Most direct sellers have achieved their success because they are passionate about the products and the business opportunity they have to offer - and that enthusiasm is shared with others, resulting in sales and business building.
Benefits and rewards
- A low-cost micro business and income generating opportunity that has few limitations other than the amount of time, effort and commitment you are prepared to invest (usually, a modestly priced sales kit is all that is required for one to get started)
- Micro-entrepreneurial opportunity that enables you to start a business, within-a-business
- Free training provided for direct sellers to get started and to grow in the business
- A way to generate a monthly income or earn money to supplement your income to meet monthly expenditure, cover unexpected medical expenses, save for a holiday, buy a new car or whatever else the need may be
- Flexible hours and work scheduling, enabling you to work around other priorities such as your family
- You’re your own boss, which means you can work part-time or full-time, choose when and how much you want to work, set your own goals and determine how you are going to reach them
- You can choose to work a few hours a week and earn a modest income to help pay the bills, or commit to 40 or more hours a week with the goal of developing a network of direct sellers below you whom you will train and mentor so they too can be successful – and earn you extra income
- Offers an alternative to traditional employment
- Offers one of the finest entrepreneurial skill building opportunities in the world - many people find that what they learn from creating a home-based business of their own serves them throughout their lives in ways they never would have dreamed
- Outstanding personal development potential - companies offer product, business and life skills training, and provide mentorship
- Leadership opportunities – building and developing others in your team and growing your direct selling business
- Offers a good way to meet and socialise with people
- Additional incentives based on product sales (a wide variety of goods in all sorts of product categories)
- Opportunity for international travel
- Building a residual income stream
Direct sellers are not employed they are independent contractors operating their own businesses. Direct selling is not “easy income,” you will not “get rich quick” and there are no silver bullets to success. Anyone who promises you any of these things is misleading you.That being said, for people who set realistic goals and enjoy working in a flexible, self-directed environment, direct selling provides limitless possibilities.
Not everyone who tries direct selling will succeed – some will find that they just aren’t cut out to sell products and services. And that’s OK. But the beauty of direct selling is that it’s open to everyone, it’s easy to get started, it’s easy to drop out if you find it’s not for you and, who knows, you might discover a whole new person inside you that you never knew existed.
WHY PEOPLE GET INVOLVED AND STAY
|
The flexibility of direct selling offers many types of individuals the opportunity to achieve their goals. Whether that is in the form of extra spending money every month, a full-time income or merely the chance to meet new people, the motivations for becoming a direct seller are as varied as the types of people who decide to give it a try.
While the motivation is slightly different for each person, most sellers fall into at least one of seven different categories. It’s important to remember, though, that many sellers fit in multiple categories and sellers can move from one category to another.
- Wholesale/Discount buyers – these direct sellers are mainly interested in buying products they use and love at a discount. In most cases, these sellers place regular orders for their own use and do not actively sell to or recruit others.
- Short-term/Specific Objectives – these sellers have a specific, short-term goal to reach such as paying for unexpected medical expenses, saving for a holiday, buying a new car, or covering education costs. Some sellers in this category will decide to continue their direct selling business even when they have achieved their goal because they enjoy the supplemental income, others will drop out after having achieved their goal and then rejoin when they have another short-term goal in mind.
- Part-time/Quality of Life Improvement – these individuals are looking for regular supplementary income and are more likely to continue with the business for an extended period than the short-term goal seekers. They will likely spend less than 10 hours per week on their business and will be looking to generate a steady flow of extra income of around R 2,500-R 3,500 per month.
- Career (Entrepreneurs) – this group is looking for a full-time business and individuals will dedicate 30+ hours per week to building their business and will often be active recruiters as well as sellers of products. They generally enjoy the opportunity to train and motivate others and consider their direct selling activities to be a career.
- Social contact – the primary motivation for direct sellers in this group is to meet new people and expand their social circle. They may or may not be interested in earning a regular supplemental income or building a business, but are very interested in the opportunity of meeting a wide range of individuals through their selling efforts.
- Recognition – sellers in this group love to receive recognition for their achievements and find the element of recognition and reward within direct selling to be extremely appealing. It would be difficult to find a traditional workplace that rewards achievements as regularly or as publicly as direct selling. For individuals who enjoy being recognised for their accomplishments, this is an important motivator.
- Sharing the Benefits – like wholesale/discount buyers, this group of sellers uses and loves the products and services they sell. However, they also want to share that passion with others. Promoting and selling the product or service is very fulfilling to them because they believe in the benefits of that which they are selling so strongly that they want to share that with others who might find similar benefit.
Training and New Skills
Not only is there the opportunity of building a business and earning an income with flexible hours of work and you determining your own goals, but also you get trained to do this – free. Here are just a few of the things that you will learn:
- How to run a direct selling business
- Benefits of the products, customer testimonials
- How to set goals
- Time management
- How to find and keep customers
- How to sell and to recruit
- Presentation skills
- Basic business skills, administration, computer training
- Responsibilities of a direct seller - Code of Conduct
- Legislative and taxation requirements, earnings claims, product claims
- Leadership and management skills
Group training, peer training, online training, DVDs and supplemental materials are all there to guide you. You are working on your own, but not alone, and will have a support system behind you that’s always there for you. Direct sellers support one another and create friendships that often last a lifetime, and direct selling businesses support the entire team.
HOW SUCCESSFUL CAN YOU BE AND HOW MUCH MONEY
|
When considering an opportunity, it’s natural to want to know how successful you’re likely to be. It’s also important to understand that the answer can’t be found just by looking at the number of people who are substantially high earners. There are certainly direct sellers who earn six-figure incomes (and more!), however, that is not the norm and holding all direct sellers to that standard does not create an accurate picture of “success.”
Yes, agreed, one common way to measure “success” is through income – the majority of people who get involved in direct selling do so, in whole or in part, because they want to earn money. However, to determine success in terms of income, one must consider doing so in the context of the direct seller’s initial goals.
A person who wants to earn R1,000 a month, and does so, is just as successful as someone who develops their business into a six-figure income. Someone who joins with the purpose of buying products at a discount is as successful as a stay-at-home mom who joins to meet to new people and for personal development. Even in a multilevel compensation system, there may be many people who do not earn money from a downline – because they don’t have a downline, and choose not to have one. Of course, a business grows and evolves when new people join as sellers, but recruiting others is not essential to success unless your definition of success involves a level of earnings beyond what you will be able to earn from your own personal sales of the products and services.
Success must be analyzed on an individual level, based on personal goals.
Direct selling critics will often focus on the small percentage of direct sellers “at the top”. They make it sound like it’s impossible to achieve that level of success, when, in reality, many direct sellers have no desire to devote the time and energy necessary to be a top performer.
In fact, the direct selling model has many parallels to a traditional corporate business model. In a corporate model there are a few people at the top (Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Managing Director, Chairman of the Board, etc.) who drive the business and motivate those below them. A large number of directors and mid-level managers execute the business operations and are developing professionally and personally. In a few cases these individuals may one day rise to the senior executive level. Finally, there is an administrative level where one generally finds younger, less experienced people who are learning the business and, depending on their career goals, may continue to climb the corporate ladder or they may leave after a relatively short period of time to pursue other goals.
The salesforce structure in direct selling is actually very similar, but in reality the potential for someone to reach the top is much higher. In a traditional business, there are a limited number of desks in the senior executive suite, but in direct selling personal sales and the development of a productive downline will propel you to the top regardless of who else is already there.
How much money can you make in direct selling?
The majority of direct sellers are part-time and they look at direct selling as a way of bringing in extra money to supplement their income. Part timers work between 5 hours and 20 hours a week and the more hours they put into it, the more they tend to earn. Full time direct sellers literally work at direct selling as if it was a job for an employer, namely 8 to 10 hours a day or even longer. However, with both groups one of the major benefits is that the hours are often very different with a lot more work in the evenings and on weekends, as you have to fit in with your customers, but your hours are very flexible.
Direct sellers have to be prepared to learn the business and attend training, and have to realise that it takes work, determination and self-discipline to succeed. For people who want to add R3 000 or so to their monthly income it does not require that much time, but for those who want to earn R10 000 and more, it is extremely hard work.
Those earning from R10,000 to R50,000 monthly are investing long-hours, working hard, focussing on personal development, as well as building, training and mentoring their sales teams. Those earning over R50,000 are very much full-time career entrepreneurs in terms of hours, commitment, leadership and management. Highly successful direct sellers who have invested years into their business and developed extremely motivated and successful downlines are earning in excess of R 100,000 per month.
The DSA SA acknowledges and thanks WFDSA, US DSA and directselling411.com for contributions to this website.
|
|
|
Niciun comentariu:
Trimiteți un comentariu