In the five and half years I have been in the networking and home based business industry, I have seen and heard a lot of hype and many polar opposite views of the network marketing industry.
Some people are passionate about the industry, while others condemn it. Some claim all companies are pyramid schemes and scams. Celebrity authors such as Robert Allen, Mark Victor Hansen and Robert Kiyosaki advocate the industry.
Network marketing is, in its most fundamental sense, a franchise business model. Such a model provides a duplicable system that involves the continuous repetition of certain activities.
One key test of a network marketing or home based business company is whether there are large numbers of repeat customers who order and use real products even if they do not get a check. The fact is that Amway/Quixtar, Melaleuca, PrePaid Legal, USANA, and many others have sold millions upon millions of dollars of products to happy customers, many of whom are NOT also getting checks.
So why does the industry seem to have a black eye? The problem does not seem to lie with the overall franchise business model. Network marketing is just a business model, and it really amounts to “micro-franchising”. It has a low cost of entry, with the potential for exceptional revenue, and there are those who achieve that.
However, the things that make it attractive make it attractive to many who are NOT really qualified or prepared to become business owners.
Some of the characteristics of these people are: