Why NWM?
You may be wondering why the Network Marketing Platform has been chosen to promote both WinWin Community Trading Networks and to build the Empress Project.
Many people wanting to set up a business soon come up against a major hurdle ... seed money to get their project off the ground. Banks are famous for loaning money to people who don't need it. Angel financiers often want your heart and soul as well as a big chunk of your business. While there are occasions when this is by far the smartest way to go it depends on what the 'business' is and what the 'angels' can bring to the party. So, many of those wonderful ideas which may have great merit never see the light of day. Of those that do prevail, some 90% are so fragile that they are unable to survive the customer drought of those first few months. They know that they have something of value to offer but nobody out there knows because they lack the means to tell them. Potentially great ideas simply wither, die and vanish into oblivion ... often at crippling financial loss to 'doers' who deserve better.
The two big enemies of a start up business - adequate finance and publicity.
Therin lies the answer to choosing NWM for the Empress Project.
I want to take a look at two business platforms which have much in common. Franchising and Network Marketing.
Arthur Shoppenauer concluded that many great new ideas go through three stages: First, they are ridiculed, If they survive this stage they move on to the Second: they are vehmently opposed, If they somehow survive this onslaught they emerge to the Third stage where they are accepted as if it were always so. An example of this: We know that the Earth is round! We would ridicule anyone who suggests otherwise. Yes, we all know that now, but it was not always so. Some unfortunate folk were burned at the stake for making such an outrageous claim! They all laughed at Christopher Columbus ...
Franchising, as a business platform, has passed through all three stages and has finally won acceptance in the marketplace. Franchising offers a wanna-be entreprenneur the opportunity to tap into a proven business model and gets support of the parent franchisor in the early days when the going is tough, This gives the newby franchisee a better than 80% chance of success but it often comes with a hefty price tag in the form of substantial up front franchise cost and an ongoing percentage of turnover that is paid to the franchisor. The other big plus in the franchise model is that advertsing and marketing cost is decimated. One promotion campaign benefits all fanchise members so the cost is a fraction of what it would cost an individual entreprenneur who establishes his own brand. The other down side is that you are NOT A FREE AGENT. You have to dance to the tune that the franchisor plays. In this franchising is not unlike all business undertakings ... there are the good, the bad, and the ugly. There is an argument that claims you could be better off as a branch manager for a 'big Gorilla' brand company, get a good salary, lots of perks, be able to knock off at 5, have none of your own capital at risk, have no worries, sleep well.!
Network Marketing can be viewed as franchising's kid brother. Still growing up and probably somewhere between stage two and three of Shoppenauer's stages..... vehmently opposed by some, accepted by others. All this with thanks to the intrepid senior citizens of NWM who blazed the trail for others to follow.
There is no doubt that the major barrier to NWM as a business platfrom still resides in the misunderstanding with regard to NWM and Pyramid schemes.
Although this has been clarified elsewhere the myth still persists so there is no harm in adding yet another push here to get NWM up and over the hill into the valley of clear thinking.
First, the pyramid structure is applicable to almost every business platform, political grouping, sport teams, families ..... It's hard to find a gathering of people that is not pyramidal... socially or financially!
Second, the word 'scheme' is incorrectly applied. A scheme is the gathering together of a number of elements to achieve a defined result. For example there might be a feeding scheme set up to feed the destitute. A source of food, a place to prepare and distribute, people to do it, etc all have to be organised for the end purpose to be achieved. Clearly in this example the purpose is a noble one. An illegal, undesirable pyramid scheme should be correctly titled 'a pyramid scam' The word 'scam' defines an undesirable activity in which the scamster uses a scheme to achieve an ignoble result. Usually this means that they get your money without any quid pro quo. In our society we even have legalized scams ... they are called lotteries. Some traditional small, big, and very big businesses also qualify.
The other frequent negative image of NWM is that of having a garage full of (expensive) product which no one wants to buy! There is no doubt that this has happened to many people, more in the past than in todays NWM models. I have to be cruel here and say that anyone who has a garage full of products is the victim of his or her own GREED ... and that of the person who fanned those flames of greed to satisfy theirs.
Network Marketing is a legal business platform, and as such is neither good nor bad. It is what people involved in it DO that determines that state of being.
There are a number of reasons for using NWM as a business platform:
> Either cost free or very low cost to get involved
> No risk of large capital loss in event of failure
> Offers total flexibility with regard to how you choose to do the work required
> Often reqires no inventory investment to get started
> Is structured in such a way that you have a support group of other people
> Promotion is primarily 'word of mouth'
> Can be operated from anywhere in the world.
> You can use the internet as a 'selling' platform.
> Costs incurred can be claimed as tax deductions.
> No business premises required.
> No employees required
> Minimal legal compliance agravation (operate as cc or t/a)
> Takes the product or products being marketed out of the competitive 'multiple choice' marketplace.
> Having a garage or shed to store tons of products is not a requirement!
Those are a few good reasons for using this platform but there is a downside often raised when NWM is discussed:
Owing to the infinite levels of participants it can be shown that within a short period several times the population of the earth will be involved and then the pyramid collapses. This of course is true, but will never happen.
Consider the cell phone ... a device not more than a decade old. Already in SA, some 80% of economically active people have a cell phone yet almost every shop and a fair number of stand alone cell phone shops are still doing a roaring trade. This pyramid has to tumble, not so? Well there is no sign of it happening yet. When it does what will happen? Those shops that find the cell business no longer profiable will close that section of their business. In a NWM enterprise exactly the same will happen. If you are in any business and the demand for that product falls or is hugely oversupplied or has too many people trying to market it, some of these people will quit.
Another issue, which again relates to Greed, is that of overstated earnings. While it is possible to earn very large incomes it depends on a number of factors, not least of which is your own effort and persistence in the business. No one out there is doing this purely to be good to you. You are expected to do your share - that's an implied part of the deal. If a business is your very own brainchild and you don't earn as much as you expected or it fails, or, or, or ... same thing. Change your way of doing things or move on.
Already noted above is the stat that 80% of all small business start-ups fail in the first year. This same stat applies to people who get involved in NWM. It is after all just another business platform, not a 'get rich quick' scheme or absolute guarantee of success. What you put in is what you get out.
If you look around you will discover that most of the people who enjoy both abundant wealth and time for a superior lifestyle are doing business that gives as much, if not more, than it takes.
In the words of Wallace Wattles, author of 'The Science of Getting Rich" "Always give more in 'use value' than you take in cash value"
Cooperative Commerce is the commerce of sharing while Compeiative commerce is the commerce of denying.
Remember ... Ten percent of Something is better than a hundred percent of Nothing!
NETWORK MARKETING makes good sense.
.
Many people wanting to set up a business soon come up against a major hurdle ... seed money to get their project off the ground. Banks are famous for loaning money to people who don't need it. Angel financiers often want your heart and soul as well as a big chunk of your business. While there are occasions when this is by far the smartest way to go it depends on what the 'business' is and what the 'angels' can bring to the party. So, many of those wonderful ideas which may have great merit never see the light of day. Of those that do prevail, some 90% are so fragile that they are unable to survive the customer drought of those first few months. They know that they have something of value to offer but nobody out there knows because they lack the means to tell them. Potentially great ideas simply wither, die and vanish into oblivion ... often at crippling financial loss to 'doers' who deserve better.
The two big enemies of a start up business - adequate finance and publicity.
Therin lies the answer to choosing NWM for the Empress Project.
I want to take a look at two business platforms which have much in common. Franchising and Network Marketing.
Arthur Shoppenauer concluded that many great new ideas go through three stages: First, they are ridiculed, If they survive this stage they move on to the Second: they are vehmently opposed, If they somehow survive this onslaught they emerge to the Third stage where they are accepted as if it were always so. An example of this: We know that the Earth is round! We would ridicule anyone who suggests otherwise. Yes, we all know that now, but it was not always so. Some unfortunate folk were burned at the stake for making such an outrageous claim! They all laughed at Christopher Columbus ...
Franchising, as a business platform, has passed through all three stages and has finally won acceptance in the marketplace. Franchising offers a wanna-be entreprenneur the opportunity to tap into a proven business model and gets support of the parent franchisor in the early days when the going is tough, This gives the newby franchisee a better than 80% chance of success but it often comes with a hefty price tag in the form of substantial up front franchise cost and an ongoing percentage of turnover that is paid to the franchisor. The other big plus in the franchise model is that advertsing and marketing cost is decimated. One promotion campaign benefits all fanchise members so the cost is a fraction of what it would cost an individual entreprenneur who establishes his own brand. The other down side is that you are NOT A FREE AGENT. You have to dance to the tune that the franchisor plays. In this franchising is not unlike all business undertakings ... there are the good, the bad, and the ugly. There is an argument that claims you could be better off as a branch manager for a 'big Gorilla' brand company, get a good salary, lots of perks, be able to knock off at 5, have none of your own capital at risk, have no worries, sleep well.!
Network Marketing can be viewed as franchising's kid brother. Still growing up and probably somewhere between stage two and three of Shoppenauer's stages..... vehmently opposed by some, accepted by others. All this with thanks to the intrepid senior citizens of NWM who blazed the trail for others to follow.
There is no doubt that the major barrier to NWM as a business platfrom still resides in the misunderstanding with regard to NWM and Pyramid schemes.
Although this has been clarified elsewhere the myth still persists so there is no harm in adding yet another push here to get NWM up and over the hill into the valley of clear thinking.
First, the pyramid structure is applicable to almost every business platform, political grouping, sport teams, families ..... It's hard to find a gathering of people that is not pyramidal... socially or financially!
Second, the word 'scheme' is incorrectly applied. A scheme is the gathering together of a number of elements to achieve a defined result. For example there might be a feeding scheme set up to feed the destitute. A source of food, a place to prepare and distribute, people to do it, etc all have to be organised for the end purpose to be achieved. Clearly in this example the purpose is a noble one. An illegal, undesirable pyramid scheme should be correctly titled 'a pyramid scam' The word 'scam' defines an undesirable activity in which the scamster uses a scheme to achieve an ignoble result. Usually this means that they get your money without any quid pro quo. In our society we even have legalized scams ... they are called lotteries. Some traditional small, big, and very big businesses also qualify.
The other frequent negative image of NWM is that of having a garage full of (expensive) product which no one wants to buy! There is no doubt that this has happened to many people, more in the past than in todays NWM models. I have to be cruel here and say that anyone who has a garage full of products is the victim of his or her own GREED ... and that of the person who fanned those flames of greed to satisfy theirs.
Network Marketing is a legal business platform, and as such is neither good nor bad. It is what people involved in it DO that determines that state of being.
There are a number of reasons for using NWM as a business platform:
> Either cost free or very low cost to get involved
> No risk of large capital loss in event of failure
> Offers total flexibility with regard to how you choose to do the work required
> Often reqires no inventory investment to get started
> Is structured in such a way that you have a support group of other people
> Promotion is primarily 'word of mouth'
> Can be operated from anywhere in the world.
> You can use the internet as a 'selling' platform.
> Costs incurred can be claimed as tax deductions.
> No business premises required.
> No employees required
> Minimal legal compliance agravation (operate as cc or t/a)
> Takes the product or products being marketed out of the competitive 'multiple choice' marketplace.
> Having a garage or shed to store tons of products is not a requirement!
Those are a few good reasons for using this platform but there is a downside often raised when NWM is discussed:
Owing to the infinite levels of participants it can be shown that within a short period several times the population of the earth will be involved and then the pyramid collapses. This of course is true, but will never happen.
Consider the cell phone ... a device not more than a decade old. Already in SA, some 80% of economically active people have a cell phone yet almost every shop and a fair number of stand alone cell phone shops are still doing a roaring trade. This pyramid has to tumble, not so? Well there is no sign of it happening yet. When it does what will happen? Those shops that find the cell business no longer profiable will close that section of their business. In a NWM enterprise exactly the same will happen. If you are in any business and the demand for that product falls or is hugely oversupplied or has too many people trying to market it, some of these people will quit.
Another issue, which again relates to Greed, is that of overstated earnings. While it is possible to earn very large incomes it depends on a number of factors, not least of which is your own effort and persistence in the business. No one out there is doing this purely to be good to you. You are expected to do your share - that's an implied part of the deal. If a business is your very own brainchild and you don't earn as much as you expected or it fails, or, or, or ... same thing. Change your way of doing things or move on.
Already noted above is the stat that 80% of all small business start-ups fail in the first year. This same stat applies to people who get involved in NWM. It is after all just another business platform, not a 'get rich quick' scheme or absolute guarantee of success. What you put in is what you get out.
If you look around you will discover that most of the people who enjoy both abundant wealth and time for a superior lifestyle are doing business that gives as much, if not more, than it takes.
In the words of Wallace Wattles, author of 'The Science of Getting Rich" "Always give more in 'use value' than you take in cash value"
Cooperative Commerce is the commerce of sharing while Compeiative commerce is the commerce of denying.
Remember ... Ten percent of Something is better than a hundred percent of Nothing!
NETWORK MARKETING makes good sense.
.
WinWinCommunity.com
