan
This part of our Home Based Business Opportunity Guide primarily applies to network marketing opportunities. But, it is still something to look at with any home business opportunity (eg. multi-tiered affiliate programs).
Click here for a Multi Level Marketing Compensation Plan Overview.
Click here for a checklist to analyze the best
MLM Company Compensation Plan
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Personal Fit
The final assessment of a business opportunity, however, does not lie with the Sponsor, the Company, the Product, or the Compensation Plan. It lies in the individual who looks at possibilities instead of problems.
After accomplishing your research ask yourself a couple of questions:
1) How comfortable do you feel with company, the product/service, and/or your prospective business partner(s)?
2) Do you like or trust your prospective sponsor?
3) Do you have a good feeling about the company?
4) Do you believe in what they are trying to accomplish?
5) Have you tried or do you like the product / service?
6) Would you recommend the product / service to someone else?
Finally:
1) Will this opportunity help you reach your goal?
2) Is it ethical and fair to everyone concerned?
3) Will it take you closer to or farther from your major objective in life?
4) Can you commit yourself to start and finish?
Hopefully, this Home Based Business Opportunity Guide will get you pointed in the right direction and get you started. However, be careful not to get stuck in “Analysis Paralysis” – which is a common cause of why people fail in a business, among other reasons
Reason Business Failure Occurs:
Why People Fail
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Home Based Business Opportunity Guide:
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