Every network marketing business has its strong and weak points and should you decide that this is the type of business you want to venture into these are 4 major drawbacks:
1. Trust issues
While there are some very successful companies and good people associated with this type of business, alas it is not across the board. There is a lot of bad comment about this business model and it has a stigma attached to it.
The stigma exists due to pyramid schemes and the negative experiences people have had with them which have been widely broadcasted. This bad press and stigma is something you have to deal with when interacting with potential customers and many of your possible recruits. Yes, you are dealing in a tangible product or service and not something bogus but nonetheless there will be a lot of rejection involved when you start.
Be prepared to hear a lot of people simply say “no!”
2. Finding people
It is not wrong to say that this type of business heavily depends on people and where are most people found these days if you want to avoid pounding the pavement? On social media! So, if your social circle is limited to a few family members and friends you will have to change that quickly.
You need to increase your social media foot print in order to sell products but a large percentage of the contacts you make may result in rejection and impact your earnings. To really succeed you will have to recruit the right kind of people. Dynamic and charismatic recruits will help build your income because in this business selling the products alone will not bring in the returns you desire or see others getting.
Beware also that some people may unfriend you on social media as the constant product posting may annoy them!
3. Building “your” business
As an independent representative you are basically building a business from the ground. Yes, you get promotional materials, access to an experienced person or persons and may even have a website to refer to but it takes time to grow a following or build a customer base.
Like growing any other business you may have to spend money in order for you to make money; on travelling, meals, fuel, hotel accommodation etc. And you need to devote your time to it and it is time consuming to convince another person to buy your product when there are many that are similar to it on the market.
Another thing, as you do not own the company you have no control over the prices or the product line so you will have to run your business within the parameters set by the owners of the company.
4. Long waits and low returns
Success in sales may be slow to come by as products are usually above the price of the usual off-the- shelf products. Many people do not to want to invest in high priced products when they do not know if they really work. Therefore the money earned is not that much in the early years. Yes, years and that is if you are willing to stick it out in a business where the competition is high and your company is not the only one out there. Some people do make it big but not everyone does!
