5 Steps to Maximize Your Choice in a MLM Home Business

1. Your passion

2. Your out of pocket

3. Your potential

4. What have others done

5. What would make you quit Your Passion

So what are you passionate about? The challenge is keeping your passion alive, and I have found that only when you are completely in alignment with the total picture of the company and it aligns with who you are, can you stay tuned in, turned on and fired up about your opportunity. Some suggestions to consider:

a. Who is the management team? What is their past, what is their focus?

b. Why the choice of products, what is the rule for new products?

1. You want to make sure they keep in tune with their mission so you are not left having to make a decision if you want to continue to be a part of the new products

c. How will you tell the story? What do you feel would make you tell the story 3 years from now?

d. Have they aligned with a "giving back" program that excites you? What will be your initial expenses?

Understanding there is always an investment, you want to look not only at what you will do, or can do, more importantly, what will others do, or could they do? So ask yourself, What do 70% of Distributors start with? and Why is that?

So after the initial investment what will be your operating expenses? How will you build your business? Cold calls, purchase of lists, emails. What will you invest to move your business? Your Potential

Based on your bank accounts- Time account, Money account - what will you be able to spend building your business. When will you spend it? How will you spend it? What are your expected results? How do you know you are on track? What will you do to keep yourself on track? These are all important questions to have an answer for as you move forward in your business. What have others done?

These questions are to assist you in gaining an understanding of the possibilities that are open to you. If others have done it, so can you. You can also find out what the actions were, activities that helped them achieve the bench marks they set. What will make you quit?

If you do not get a clear picture of this from the very beginning, you could let any excuse you want allow you to give up the goal of success. Define what you are willing to do, and what you are not willing to do. You are in business to succeed, I want you to succeed. These are some suggestions to help you achieve your goals.

I have taken each of these points and expounded on them greatly in other articles. Make a choice and get your list in place.

Is business ownership right for you?

The reality of the current downturn in the economy is that many companies will need to restructure to create the private sector jobs President Obama is talking about. At the time of writing this article there is 7.2% unemployment or the good news, 92.8% full employment. That’s good news if you’re one of the 92.8% but bad news if you’re one of the 7.2%. And these are national figures so if you live in some States in the US the unemployment rate is higher.

Regardless of your local unemployment statistics, if you have lost your job or are concerned your company may downsize but you need to make some money to put a roof over your head, feed the family, buy the gas to get around plus all the other things you need to do in life, perhaps you are thinking it’s time to get off the employment rollercoaster. This means putting yourself in control so you can work the hours you want, work in an industry you want to be part of and ultimately be in control of your own destiny. If that makes sense, what are your options?

The three options of business ownership

If you think business ownership may be an option for you, there are basically three choices. Option one is to start your own business. This means you have to come up with a creative new idea, test it to make sure there is a commercial market for your idea, and then once you get enough feedback, build and execute a business plan. This plan not only needs to ensure you make enough money to pay the costs of running your business and personal needs but also cover any debt you’ve incurred while you created, tested and deployed your idea.

Option two is to buy an existing business that has any of the following three goals. Your first goal could be to find a business that’s not doing well, determine the reason it is underperforming and then put in place the changes to have the business head in a positive direction. Your second goal could be to look for a business that’s holding its own and simply take the place of the existing owner with the expectation of enjoying the life style of this business owner. The third goal could be to look for a business that’s growing well but bring your skill set, new energy and capital and either continue the growth of the business or considerably add to it.

The third and final option is to buy the rights to a new franchise. Just so I am clear, you could always buy an existing franchise and continue its current ownership but this is really a variation of option two above. New franchises are appearing on the market all the time in a diverse range of industries and formats. At last count I had franchises in 84 different industries such as accounting, automotive, animals/pets, beauty care, building materials, children’s education, clothing, transportation, travel, upholstery and wholesale etc while the formats range from Business to Business (B2B), Retail, Home based etc to name a few. The option of buying a new franchise tends to appeal to those who have worked in Corporate America but decide to look elsewhere for their future. The best advantage of a franchise for a new business owner is that it brings a system or business model that has had the wrinkles ironed out; similar to the model used in Corporate America. The franchisor has proven the business model, fine tuned the systems, built the training for the franchisee, knows what accounting systems to use and has these up and running and is looking to re-create these business models across the US and often into Canada and Mexico, and around the world.

Understanding risk

The bottom line is that you have many options with the final option you choose to make based on your risk tolerance. When deciding whether to start your own business, buy an existing business or buy the rights to a franchise, the level of risk will be one of the major decisions you need to evaluate. Your comfort with which option to choose will also depend on a number of variables. These include how much money you have to invest, the skill set the business requires and how closely this matches yours. Another major factor includes your financial status. Do you need to borrow, what is the condition of your credit score and, is your credit report acceptable to a lender? It may also ensure your background doesn’t preclude you from business ownership due to a criminal record or other circumstance.

What’s the next step?

If you’ve read the above and think business ownership is right for you or you would like to know more, your next steps are to become more educated so when you get to make that final decision whether you will or will not go into business ownership, you have as much information as possible. For this reason I have written three guides to help those considering business ownership. These guides are respectively called – Successfully Start Your Business, Successfully Buy Your Business and Successfully Buy Your Franchise: Expert Advice from a Business Broker. I’ve personally been in business ownership for 25 + years having owned and operated 5 businesses; two in my native Australia and now three in California. I still remember the fear and sleepless nights deciding whether to buy my first business and relocate to a new city with my 6 months pregnant wife. But as I look back, business ownership provides a wonderful set of experiences and skills I would never have known if I didn’t recognize and manage the risk that comes with business ownership. There is no question; business ownership is not for everybody. But business ownership is a skill to acquire and once it’s acquired brings about opportunities those working a job never see. Plus one of the rewards to it all is that it puts you in control so when you go through recessions you have the capacity to succeed.

Importance of your Buyer Profile

Before you start looking at business ownership, know your Buyer Profile so it reduces your chance of failure or giving up because you are burnt out from the process. For most new business owners, naturally enough their goal is to find the perfect business. This makes sense but it only makes sense if you know what you want but I also think “perfect” is too high a standard. Businesses are dynamic and constantly changing. This is because it is primarily dealing with people, whether they are owners, family members, customers, employees, lenders, landlords or government agencies. Look for what you want, but make sure your criteria is not too high.

So how do you know what business to look for? The answer to this question is by building and creating your personal Buyer Profile. Most buyers are not sure where to start the process. From my experience from buying and looking at many businesses and working with a large number of new or potential business owners the first step is to start with yourself. Most buyers don’t do it because they don’t know what they are looking for and expect it will reveal itself to them as they start their search process. If this is what you choose to do it will increase your chances of failure as there is no such thing as the perfect business plus each buyers profile is unique. It is unique because there are so many variables. The variables include levels of education, amount of downpayment to buy a business, credit scores, credit report, business and life experiences, management experience, family support, personal situation such as being single or married with 4 children to support and most important of all, the location where you live and the opportunities available. If you come to your decision to look at business ownership and you are fresh out of college your frame of reference is really the subjects you studied in college and your life and business experiences. If you’re a 40 year old executive who has worked in Corporate America in the technology field for the last 10 years as a sales manager, but in your earlier years worked in retail books and the travel industry, you have much more diversity to pull from.

Your Buyer Profile is a critical starting point for you. I normally spend about two hours with each client before introducing any business opportunities to them as I want to get a basic level of understanding of the industries of interest to them and their preferred format such as whether they like retail, Business to Business (B2B), Food, Automotive or, Children’s services etc plus an extensive range of other questions. If the buyer knows what they do and don’t like it allows them to focus and thereby greatly increase their chances of finding the business they want.

If you would like more information about each of the books mentioned above, please visit the following website http://www.successfullybuyyourbusiness.com where you will find a brief description of each of the guides. If you would like some free tools to work with, please visit my website: http://www.andrew-rogerson.com/samples.htm. On this page there are some Excel and Word files such as a Business Plan, Sales and Marketing plan, Startup Budget planner and Cash flow projection etc. Download and use these free tools as much as you need.

The rewards to business ownership for each person are unique and real. If you think business ownership right now with the economy in recession is not a good option, I would disagree. The economy is constantly changing and looking for new ways to invest capital and provide a return on investment. Some areas of the economy are about to explode such as health care, businesses in energy efficiency, the “green” industry and, new technology innovations to name a few. It will take time to research, create and execute a plan and then explore any other options available to you. Making the decision to take the risk is the hardest part. Once that is done, the rest takes care of itself. If you think business ownership is part of your future, learn as much as you can, accept it comes with risk and get on with it as the rest will be up to you. Whether you stay in your current job, find a different job because you aren’t enjoying what you are doing or move into business ownership, at the end of the day it’s still all up to you and how you manage the risks that come from each decision you make.

Financing 101 for Entrepreneurs - Debt vs. Equity or Both?

Small business owners can choose from two basic types of financing- debt and equity. There are advantages and disadvantages of each type that may be used for different purposes.

Before you seek start-up capital, organize your records as follows;

• Gather you’re financial business records including tax returns
• Speak with business partners or family members about the sometimes uncomfortable option of giving up partial control of the business to potential investors
• Request copies of your personal and any business credit reports

Entrepreneurs who seek financing face a fundamental choice: Should they borrow funds or take in new investment capital? Since debt and equity are accounted for differently, each has a different impact on earnings, cash flow, and taxes. Each also has a different effect on leverage, dilution, and a host of other metrics by which businesses are measured. The planned use of funds will also affect the choice of financing, with one option more appropriate for certain uses than the other.

Debt can be a loan, line of credit, bond, or even an IOU -- any promise to repay borrowed amounts over a certain time with a specified interest rate

and other terms. Debt is accounted for as a liability of the company, and interest payments are deductible business expenses. In the event of bankruptcy or insolvency, debt holders take priority over equity holders.

For a small business, debt financing has both advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, debt can be relatively simple to secure through a bank or other financial institution and is available with a broad range of terms, allowing you to customize the debt to meet your specific needs. And since most debt entails regularly scheduled payments of interest and often principal as well, debt is easy to plan around. Perhaps most important, debt, unlike equity, will not dilute your ownership interest in your company.

On the minus side, however, financing with debt can be more expensive, and you will have to meet scheduled interest and principal payments regardless of your cash flow. Although loan terms can be negotiated to build in flexibility, ultimately the money must be paid back.

Debt is most often used to fund a specific project or initiative that has an identifiable implementation time frame. It's also used as a cash flow backup in the form of a revolving line of credit. To attract lenders, you will need to have a good personal and business credit history, sufficient cash flow to repay the loan, and/or sufficient collateral to offer as a second source of loan repayment.

Equity differs from debt in that it represents a permanent ownership stake in the company. When you finance with equity, you are giving up a portion of your ownership interest in -- and control of -- the company in exchange for cash. Equity investors may demand dividends or a portion of annual profits. But most investors in small businesses seek long-term capital gains on their investment, meaning that at some point these investors may look to opt out. This can mean the eventual sale of the business or the need to bring in replacement investors in the future.

The most common sources of equity financing for start-up entrepreneurs are personal savings or contributions from family, friends, and business associates. Many successful entrepreneurs find start-up money, grants and loans using all inclusive support centers such as Ethos Mentor, Business Finance.com or the Small Business Association (SBA).

Venture or seed capital companies can also be sources of new capital, although they generally deal in larger financings. If your business is incorporated, anyone contributing equity capital would receive shares in the business. If it is a sole proprietorship or a partnership, they would receive an ownership share of the business.

While equity financing can be used for many different purposes, it is usually used for long-term general funding and not tied to specific projects or time frames. The major disadvantage to equity financing is the dilution of your ownership interest and the possible loss of control. Moreover, equity investors in smaller businesses generally look for high returns over time to compensate for the risk.

In practice, most businesses use a combination of debt and equity financing. The concern is getting the right balance. If you have too much debt, you may overextend your ability to service the debt and can be vulnerable to business downturns and changes in interest rates. On the other hand, too much equity dilutes your ownership interest and can expose you to outside control.