Joining a Business Opportunity
Description: "Biz Opps" are everywhere you look online. This is where
I'd say you have to exercise the most caution; there are plenty of overly-hyped
"opportunities", some of which are outright scams. But here and there you'll
find some legitimate opportunities. They aren't for everyone, but one of them
could possibly be right for you. Keep in mind that no opportunity will "work"
for everyone, regardless of what they may claim. Everyone is an individual
with his own set of skills, interests, talents, strengths, and weaknesses.
Advantages:
- The product or service is already created for you. You avoid all the
expenses of testing and development.
- You theoretically have the support of the company and/or your upline.
Many business opportunities claim that the company will provide you with
tools and/or support to help you succeed. People who join multi-level
marketing organizations may be told that they'll have the support of
their sponsor.
- You're often provided with a fully-functioning website. The site's
already created and tested for you, and sometimes even includes the
necessary technology to accept orders online.
Disadvantages:
- You're often provided with a fully-functioning website. Yes, this
very same thing is a disadvantage as well. Companies offering a business
opportunity often sell the exact same website to hundreds or thousands
of business opportunity seekers. That means you all have precisely the
same site - there is nothing original to capture someone's interest.
- The company and/or your upline may not support you at all. The company
may not have the resources to provide you with the help you need; it's very
difficult to provide one-on-one personal help to thousands of associates!
Your sponsor, too, might not be able to help you either - if he or she hasn't
been successful with the opportunity herself, then she can't very well mentor
anyone else.
- The market may be oversaturated. What often happens is that someone who
joins the "hottest" new business opportunity will also tell a bunch of friends
or advertise it elsewhere. As the word spreads, more and more people jump on
board. You can easily have hundreds of thousands of people promoting the
exact same opportunity!
- You have to be careful of poor or tarnished reputation or image. Some
of the available business opportunities have a bad reputation, deserved or
not. If you join such an opportunity you'll be facing a big roadblock before
you even begin - people aren't inclined to purchase products from a company
they've heard bad things about.
Where to Find "Biz Ops"
"Biz Opps" are everywhere you look. The problem is, there are so many scams
that it's difficult to determine what's legitimate and what's not. Read the
article, 7 Important Tips on Investigating a Business Opportunity for details.
Many of the business opportunities you'll find are multi-level marketing (MLM)
programs. In very simplified terms, how it works is this:
- You get paid a commission on any products/services you personally sell.
- You can choose to recruit others to be a part of your "downline". You
receive an "override commission" on any sales your downline makes as well.
- Your downline members may choose to recruit others in order to form their
own downlines. You receive an override commission on their sales as well.
- ... and so on.
Be aware that some pyramid schemes operate as thinly-disguised MLM. Pyramid
schemes basically pay you to recruit others -- there's no real product. Make
sure that there's a solid product (Mary Kay Cosmetics is a well-known example
of a legitimate MLM) and that you are able to make a decent income without
recruiting anyone. Some sites that offer information about MLMs:
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website
has lots of information on pyramid schemes.
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