Trading Time For Money?

One of the things I heard as an Amway IBO, and I believe still taught today is that a job is a disaster, or "just over broke". Uplines apparently use this tactic as a means to get prospects and IBOs to buy into the concept that a job limits your earning potential and that a business mentality doesn't look at an hourly wage. While it may be true that many business owners do not earn a wage, you can bet that they are aware of how much time they put into their business against how much they take in. A true business owner, if he determines that he isn't earning enough for his return on his investment of time and money, will often make adjustments to what is done to become more efficient, or fold up the business and start another one, or may even get a job. Amway IBOs conversely, are told to spend more on training and functions when they are succeeding, which is a powerfully bad business practice.

It appears to me, that the context in which IBOs are told not to look at their business as a job is because many/most IBOs don't earn a net profit, and the few that do, probably earn less than a minimum wage equivalent when factoring in the hours spent building the business and costs associated with doing so. But hey, it's ok because you think like a "business owner", right? This appears to be just another distraction given to IBOs so they overlook monthly losses, just as how IBOs think the business is about being a nicer person, or that running the business actually makes you a better spouse or parent, when in fact, the opposite may be true.

In this day and age, there is nothing wrong with having a job. There is nothing wrong with earning an honest living trading hours for dollars. Many people live comfortable lives and have even amassed wealth with a job. The problem for many, as I see it is that they do not currently earn enough to fulfill the dreams that they see displayed on the stage at a function. For example, a job that pays $10 an hour will gross you about $1600 or $1700 a month. Certainly not enough to retire at the age of 30. But what if you earned $1000 an hour. That would bring you $160,000 to $170,000 a month. Would that make a job enticing? Of course! So the problem is not that you trade hours for dollars, the important factor is how much you earn per hour. The same goes for a business.

Real business owners look at the bottom line. For example, if you earned $6,000 a month in a business, but you spent 80 hours a week to earn that, then your hourly pay is less than $20 an hour. But if you spent 10 hours a week to earn that, you are now getting about $150 an hour equivalent. Many Amway promoters will tell you that the business will take up 10 to 15 hours per week, but the average IBO, according to Amway, earns just about $115 a month (and most earn less than that), which averages out to less than $3.00 per hour on average. This is why your upline might be saying don't look at an hourly wage as a way to rate your business, because the income is embarrassing.

IBOs and information seekers, do the math. Ask tough questions and demand answers. Don't be discouraged if you have a job. Most IBOs have jobs, Don't worry about trading hours for dollars. It is very likely that trading hours for dollars is a more efficient way of earning money than what you are being presented with.