How An Entitlement Mentality Will Destroy Your Home Business… Before You Even Get Started
The Entitlement Mentality. I see if everywhere I go.
Entitlement is defined by Websters Dictionary the following way:
The belief that one is deserving of certain privileges.
I see it in our workforce, people believing they should get a raise even though they are lazy in their jobs.
I see it in our children, who believe they deserve material things just because everyone else has them.
I see it in our society, who believe that everyone is entitled to own a home, even if they don’t have the means to support it (now hasn’t THAT gotten us into a heap of trouble!).
And I most definitely see it in Would-Be-Entrepreneurs. The people who believe that simply by starting a home business, the profits should automatically roll in.
I could write a book on each of the above examples, but for today I’ll focus on the last group, because experiences are fresh in my mind.
I find it fascinating talking to people who call me, asking about starting their own home based business. I am part of a rather popular opportunity because of its many automated features.
In this opportunity, the automated system pretty much does everything for the business owner, except for one thing…. Marketing. Yes, SUCCESS does take work, and study, and perseverence, and getting through lean times…. just like anything else worthwhile.
But I continue to get calls like this from people who have joined our business opportunity.
Caller: I don’t get it. I paid my money to get into the business. I read over the website. But it’s two months into it and I still haven’t made any money.
Me: Tell me what you’ve done in marketing so far.
Caller: Ummm.. well… I’ve read over the marketing material on the website and I understand it pretty well.
Me: Okay, but what action have you taken?
Caller: Well… ummm…. I haven’t actaully taken action yet, but I plan to very soon.
Me: Good! Call me back about a month after you’ve taken some action, placed some ads, put your face out there… and we’ll talk again.
Caller: Silence. Ummm.. okay.
Thankfully this isn’t an every day occurence, or I’d be ripping out whats left of my hair.
But every time it happens, I just sit there looking at the telephone in amazement.
People think they are entitled to make money on the Internet simply because they bought into a business.
People get really pissed off when the money doesn’t automatically just start rolling in.
And many times, people quit without really taking any action at all. And they blame it on the business, or their sponsor, or the bad economy, or a hundred other circumstances going on in their lives.
They point the blame everywhere but where it belongs….
IN THE MIRROR.
The reality is simple.
Business is Business.
Business is Work.
Business is Sacrifice.
But done correctly, business can be wonderfully profitable and provide you freedoms that you cannot possibly imagine in a J-O-B.
But you are not ENTITLED to it.
You have to WORK for it. Just like the rest of it.
And when you work for it, and you succeed, and you have that first 5 figure month, there’s no better feeling.
To your success and your work ethic!
Dr. Bob Clarke
Dr. Clarke’s Income Opportunity
MLM vs. Direct Sales: How Would You Rather Get Paid?
If you are in MLM and haven’t seen Mike Dillard’s famous (or in some MLM circles, infamous) Coffee House Letter yet, you should definitely take a look. You may not agree with it all, but Mike definitely makes some valid points.
The Coffee House Letter has drawn some controversy from MLM loyalists. I read one blog post yesterday from someone who was incensed over Mike’s letter. His main argument was that MLM is stronger than ever, and the key to building a strong downline is in building relationships with your team.
I don’t think anyone can or would argue this point about building strong relationships, and it wasn’t the focus of Mike Dillard’s letter. Rather, it was the concept of residual income versus getting paid first (or GPT, as in Getting Paid Today).
I have been in both business models, so I think I can speak on this with some level of expertise.
During my MLM experience, it took us months to build a downline where we were receiving a decent residual income each month. And truth be told, over half of that income came from one consultant.
One month, this consultant just disappeared, apparently moving to another opportunity. This was exactly the scenario that Mike Dillard painted in his Coffee House Letter, and it was devastating to our team.
We are currently involved in a Direct Sales opportunity where the commission structure is much like that of the mortgage and real estate industries. Our main commission flow each month is from the direct sales of our company’s products, and we get paid UP FRONT for these sales.
There is also a one-level residual income built into this commission structure, giving us both direct and residual income each month.
The best part of this commission structure is that we get paid today, not waiting for residual income to build up. And we don’t worry about someone leaving our organization for another opportunity. If someone does leave (and this doesn’t happen often), we have already received the commission on his main product purchase(s) to gain entry into the program. If we lose the residual income from this person, it will sting but not be a major hit on our monthly income.
There are merits to both the MLM and Direct Sales business structures, but having experienced both and given today’s unstable economy, I would much rather get paid upfront, today rather than wait for residual income to build.
What do you think?
To your success!
Bob Clarke
November 11, 2008; Cresskill, NJLIVE COMMENTS
Latest on Thu, 03:08: Mary.. let me know my error... let's discuss!
: I think, that you commit an error. Let's discuss. Write to me in PM, we will communicate.
: Sweet blog. I never know what I am going to come across next. I think you should do more posting as you have some pretty [...]
: Hey doc, right on! Need more people like you on the planet
: I was just introduced to your site through CCPro Forum. My initial question - how should one define "TRUTH"? (I love word-studies and that's a [...]
-
"