Important Decisions Before Entering Network Marketing Plans

Consider the Products:Most companies that market their products through distributors have quality competitive prices. On the other hand some companies are way overpriced have questionable values and are absolutely unsafe.Practically every service or product that can be sold through multilevel marketing, which includes health, beauty, fitness and other products that aren’t available on store shelves. Requires you to be very skeptical before buying or selling their products that are advertised as super ingredients or have guaranteed results. Most of these quick fix solutions are unproven, and marketed fraudulently because they are basically useless. In many cases they could be very dangerous. You should always check with professionals before using any of them-or selling them.If you decide to join a program and promote the products, you must be sure that the network marketing information is truthful and that there’s good evidence to back up the claims You are making. This means that before using any claims and repeating what the company has said about a product verify that there’s competent and reliable research to back up their claims.Learn More about the Company:Study and research the company’s track record conduct a progressive Internet search with the name of the company using keywords like review, scam, or complaint. Scan several pages of search results. Also research the company in newspapers magazines and other areas.It’s extremely important to find out:• Has the Company Been Sued for Deceptive Practices• Do They Have a Positive Reputation for Customer Satisfaction• How Long Has the Company Been Active• What’s the Word on the Street about the Company’s Product on Blogs and WebsitesSearch for information with the state attorney general’s office for complaints about any company you are considering even though a lack of complaints doesn’t always guarantee that a company is legitimate.Evaluate the Plan:Never sign a contract or pay for anything at an “opportunity meeting”. Consider your options take time think about your decision remember real money is involved in your investment, so don’t rush into it without doing some research first. Don’t feel pressured!Go to the person that is sponsoring you in that network marketing business and ask about the terms and conditions of the plan, which include:1. Future Costs2. How the Compensation Is Structured3. Evidence for the Statements about How Much Money You Can Make4. Precise Name and Contact Information of Company Representatives Able to Answer All Your QuestionsMake sure you get everything in writing. Never join any program where the reward for recruiting new people is more than that for selling the product. The latter is a tip off to a pyramid scheme! Not a true network marketing company.Always remember that when you recruit new distributors to your marketing organization, you are responsible for the claims you make about how much money they can earn. Always be realistic and honest. Because of your promises fall through, you will be held liable. This is the case even if you are repeating claims you read in a company brochure or heard them from another distributor.If something is unclear, always ask for more information until it is crystal clear to you. The network marketing information from your sponsor and other distributors in the organization should answer all of your questions. Your sponsor and others above your sponsor’s level make money if you join the program. So it’s imperative that you take your time resist the pressure to join. Never rely on hearsay references about payments from the company or distributors that pretend they were successfully earning money through the network marketing plan.Research Refund Policies:Make sure any refund policy is in writing, includes information about returning unused products, restrictions and penalties. You might think you’re minimizing your risk if you can return a product but some policies differ on whether you’ll get a full refund and how long it might take. Some network marketing companies require that you buy network marketing information on training or marketing materials possibly asking you to pay for seminars in order to get discounts or to create your own network distributors. Ask other distributors how much time and money they have spent on their training, network marketing materials, and seminars on network marketing information when they joined. Ask whether you are required to participate in periodic training programs and what happens if you decide not to.Have a Close Friend or Legal Advisor Review the Network Materials:It would be very beneficial to consult with an accountant, a lawyer, or someone else you trust who is not affiliated with the marketing plan and review the terms and compensation. Ask them to determine whether the claims backup the information in the marketing company and the amount of money you can make, then scrutinize the information you receive.Consider If This Is the Kind of Work That Suits Your Talents and Goals:Think about would you enjoy selling products to the public face to face. Consider how many hours others like your sponsor and other distributors spend after they joined and how much time they spend now. It’s important to think about no matter how good the product is and how solid the plan you need to invest sweat equity and money for your network marketing to pay off. Always evaluate the demands of the business like training, recruiting new distributors, managing the paperwork, tracking inventory, and the shipping process.Don’t Be Shy:Question your sponsor and other distributors, dig for details. Never consider it intrusive or nosy! Remember you’re on a mission to check out the potential business that will require your money and your time.The information they give you will help you determine false claims about the amount of money you make and whether the business is a pyramid scheme or not.Important Questions That You Need to Ask:• What will be your annual sales of the product?• How much of the product you need to sell to distributors?• What’s the percentage of sales to distributors?• Last year what was your expenses, and money you spent on training and buying the products?• What was your income last year including bonuses minus your expenses?• How many hours did you dedicate to the business last year?• How many people have you recruited?• And what percentage of your earnings came from recruiting other distributors and what percentage came from selling inventory?It’s extremely important to have a complete picture of how the network marketing plan works. You need to know how much money distributors make, how much time and money they spend on the plan, and how long it takes before you break even and start making money you need to know how big of a down line do I need to make money. A clear sign of a pyramid scheme is distributors selling more product to other distributors than to the public or if they make money from recruiting and not from selling!

Worker Shortage Might Be Excellent News For The Economy

A worker shortage might be excellent news for the economy! Maybe, just maybe, firms will awake and see workers’ substantial contribution to their success. Some CEOs take unconscionable sums and destroy their firm’s value, unlike many frontline workers who create value. During the pandemic, CEOs took vast sums as they laid-off workers. Some firms sought bankruptcy protection, but hat didn’t stop their greedy CEOs from snatching hefty bonuses.

We have a worker shortage and firms are scrambling to hire whomever is willing. Some firms, like McDonalds have paid signing bonuses. Canada’s Loblaw and its competitors paid a bonus to frontline workers when the pandemic began. They stopped it after three months in unison with their competitors. When government confronted them about this collusion, they claimed it happened independently. Go figure! It’s like you caught your three-year-old with her hand in the cookie jar and she said, Mom, “Cookie Monster did it!”

Worker Shortage Inevitable With Shoddy Treatment

Loblaw’s behavior disturbs me. During the bonus period, profits soared. Per se, that’s no problem. I favor firms making profits. To be sure, I am against government taxing profits. But paying workers the bonus during the pandemic shouldn’t hinge on profits. It was just right. Meanwhile, my wife and I shopped at a Loblaw store and workers continued their excellent service despite Loblaw’s slight.

Leaders must realize frontline workers are the firm’s foundation and treat them well, not as cogs turning out CEOs bonuses! When employers treat workers like machines, they disengage. Gallup said, over several decades, they and other researchers found a strong link between employees’ workplace engagement and the company’s overall performance. Yet employers refuse to accept this. But there is good news: surveys show some firms break the mold and treat workers with respect: Cisco, Apple, Accenture, IBM, FedEx are a few.

Next Quarter’s Earnings Drives Businesses

Companies see next quarter as the prize, so they exploit workers and fudge next quarter’s numbers. I repeat: I am against government taxing business. However, I favor the Biden Build Back Better provision to tax share buybacks that the House passed, and it is before the Senate, even if it might have only a modest effect on share buybacks. Companies shouldn’t be spending billions buying back shares while exploiting workers.

Firms should present to shareholder meetings options to use buyback funds. Choices might include effects of paying bonuses to frontline workers with buyback funds. Shareholders should hear about potential strategic investments, too. Another option is stopping buy-backs for five years after layoffs. Executives, too, shouldn’t get bonuses within five years of layoffs. We must get rid of worker exploitation that enhances CEO bonuses.

The Business Roundtable Stakeholder Capitalism Disappeared

The Business Round Table (BRT) had a revelation in 2019 and decided maximizing shareholder value is not a corporation’s sole purpose. That metrics from the 1980s is wrong, it said. I wrote then that the BRT “… came up with lovely platitudes about looking after stakeholders and quickly ditched it and returned to their greedy practices… ” They continued to move away from those bromides during the pandemic.

Let the worker shortage continue! It might be the force to rid firms of myopic, greedy incompetent CEOs. To be sure, the scarcity will cause disruptions in supply chains and elsewhere, but workers’ creativity, if allowed, will solve these challenges. Here is the million dollar question: Will enough firms decide to scrap the quarterly rat race and concentrate on building robust businesses for the long-term?

Michel A. Bell is author of six books including Business Simplified, speaker, adjunct professor of business administration at Briercrest College and Seminary, and founder and president of Managing God’s Money, a mission devoted to providing free Christian financial and biblical stewardship advice.