Anyone who has ever run a business, especially those who learned by the seat of their pants, can design an MLM.

All that's needed are the requirements described above, and a good numberwork system.

Once it is down on paper, then you start testing, to make sure it works.

By that time, if you have a plan, and a product, that truly fulfills all the requirements, I believe you will have attracted the people you need.

The biggest stumbling block I can think of is some kind of guarantee of sales.

There isn't one.

No matter how much high-powered advertising you use; no matter how many sure-fire lead-generation programs you buy; nothing guarantees sales...except actually KNOWING your product, and the market, and putting them together at the right price.

Now we come to entrepreneurship.

An entrepreneur is someone who understands all phases of a business so well that, once all the right elements are in place, he or she can't NOT do it.

Successful entreprenuers are rare. Many who try, fail miserably. Many who pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and try again...make the same mistakes again and again. Lack of knowing is the biggest mistake.

Entrepreneurial 'knowing' is a kind of understanding that can't be found in books.

In any group of 1,000 people there will be a handful who believe they might be able to manage an entrepreneurial project...and maybe, maybe one who CAN do it successfully.

Probably the best bet is a team effort...with one good entrepreneur heading it up.

Interestingly, a really good entrepreneur is also a very nice person. He or she has to listen to everyone, understand, and put the business together in such a way as everyone is pleased, confident, and inspired.

Then the group begins small, tests, and builds a solid foundation.

Like I say, a successful entrepreneur is rare...and worth his or her weight in gold.

f.

Some great points made.
But lets also remember that MLM's have been around for a long time, when Sears wanted to be the best catalog company, they gave 15 catalogs to each of their customers with the understanding that if anyone ordered from them, they in return would get credit to use how they wanted. Thus MLM was born.

Every business out there operates in the form of a MLM in one way or another, the manufacturer makes a product, passes it on to a brokage house, who in turn sells it to a retail store. Everyone of them gets a cut. Same concept, different payors. It's sad however, that many of these companies don't operate ethically. Thus giving the rest a bad name.

There is a company out there that has fair pricing, great products, and great income potential. Actually their organic line of jerky is only $6.00 a bag, less if you enroll and buy it at wholesale. That's the same, if not better pricing than you could get at your store. They are on the cutting edge with new products for your health. Krill oil supplements, Cholesterol buster, all of which are priced reasonable. Sorry this ends up sounding like a commercial, but since the subject came up, I had to answer. Go to http://grooms.jerkydirect.com to find out more.

Gee, from your description, you've got a winner there, HealthyNwealthy.

But, for me, I'd get blank stares from any of my friends I offered to. They know me as a herbal person...one who is becoming moreso every day.

Every promoter, agent, and salesman, since time immemorial, has had to decide if he, or she, can or wishes to offer the product at hand.

Another consideration, too, has always been whether the manufacturer is 'selling out the back door'...undercutting their retail dealers' prices.

In small items, with plenty of competition, and if the 'MLM' aspect isn't a large operation, there will not likely be complaints from small retailers.

But, if the item is large and pricey, or if the manufacturers have major retail customers, it is not a happy situation.

I do agree that many/most sales systems could be viewed as 'multi-level', to one degree or another...especially with levels of wholesalers, distributors, and shippers. Repackagers and other bulk buyers may constitute another level.

But, MLM (or 'direct selling') as a business plan is seldom set up to truly benefit the home businessperson. That's why home-based 'associates' end up offering a number of lines...which is sometimes prohibited by MLM companies.

The problem, as I see it, is the design of the plan...which may have been designed by an 'expert'.

Did you know that an experienced retailer of a given set of products can drive by someone else's retail store and tell exactly what that store does in annual sales?

MLM'ers develop a similar 'nose' for success (or otherwise). Show an experienced MLM'er the basic numberwork plan, as well as the product line, and he or she immediately knows whether they want it or not...whether they have the time and energy it would take to develop that particular business.

All methods and plans of business eventually develop experts...individuals and corporations who have done it, and who have opinions.

Eventually, you have to get up pretty early in the morning to design a plan that will meet their approval...or, simplify.

That's how I see it, anyway.

I wish you great good fortune, HealthyNwealthy.

fledgling