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What do you normally expect when you start in a new opportunity?

I don’t know about you, but I can tell you what I thought would happen to me …

1. I thought that all my friends and family would be as excited as I was and would support me and join me in my company.
2. I thought that everyone (OK, maybe not everyone but at least majority of people I talk to) would be at least open to information.
3. I thought that all the politics and competition  would be left behind in another “before” life and everything would go nice and smooth in my new business.
4. I though that everyone would be happy with my achievements and everyone joining me would be in my team forever and become my best friends.
5. I thought my sponsor ( the person who introduced me) would be always there for me and would always be supporting me.
6. I thought that when I start creating income, it would continue to grow and never fall back.
7. I thought that I would always be in control of my business and my income, and know exactly what to expect.

This is what actually happened:

1. When I started talking to my friends and family about my new company, I came across a lot of negativity and rejections. Some of my closest friends and work colleagues were so negative, that our relationships became very tense… My dad initially joined me, but soon after started trying to talk me out of being involved, saying that it was probably a “scam” … Some of my friends even started avoiding me!
2. When I started approaching people to tell them about exciting products and a new business opportunity, there were many who not only were negative, but even rude during my meetings… and some didn’t even come to appointments without letting me know that they would not be there!
3. I found that there were different groups in the same company, working in different systems of operations or using different methods and constantly competing with each other. From time to time the positions of these groups would change. Sometimes, I felt I was in the “right” group with lots of achievers, myself including. Throughout other times during my career, I felt that the groups that I was a part of didn’t have enough system structure or growth and secretly wished I was in another group. I also learnt that I could not really trust all other leaders in the company – some of them could be your best friend at one time, but de-edify you at another time.
4.  I had a couple in my team who joined me quite early in my career and later went to  another opportunity,  causing a lot of damage to my business. That was hard as I considered them to also be my friends, as well as business colleagues. To make it worse, they did it when my husband and I were overseas for a company trip that we qualified for, and they took that as an opportunity to approach my team for their new company!
5. My sponsor joined another company as well (hard to believe, but true!) and was expelled from our company after she was caught prospecting her team for another opportunity (wanted to double-up on already huge income?). So after all, she wasn’t there for me as she promised at the beginning.
6. My income grew amazingly well at the beginning, however there was a time when after all these dramas it fell from about $17,000 per month to $6,500 per month in a very short period of time and my weekly events with 70-100 people in the room scaled down to 20-30 people!
7. I found that I don’t really control my business and my income, and bad things can happen even when I do all the right things.

This is what I learnt and why it was worth it:

1. When I started recieving rejections and disapprovals from some of my friends and family, I followed advice given to me at the time by my leaders: to FOCUS ON MY WHY- my reason to do this business. I knew that creating the life that I desired required some sacrifices , one of which was to deal with those rejections. I learnt that not everyone wants to take a chance to improve their life and sometimes people feel intimidated when somebody else all of a sudden decides to take a risk and go for something… My WHY was so important to me that it was much bigger that all the rejectionsI came across… SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG AND RECEIVE A FREE GUIDE OF MY 10 STEPS THAT WORK, TO REFOCUS ON YOUR WHY!
2. I learnt to FORGIVE PEOPLE. I realised through Personal Development that when people are rude or angry, normally they are the ones who are hurting… I also learnt that EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON, so if somebody doesn’t come to an appointment (or doesn’t reply to your email or Facebook message), this person is simply not meant to be in your business! No coincidences here – everyone who is meant to be in your team will be, and those who are not meant to be a part of your team, will not be, no matter how good you are approaching people!
3. I learned that no matter what business we are in, direct sales or not, or even in a job situation – people are people. There are people who do the right things, and there are people who do the wrong things, and this business is no exception, but it doesn’t make it “bad”. It simply exposes the truth faster ( from my experience anywhere).
4. Just like I said before: people are people… And the hard truth is – there is always a possibility that those who you though were your friends and great business colleagues, can stab you in the back… It goes for any business and any job. What I learnt in the situation is that there were really good things that came out of it – I had people who came through that particular couple who stayed in my business, grew further as leaders and I had an opportunity to travel and see amazing places! Yes – EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON!
5. Having a great Leader is important in our industry. However, when things changed (when my sponsor was no longer in my company), great things also opened up. I had the privilege to work with another amazing Leader, who also became my mentor. Sadly, she passed away and that was very unexpected… but I learned to take responsibility for my business and step up into a different level of Leadership myself. 
6. When the income I created started dropping down, it was very difficult. However, what I came to realise is that when you put in place a good foundation with the right company, no matter the challenges, the income will still be there. It did drop for a while but never disappeared (after all, $6,000+ per month was still better than many incomes from jobs!). After that – the key was to continue, not to stop. Just like with shares, you don’t want to sell them at the lowest point, you hold on to them! So I decided to HOLD ON and rebuilt my business! The company also restructured into a different model just after I rebuilt my business, so I had to rebuild it again to fit into a new Marketing Plan! It was painful for a little while and my income dropped again while I was adapting to the new business model, but the change itself was very good. I am glad that I don’t have to hire hotel rooms any more – everything we do now is so much easier, through Social Media, virtual rooms, webinars… totally global business! But I still love to travel and meet my many teams in different countries in person… what a rewarding experience!
7. I now realise that I don’t “control” my business in the sense that I dictate others what to do. I can only control what I do personally, and trust that everything that is meant to be always will be. One thing I am certain of is that WHEN A GOOD BUSINESS DECISION REQUIRES YOU TO COMPROMISE YOUR VALUES, IT’S NOT A GOOD BUSINESS DECISION. 

Despite all those challenges – we still created a 7-figure income and learnt a great deal about ourselves and others in the process! If we could do it – anyone can do it!

Stay true to yourself, go for your dreams and if your heart tells you to go for a business opportunity, go for it! No matter the challenges, you can still CREATE THE LIFE THAT YOU DESIRE!!! 

This is me with my 4th car paid for by my company… I now have a “Lifestyle Bonus” instead of a car payment to use on whatever I want…

This is a very good question! Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with information presented to us through media, TV commercials, friend’s opinions, family influences, to name a few, that the easiest thing to do is to avoid making a decision.

So I will break it down into a few segments.

Why did we start with this particular company in a first place while there are so many companies out there? 

It wasn’t the first Direct Sales company that my husband and I came across. We were approached by a couple of our friends after we settled in Australia, found jobs and were financially “ok”,  with information about other products and opportunities,  but we just could not resinate with what was on offer even when products sounded good and it seemed that there were people in those companies making money.

What stood out for us when we were given information about THIS company, we were impressed, to say the least. And not even impressed by the lifestyle and income, which was quite evident, but the philosophy and mission behind the products.

It truly resinated with us that the products were clean, a great enhancement for our health, environmentally friendly and from many different ranges, so that there was something for everyone and people already would use similar products, so it would be as simple as changing brands and using better, cleaner, less toxic and more environmentally friendly products for their families!

So common sense made us want to at least give the products a go! Plus we found that the prices were extremely affordable as the formulas were so concentrated that they definitely worked out to be a much better value per usage than anything else we used before.

What made us continue using the products?

What we personally experienced was nothing short of a miracle… My migraines of many years of suffering disappeared within about a month of using a range of products that seemed to balance my body in a way that made me feel alive again – with more energy and vitality and less tiredness. Our then 10 y.o. son, who suffered from severe asthma, all of a sudden stopped having his asthma attacks and, to be honest, we though it was a “coincidence”, or, perhaps, it so happened that he suddenly ” grew out of it” as we read somewhere that it was possible sometimes…until we realised that our daughter’s mild asthma and hay fever was also gone, and she was 15.  Another “coincidence”?

This was only the beginning. In my 15 plus years I have seen so many “coincidences” that  for m,e as a mathematician, it would be totally inappropriate to reject the clear and obvious correlation between using the products and improved health.

Yes, we started making money as well, because we saw the results of the products on ourselves and naturally shared with our friends and family. However, no money in the world would keep us with the company if it didn’t deliver great results with the products.

What made us stay for a LONG time and continue using the products and sharing the mission of the brand?

Every company goes through different stages of growth and transformation, sometimes challenges as well. During those challenges I asked myself a question: should I stay or should I explore what is out there? And then I would always ask myself: but … what about the products???

I even did a research a couple of times, to see – if I was to leave my company (yes I had those crazy thoughts!), where would I buy similar products? And the answer was: NOWHERE!!! 

You see, there is always a possibility in ANY company that there can be potentially challenging times, and every company has different cycles, but what I know for sure is that despite challenges, my personal as well when things didn’t go to plan, I always wanted to purchase products of my company myself and I still had people in my team and my customers purchasing as well. So, despite some ups and downs, I always had my bonus cheque together with my favourite clean, healthy,  quality products!

I also found in the process, that from a business perspective, this company provides a recession-proof opportunity. People might not buy cars of houses or go on international trips when the times are tough, but they always buy everyday products, and they still want to be healthy and well.

I also actually like that we had been through some challenges, because now I know that our company is so solid that even through difficult times, including recession, not only they survived, but actually grew into a whole new re-branded and improved brand and now going forward so fast that it blows my mind off!

So, based on my first hand experiences, I would suggest to look for an opportunity that is backed up not only by a great Marketing Plan to provide income for those who want it, but also has a very unique product range or service that is in high demand and cannot be obtained anywhere else.

Because no matter how good the promise of the Marketing Plan is, if it’s not backed up by a unique product range that impacts people on a scale that they never stop purchasing it, the whole business can collapse in an instant when people lose interest in the business, because they would see no reason to continue purchasing products of no unique/high value.

The only good reason to stay in the same company for a long time is a total uniqueness of the whole product paradigm with high delivery on the promises – both from business and product perspective.

So step into finding your great company if you have an “urge” to become an entrepreneur in a great industry of Direct Sales and CREATE THE LIFE THAT YOU DESIRE!!!

From my personal perspective , I know that it would be extremely difficult to build my business without a Business Coach and a Mentor.

In my industry people often think that Coach and Mentor are the same things, however , there is a difference. A Coach is somebody who helps you achieve results as fast as possible, reach a certain objective, often short-term. This is about keeping you accountable and focused on the task, challenging you and making you move forward even when you don’t feel like it.

A Mentor to me is a person who is always there for you, to help you through some emotional roller-coasters not only in the business, but also in life, a person who is mentoring you through challenges with or without you producing results, even when you don’t want to produce results and remain in so called “resistance” stage of your journey.

In Direct Sales these two often blend and now, being a leader of a large international team myself, I believe that I became more adaptable to be both, while in the past I felt very frustrated when people asked me for help to move forward, worked out the accountability schedule with me and then didn’t stick to it. In those cases, I had to step back being a “Coach” to help a team member reach their objective in that period of time, but remain a Mentor, continuing to guide them through challenging times of self- sabotage and self-doubt, before they were ready to step again into the business.

In our industry it is also very important to have a what is called a “3rd Party Edification”. You might be very good in promoting products or services of your company  but you cannot promote yourself. Who is going to edify, congratulate, support you? What happens when you reach your next level – are you going to do a big announcement telling everyone in your team how wonderful you are? If you work on your own, you shut down the most powerful tool of our business – 3rd party edification. People often believe you more when there is somebody with greater credentials and achievements than you. Even when you say and do all the right things, until you have your own success, great bonuses, winning lifestyle trips, having extra “perks” like a car or a lifestyle bonuses  – whatever your company offers, there is only so much you can do on your own.

So , I firmly believe that having a Coach and a Mentor is crucial, and the best person would be someone who has your interest in heart – meaning a leader who’s team you are in. It might be a person different from the one who linked you to the company, but has to be the one who is still interested in your business development. Unless you are prepared to hire somebody completely outside of the industry who had a great experience in the industry, but even then – they are not as interested in your results long term as somebody who benefits from your growth as a leader and creating more turnover in your organisation. And the best thing – you don’t even have to pay them!

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE? For me personally it was and still is finding the right balance between challenging somebody to move to a higher level in the business ( after all, that was our initial agreement when we set up that “accountability”/ “coaching and mentoring” schedule) and not “pushing” them when they start resisting my input.

However, no matter how good my intentions were to help somebody move up in the business, I still came across situations where all of a sudden there was some resistance from someone I would work with, and they would go “quiet” and sometimes even “disappear” from the business.

The fact is : YOU CANNOT PLEASE EVERYONE , so I learnt to accept that fact and continue working with those leaders who want to move forward, who are OK to have an honest conversation and accept that nobody is perfect, not even their leader!

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING – STAY IN THE GAME!!! Then, like many of us you can change your life forever, and CREATE THE LIFE THAT YOU DESIRE!

WHEN IT COMES TO CHOOSING A RIGHT COMPANY, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO DO A VERY  THOROUGH HOMEWORK AND FROM MY EXPERIENCE, THESE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT 7 KEYS THAT ABSOLUTELY MUST BE ” TICKED OFF” BEFORE STARTING WITH THE NEW OPPORTUNITY PRESENTED TO YOU:

1. Has the company got a proven track record ? I would personally like to see 10+ years.  Yes, I know – sometimes they say 5 years is enough, however I have seen people starting in a relatively new opportunity that is a few years old only to find out that despite the fact that it has a few years of operation, it doesn’t have a solid structure or proven track record, which leads to its collapse later on…  or perhaps it has been all this time in a “pre-launch” state without properly registering in particular markets, so it never officially opened. So I personally would look into companies with at least 10 years experience. It means that the products have been well-tested ( and not just clinically but by people using them and creating their personal, “over the years” feedback and stories), that there is an evidence of leaders making money ( or not – then you don’t even look further and look for another company).
2. Management of the company. Does the company have solid management and what is the financial situation of the company? Does it have funds to grow further? You might need to do a little bit more research into this and obtain information through the leadership of the company or the corporate team. Sometimes you need to take a risk and trust your “gut” feeling. Obviously, being in a business for at least 10 years will help to alleviate the risk as it is very likely that if the company has been growing for over 10 years, it will remain in good shape for another good interval of time after you start and your investment of time and effort ( and some money) will not be wasted.
3. Is there a UNIQUE MARKETING POSITION of the company in terms of products or services? My way of checking is to ask/check  if products/services like this are available anywhere else. If they are – how readily available? Why would people want to access these products or services from this company if they can access them from somewhere else? Personally, I am all for 100% uniqueness, and would not be interested in the companies with products or services that can be accessible outside of the company.
4. Are the products ethical and good to be associated with? What I mean by that is for me personally it is very important to represent the brand of products or a service that is not only unique, but unique in a good way – special in a way that they make other people using them either be healthier, or looking good in a natural healthy way, or advancing their live in an ethical way without compromising any values but rather enhancing them. Making money is great, but I want to feel good about what I am promoting and standing for, therefore this key is extremely important to me.
5. Can you generate fast immediate income? For quick business growth and to keep new people in the game, it is imperative to provide quick rewards for new people. If this doesn’t happen, people lose interest and quickly move to something else and you will forever be looking for new people to replace the ones who left. In my company, it is great to see new people making a lot of money quickly without even understanding the process of building a business. In fact, those who don’t even “build a business” on purpose, start making money and it takes them by surprise and encourages them to look deeper and take the business more seriously! It is great to have goals for a distant future, but often ( if not always) people want quick cash now!
6. Does the Marketing Plan provide long-term residual income? What happens when you reach one of the significant levels with great monthly bonuses and then decide to enjoy the lifestyle you created and stop participating actively in further developing your business? Over my 15 years in the industry, I came across a lot of former leaders from other companies who built their businesses and then due to some, sometimes unexpected, circumstances had to take a time off, only to come back to a heavily diminished business and bonus cheque ( if anything was left at all)! Check this one carefully as the whole idea of embarking on this journey of entrepreneurship is to create a residual income so that you can do things that are important to you after you build the business and the income will still continue to come even if you are not actively involved.
7. Does the team you are connecting with have a proven, simple, step-by-step system and active Leadership? Make sure that the leaders in the team not only teach others what to do, but demonstrate it themselves and have a simple, easy to duplicate system. Particularly now, with such a significant growth in Social Media marketing, it is more than ever important to have processes in place and a support from your leadership team, not only to get you started, but to get your business growing fast without you learning and doing everything, but rather “plugging” your new team members and customers into a well-designed support structure.