Today, I want to take a few moments and teach you how to assess the health of your MLM Business. Let me begin by telling you that it takes time, hard work and a lot of patience to build a large and profitable business of ANY kind, not just network marketing. Don’t believe me? Just ask any entrepreneur!
Most novice network marketers have unrealistic expectations about how quickly they can build a highly profitable business. The truth is Rome wasn’t built in a day. And just because your business isn’t making as much money as you want it to right now doesn’t mean you aren’t moving forward in the right direction. One of the best things you can do is learn patience and have vision.
You must see things before they exist if you ever want to be successful in life and you must have a realistic timeline for success.
That being said, there are a few things you can do to assess the health of your network marketing business right now. While the total number of distributors, number of active distributors and team volume are good starting points to assess, I think there is something even more important.
If you truly want to assess the health of your network marketing business you should track how many LEADERS you have in your group. In other words, how many distributors do you have that are independent of you, that are showing their own plans each month, that are actively recruiting new distributors and customers each month, and are taking accountability of their own business?
This is the true measure to the success of your business, as I see it. You should be able to look down each leg of your organization and know exactly how many leaders you have in each leg. And your goal should be to grow the amount of leaders you have in your group every month.
Distributors are a dime a dozen. And they come and go all the time. But leaders are what launches your business, gives you consistent growth and gives you long-term security and profitability. Your real goal as a distributor is to grow and find leaders. Study any top earner and you will quickly discover that they have hundreds of leaders in their organization. The kingpins have thousands of leaders in their group.
Starting this month, keep track of how many leaders you have in your organization. Map it out on a piece of paper each month and monitor your progress. Make it a goal to find one new leader in each leg of your organization every month. Do that for a couple years and you will have a HUGE team.
Now, keep in mind that most people are not leaders. For every 20 or 30 reps in your group you might have one leader. That’s okay. To find more leaders you need to give your group time to grow. Leaders will lead you to other leaders. Non-producing distributors can lead you to other leaders.
Whenever a leader “pops up” in your group, initiate a friendship with them and offer your ongoing support. They probably won’t want help (because they are a leader), but offer it anyway. Try to cultivate a friendship with these producers. It will take time and it won’t happen overnight, but it is time and money well spent.
At the end of the day, distributors come and go all the time. But leaders are the ones that propel your organization and add hundreds, even thousands of new distributors to you group. Keep track of your leaders every month and do what you can to cultivate lasting relationships with them. This is the small group of people that will generate most of the volume in your bonus check!
On a side note, I am not telling you to ignore or mistreat your non-producing distributors. Treat them well and help them. Just realize that “most” of your check comes from the work of your leaders.
What are your thoughts? How do you assess the health of your own network marketing business? Leave a comment below to let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you.
Chuck Holmes
20+ Year Network Marketing Professional
Top Earner & Top Recruiter
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
P.S. Learn how to grow a successful network marketing business. Secret tips, training, and practical ideas. Free training delivered by email.
The health of a business is very important and often, network marketers neglect checking the health aspect of their business.
You mentioned finding the leaders and offering your help or assistance whenever they need. As you stated, most leaders will not need or want the help; this is why they are leaders.
Something you may think of is to develop something you need help with. Most leaders have a “need” to help others, and if you come to them seeking their help or opinion, this will give them more inspiration. Just knowing that you need them will create more excitement and motivation.
Great points, Greg.
Charles, I do understand what you are getting at here. Most people look at the health of the business solely in monetary terms. However, I have found that assessing the business in terms of its potential to grow and sustain itself is a more accurate measure. If you are making a lot of money but you’re the one doing all of the work, I wouldn’t necessarily consider that to be healthy. Meanwhile, if you have a business with distributors who are self-directed then that says a lot for your business’ ability to sustain itself and continue to grow.
To succeed in any business you have to have the long term view. And in our industry, leaders are the most important thing.