This past Saturday as the first real northeast storm of the winter was making its way up the East coast I willed myself out of bed at 4am and after a quick bite to eat my lovely wife of 23 years drove me to Logan airport to catch an early flight to Baltimore. The plan was a quick round trip to attend a conference not far from Camden Yards. What was not so clear was if I’d be able to make it home later in the day so some spare clothes came along just in case. Fortunately all went well and I did make it home in one piece after one of the roughest plane rides I have ever experienced.
The name of the conference,” How To Prosper In the New Economy”. To my wife’s question (thinking of the flying conditions), “is this really necessary to attend?” My answer, as a former sales executive turned entrepreneur now with an online business working from home, was absolutely! She reluctantly agreed but what about this New Economy she wanted to know. To put it simply I replied, “Remember when you came home from the store last week complaining about the cost of a gallon of milk being over $5.00 and a dozen eggs over $3.00? That’s the new economy” I said.
As a new entrepreneur I wanted to know everything I can about how to prosper in it! I’d heard that John Lavenia was very successful in the direct sales business and I liked the title of the conference. The fact he is heavily involved with a top tier direct sales company that I admire only elevated him in my opinion. I knew he’d put in a plug for his company and that was okay with me. I was more interested in his message about how to make a difference and prosper in this new economy to insure that my home business would also be a successful online business.
The message that John was there to deliver is that there is plenty of opportunity for success, and the direct sales industry is the way to go if you are looking for above average return for your efforts. The attraction for people looking to strike out on their own, put simply, is low investment (as opposed to franchising), the ability to begin part time, and work from home.
The success rate for those who begin is low (more on that in a moment). However the rewards for those who persist and get it right put them in the top 1% of income earners. According to John the biggest difference between those who succeed and those that don’t is mindset. Are you in or are you out, there is no middle ground. He feels there are two groups of people. Those who are affected by their circumstances and claim to have no control and those who cause their circumstances and have almost complete control.
When that entrepreneurial spark strikes, everyone starts with high hopes and dreams of success. Then they tell their friends and family what they want to do. Instead of a supportive reaction all they get is something like “why would you want to do that?” or “those things never work and you already have a good job”. Enter the sheeple, people who let the circumstances of their lives control what they do (aka the effected).
The truth is that if you really want what that entrepreneurial lifestyle you must be willing to do more than most others and you have to become a causer. In most cases that does not necessarily mean work harder, but it does mean you have to learn how to work smarter, be more persistent and be careful who your friends are. More on that in my next post.
