I got a phone call this morning from a man who was really excited to share his mlm business with me. He thought I would be a perfect candidate to join his venture. So, even though I love the company I have been with for 7 years and I am not looking, I listened as I always do. I really did not have a choice unless I would have hung up on him because he was spouting the wonders of his business to me without coming up for air. “ We’re new, only a year old and a break through way to make money on the Internet.” Then he proceeded to tell me that we are not really network marketing because although I get paid when you join with me I don’t have to spend time helping you. He went on to tell me that he had been working at the business part-time for almost 11 months and it is really awesome. He believed that he would start making money soon. I wanted to yell WHAT!, you have been working for 11 months and have not made any real money to speak of? But…I sat quietly until he was done telling me all he had to say. After about 10 minutes of non-stop chatter he finally allowed me to say something.
My first question was what would be my motivation to join under him if he was not going to help me be successful? (Although I don’t think I would want his help if he had not made money for a year.)
My second question was what does it cost to get started? The answer was almost $6000 I almost choked. See what I know about home-based business is that it needs to be duplicatable. When I mentioned this to my new friend he told me well if you don’t have the money you can make 3 payments it will just cost $600 more for doing so.
Lastly I called the company and asked lots of questions. Well they were not to happy to tell me but I asked the right questions and dug a little to find that this little gem of a business could easily cost me another $6000 before I get it up and running in a way that would really make me some money.
Last but not least I checked out this companies Better Business Rating it is an F.
The reason I write this article is that many, many people have had to pay stupid tax, myself included, because they did not take the time to do due-diligence and really think over what they are getting into.
Keep in mind, many companies spend a lot of money on their presentation to get you all hyped up over how much money you can make. Be aware; take some time to do your due-diligence check things out. Read things from people and companies that have credibility. Like the Better Business Bureau, check out the companies Dunn and Brad Street Rating and lastly ask yourself is this something that could be to good to be true? If it sounds good today but costs a lot of money that you most likely don’t have just sitting around give it a few days. It is ok to take some time before you jump in.