by Lon Lindsey

I know you have seen the words "Business Opportunity" in ad after ad. Such phrases as "great business opportunity" or "incredible business opportunity" or even "no fail business opportunity." In fact, we have seen these and other similar phrases so often, it makes me wonder if people really comprehend what "business OPPORTUNITY" is really about. I am seeing signs that indicate people, who are already experienced business opportunity participants, may have become desensitized as to what a business opportunity really is. For people who are looking at a business opportunity for the first time, it may be to them just that . . . an opportunity to build a business.

Let me explain! More and more I am hearing comments, sometimes subtly and sometimes not so subtly, like "what will you do for me" or what will this business do for me" or how are you going to help me build my business?" It's an attitude type thing that seems to be showing up especially in the past year or so. Don't get me wrong! Any business opportunity should provide benefits, but I'm talking about something else beyond benefits.

I'm seeing people make decisions regarding which business opportunity they will participate in based on the wrong factors. In general, people involved in the networking industry seem to have lost the meaning of opportunity. Does opportunity now mean that someone else will build your business for you? Does it now mean that some system will do the work for you? Does it mean that spillover from a matrix compensation plan will reward you without working? Are we seeing "opportunity" meaning something that someone will do for us before we do something for ourselves? Let me ask this. When we seek a job, don't we look for an opportunity to work? What kind of job do we seek? A job in which we don't have to work to get paid? A job in which we don't have to work very hard to get paid? A job in which someone else will do the work for us and still get paid? We may seek such, but is that what we will find? Is that will provide us the income we may need in the work force . . and if so and with that kind of attitude, how long would we hold such a job.

A Business opportunity is really no different from a job opportunity, but it is the rewards of such that can make a difference. You see, both are only opportunities and it isn't the opportunity that CREATES the success. It's the opportunity that PROVIDES THE VEHICLE for success. A business opportunity is just that . . . an opportunity to build a business.

Even the word "opportunity" is defined in terms of "chance." Webster defines it as "a combination of circumstances favorable for the purpose; good chance." So . . a business opportunity is just that; A chance to build a business.

The reason I'm mentioning this is to try to bring focus to what a business opportunity is and to make mention that I am seeing more and more of a pervasive attitude of "the business failed me." In other words, I am picking up that people see the word "opportunity" as something more than a chance and if it doesn't work, then it was the fault of the business or even their sponsor or upline.

Actually, we have no one to blame but ourselves . . the leaders of the industry . . .those people who promote a "simple" way to do things. Hey, I'm guilty of that myself, but now I'm seeing the effects of such on businesses and the industry in general. What is really misleading is the getting something for nothing appeal to get people involved.....or the "just work for 30 minutes a week and your business will flourish" type of approach. This is what we call business hype and my own feeling is it is hurting our industry badly.

Business hype and a failure to fully understand what is meant by a business opportunity is resulting in people coming in and dropping out in massive numbers. Attrition rates in companies are higher than they have ever been because of this new attitude of what a business opportunity is. Another reason for this new attitude of "what will you do for me" is where our society is. We are into "fast." We eat fast, we drive fast, we take a quick nap, we can even worship fast via drive through worship services. We think we can build a business fast and why not? We are being told it is easy and all we have to do is join our business and we'll show you how. Just think how we have progressed (progressed downward, that is) in our recruiting efforts. Remember when the ads simply said "Make Money.? Next they said "Make Big Money." Now they say "Make Big Money Fast." We have discarded the basics of effectively building a business.

1. Realize the business "opportunity" means just that . . .it is a chance for you to build a business and not something the company or your upline or some system will do for you. Hold on! I didn't say you couldn't be helped or assisted in your business-building efforts. I'm saying don't expect your business to be effectively built by doing only one thing or utilizing a totally remote approach as the only way to build your business. Don't expect the business hype that comes with business opportunity recruiting to build your business for you.
2. Remember the basics of building a networking business. It starts with the foundation of a company, products and a sound compensation plan that can be shared with others. Ideally, you will have products you feel so good about that you will want to share them with others. Unfortunately, the real product in network marketing seems to be "making money" and I've addressed that in another article. The basics of networking is about the excitement of products that fuels the compensation plan that gets people excited and into sharing such with others. "Making Money" as the product is too temporary because if one does not make money, he has no product to promote. Networking is still about relationship building and sharing and to by-pass that step will create a temporary business at best.
3. Go into a business understanding that building a business is utilizing numerous strategies and not focusing on only one business-building strategy. For example, suppose your upline provides you with a neat business-building system to help you generate leads, inform and eventually recruit and sponsor people into your business. That is a great system and is a wonderful tool for you to use, BUT it should not be the only tool. It should be one of many. We've heard the phrase "Don't put all of your eggs in one basket." That applies to business-building strategies as well. Use a combination of strategies to build your business.
4. Understand that building a solid lucrative business requires work. It requires time and effort. In the job world, when one is on a salary, he is limited as to how much he can earn no matter how hard he may work. Network marketing provides the opportunity to work hard and get paid for it. Somewhere I read there are three stages of getting paid in the network marketing industry: Stage 1 - you don't get paid enough for your time; Stage 2 - you get paid appropriately for your time; Stage 3 - You make obscene amount of money in terms of time you are investing. Networkers want to reach stage 3, BUT they must go through stages one and two to get there. True networkers have a vision of getting paid obscene amounts of money for their time . . which we call residual income, but what separates a successful networker from a business opportunist is the successful networker is willing to and knows that he must go through stages one and two above.
5. Know that all business-building strategies will not work for everyone. What works for one person may not work for another. When you start building your business, it is necessary to experiment with various recruiting/sponsoring/training methods to find those that work for you. Experimentation requires time so making a decision regarding your own success in a business must come after you have adequately experimented with several business-building strategies.
6. Don't get caught up in the business hype of "making money fast without doing nothing type stuff". It just isn't there. Yes, you will read of those who made the big bucks in such, but you don't know the whole story . . and believe me . . .there is a special story involved . . one that is almost like playing the lottery because they happened to be in the right place at the right time . . . for them if they didn't create it themselves by creating their own program. A true, legitimate business opportunity is one that provides a real opportunity for success for everyone IF they are willing to work at building their business utilizing various business-building strategies.
7. Choose a company that has a product/products that you REALLY believe in and not a company that you joined only because you saw it as a way to make money. There are enough companies out there that you can focus in your area of product interest and then identify which company or compensation plan you want to work with to share the product(s) with others. If your product is "making money" your business will not grow. One of the worst things you can do is to be purchasing $100 - $200 of product monthly . . .product you don't really want . . only to qualify for commissions that you may or may not be earning. That will lead to resentment and eventual anger plus a garage full of product you didn't want in the first place.
8. Focus! If you select numerous businesses like you would a stock portfolio, you are in dangerous waters because that is a lottery mentality to building a business. "Maybe I will get lucky" is the reasoning and totally goes against what network marketing is all about. Consider that approach strictly a money game approach. Focus on where your heart is .. . the products and the business and then share that focus with others and teach them to focus also.
9. Build relationships first and recruit second. There was a time in which it was possible to effectively recruit and sponsor without first building relationships. In fact, it was common to recruit and sponsor and then relationships would develop. That is still being done today, but I'm talking about building a long-term successful business. Relationships that are built due to sponsoring are generally short-lived because often times people will be hopping from business to business. If you sponsor a person you already have a relationship with, the chance is this person will be loyal to you because of that relationship, and in fact, your friendship will become even more bonding by being in the same business together. Perhaps we should ask ourselves this question: "What can I do to create new and sincere relationships rather than simply recruiting new people?" What can I provide for others before I provide for myself?
10. Understand that building a business requires patience and persistence. I call this my "3 P Formula .. . Profits = Patience + Persistence. Just the other day I found myself encouraging someone by giving them this formula, but it hit me that there is a condition. Persistence is not about continuing to do something that doesn't work. Persistence is about persisting with your business until YOU make it work for YOU. With persistence of such over a period of time, profits will come to you . . . and eventually to the point in which you are making obscene amounts of money based on the time you will be putting in.

A Business Opportunity? Yes, an opportunity for YOU to build YOUR business. That is what a business opportunity is.