My Journey to Financial Freedom Part 3

Doing the Real Thing: Entrepreneurship is not for the faint heart 

From Part 2 - Click Here

 

With the innovative franchising concept, I started doing Nu Skin last November 2009 and have learned a lot from doing the business. The products are great, stability wise, it really is a stable company as they are listed in NYSE and Forbes Top 500. I also have nothing bad to say about the company's mission, vision, core values and culture. In fact, being with Nu Skin for the last two years had been one of the greatest and most valuable business learning experience I've ever had. Allow me to share with you why I think Network Marketing is the greatest business school model ever invented.

On the first part of my journey to financial freedom, I’ve shared about earning extra income from selling cakes and pastries way back in high school. Growing up, our family has engaged in various food business. I recalled we’ve already sold meat (cold cuts), halo-halo, barbecue, fishball, quek-quek, burgers and hotdog, sago at gulaman and ice candy. None of it lasted for a year.

Food might be a commodity but it takes a lot of effort to create it and sell it to be able to raise a decent profit. That’s why the usual return of investment for a food cart franchise takes about 2-3 years (conservative) and depending on factors like location and customer traffic. Let’s also consider risks like spoilage and wastage, and profit takers such as labor fees, location rental fees, franchise royalty fees, permits and other overhead expenses. Plus, you’ll be like the self-employed because you have to be “hands-on” with your food cart and oversee everything or else your business will fail. :)

The Beauty of Network Marketing

The beauty of being in a network marketing business, the system is already there, you no longer have to develop the products because it’s already there. You don’t have to get workers because you work for your business. You don’t have to pay for overhead expenses, and it’s an easy start-up that requires little capital with high profit gain. What’s also good about it is you get to work with a team; you get to have business partners that enable you to expand the business even if you’re not really there on a certain location. You cannot expand a business without a team that’s why most businesses that run on a sole proprietorship usually end up closing down in a year because one cannot work and succeed alone. If you want to succeed faster, it’s best to do it with a team. It’s also like a business school where you get a chance to be mentored by successful people who have done it and succeeded.

So if you happen to be negative about the network marketing industry, ask yourself this,

“What do I really know about it?”

Because what you know about it right now is probably hindering you from seeing the opportunity behind it. Not everything in network marketing is about “recruitment,” it’s not even everything about BIG PAYCHECKS and EXPENSIVE CARS and whatever the “hype” and “deception” other networkers have placed in it. There are a lot of network marketing companies out there; you just really have to know what the right company is. So instead of being skeptic, do research on its background, its stability, its proven track record, the compensation plan, on the quality of the products, on the core values of the company. 

Learning from my previous experience in network marketing, I got in a “not so good” vehicle because of the lack of knowledge in network marketing and not consulting those who know about it. Everyone has their right to CHOOSE. If you’ve been invited to attend a “job opening” but never telling you the name of their company then beware coz it might be a scam. Why should you be ashamed of your company if it is highly credible? I’ve already learned from my previous experience and I AM NOT DOING IT AGAIN.  If I want you to be my business partner I will tell you straight to the point what my business really is. I highly value CREDIBILITY and deceiving people won’t help me earn that.

Quoting from my mentor, “If you want to get the best from the industry, work with the best in the industry. In the future, people will prospect for uplines, not for downlines. They will look for those who are successful in network marketing to mentor them.”

2009 to 2012 being in network marketing industry is probably one of the best years of my entrepreneurial journey, but the story doesn't stop there. 

To be continued. 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2