I heard a story about how someone boils a frog in some Amway function many years ago. The story goes that they slowly warm up the water until the frog is relaxed and then when the frog is relaxed and muscles all soft, you turn up the heat and boil the frog. Amway leaders once told this story to describe how we as people, become complacent in life and how we can get into a rut. We relax and slowly, the bills add up and next thing you know, you're working harder than ever, but living in debt. And by then it's probably too late and you can never catch up - unless you join Amway of course. Amway is the answer to life's financial problems. The irony of course, is that most people are much worse off (in the end) than if they never joined Amway at all.
That's because we live in a society where keeping up with the Joneses and consumerism with no delayed gratification is prevalent in US society. Your friend buys a new car, and you not only want a new car, you, probably want a better one than what your friend bought. It's very common in the US, which is why so many Americans are living in debt, paycheck to paycheck. That doesn't make anyone a bad person, but it makes you a paycheck away from financial disaster. Many people who join Amway are young and possibly working at more entry level types of jobs and far away from conventional retirement.I went to a retirement planning seminar some years ago and saw that many people don't or won't even have $100K saved up for retirement. It's a sad state of affairs and one that isn't likely to change anytime soon. I hope our readers here keep that in mind and plan accordingly. And ask yourself honestly, is Amway going to help that situation or not? Losing money certainly doesn't help your bottom line. It certainly isn't going to help your retirement plans if you aren't profitable in Amway, and the vast majority of IBOs are not.
But what does this have to do with Amway? Well, what Amway leaders are doing is boiling frogs. Or, if you will, boiling their downline. They get you to relax and trust them and then suddenly, you need to be a serious business owner, attending ALL seminars and buying ALL tools. They'll also lure you into commitment by showing you pictures of their alleged diamond lifestyle. They might show you a copy of someone's bonus check, but they won't show you a profit loss statement. They'll show you a picture of a Ferrari, but won't show you the ownership papers. They'll show you a mansion, but not the mortgage papers they signed. I believe the diamonds show an illusion of wealth. Who knows what a diamond's worth actually is? I say this because portraying an uber wealthy lifestyle is not cheap.
The diamonds will likely make you think they are financially free, living on their terms with no financial worries in the world when the reality may reveal a very different picture. When you consider that a diamond who might earn $500,000 a year is worshipped. But when you factor in taxes, business expenses, medical insurance, etc, what's left is not a jet set lifestyle, but one closer to middle class, where you need to keep working. You could argue about how hard a diamond's "job" is, but having to be somewhere at particular time to earn money is not financial freedom. And if a diamond's bonus checks were to stop, they would be in deep trouble soon after. In other words, not much different than someone with a 9-5 job. Also, a regular (non Q12) diamond likely earns maybe $150,000 to $200,000, with some augmentation from tools income. But after taxes and business expenses, you aren't flying your family of 4 to functions first class, nor are you buying homes in cash, unless that diamond has income and resources that are not Amway related.
So IBOs are actually the frogs being boiled, one function or one cd at a time. They just don't realize it.
Apt analogy Joecool. People should not forget what their expectations were when they signed up.
ReplyDeleteIf it is a thriving business with livelong residual income in 2-5 years, then you can set some milestones on the way there. For example, you probably should be able to resign the old job after 18 months. For that to be the case, there should be noticeable progress in 12 months, you should by that time get a lot more out than you put in. Most people would have expected something along those lines, something in the pocket a few months in. When did that slowly change?
Nobody would sign up to find themselves after a year with their whole lives taken over by an all consuming business that has not yet delivered. Was that the expectation when you signed up? Or did you slowly get used to that being the way it is? That there is one more secret that you have not yet grasped, that you should invest so much not to miss out when it is shared? Or do you feel that you've come this far, that you might as well hang on in case the break is really just behind the corner?
People in Amway groups are told that expecting results too soon is somehow un-business like, employee mentality. Sure, for a business to really take off can take time, but a small run from home business, sold as a model that is proven to work, should show results and realise some net profits very quickly if it is ever going to work. Don't let anyone tell you that expecting that is un-business like. Not keeping books, not to record every expense and not to note whether gross income exceeds that to yield a positive and growing net income - to not do that - that is un business like.
The warming water in the pot is a progression towards an ever growing acceptance of absurd un-business like mindset. The purpose of a business is to make money. The job of a business owner is to know exactly where he stands on that. A small work from home business with no staff, no equipment and no rent makes money relatively soon after the start if it is going to work. Nobody should let themselves being conditioned to believe otherwise.
Nobody should put up with a business mentor that does not drive home the importance of keeping books. Anybody in that situation where they've been conditioned to believe that keeping books, meticilously, including all expenses, is not important, should realise they've been conned.