A Real Business?

 Many IBOs are taught to "buy from themselves". Although in some of these groups, retailing may be mentioned, it certainly is not taught in a serious manner, nor it is a point of emphasis.  I believe it is because people in general simply are not comfortable with selling products. Thus, the concept of buy from yourself and get others to do the same makes the masses feel comfortable. What they do not realize is that they are simply loyal Amway customers and not running a business. As I mentioned in a previous post, in what business do you not have customers? It is why IBOs must ask themselves, are they running a "real" business?  Imagine joining Costco to buy stuff but rabidly recruiting others to join Costco because anyone you refer to Costco helps you to get a bigger rebate from Costco.  That's sort of the concept.

For many Amway IBOs, the focus of their efforts is on recruiting others. But why would someone want to join a system where they basically sign up to be a loyal customer and be a recruiter for other loyal customers? The pyramid like compensation plan is what drives many IBOs. Find enough downline and eventually, your downline will absorb the financial losses for you and will become the source of your income. I believe that the 4000 PV or platinum level is about where you as an IBO can find the break even point if you are dedicated to the "system" consisting of tapes, cds, books, voicemail and functions.  Of course, hard core "sold out" dedication to the system can also lead to losses even at these higher levels.

Secondarily, in addition to signing on as a loyal customer of Amway, if you join a system and participate in standing order and/or functions, then you have also become a loyal customer of the "system". Sadly, many upline will push IBOs to keep purchasing tools regardless of the IBO's progress in the business.  This is where your business losses can mount, because upline's solution to a lack of success in Amway is to expend more resources on training and education even though the current results are negligible. 

So I ask the question again for IBOs and potential recruits. As an IBO, are you running a real business? Can you get a business loan using the 6-4-2 plan? Have you tried showing it to a loan officer? Can you cite BWW or WWDB as educational credentials when applying for a job or will you be laughed out of the room? For these very reasons, I can only conclude that many, possibly most IBOs are not running a "real" business. They are simply doing what their upline advises. These uplines are more concerned about selling their tools than they are about their downline IBOs. It appears that downline IBOs are expendable. They quickly become bitter, broke, or not having expended enough effort if they do not "make it".

So are you running a real business?