Is Joining an MLM a Good Business Opportunity?

​You’ve seen them around. You’ve gotten plenty of party invites. And you might be even envious of someone on social media bragging about this new life changing opportunity. Yes, friends, I’m talking about MLMs. So let’s dig into it. Attending a party is one thing, but is jumping into a multi-level marketing company a good business move? 

This post may include affiliate links in which we earn a small commission without any additional cost to you. All opinions are our own. ​

​First, what’s an MLM?
According to Wikipedia:

​"Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called pyramid selling, network marketing, and referral marketing, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services where the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling the company's products/services, while the earnings of the participants are derived from a pyramid-shaped or binary compensation commission system."

What makes MLMs unique? You can earn revenue two ways in an MLM: selling products and/or  recruiting other consultants to join you.

Now that we got that out of the way, you want to learn more about this opportunity. You’re intrigued, you want to learn more, right? Well before you jump in head first at this amazing opportunity, know what you’re getting into. 

Here’s three reasons why you should think twice about joining an MLM:

1) You have no control over your products

​You’re selling someone else’s products. You don’t get to pick the manufacturer, ingredients, name, price, description, or even how many you should stock. Someone else makes all those decisions. In my own business when I get a batch of slow moving inventory, I can discount it, move it out, and never buy it again. In an MLM you’re stuck buying the same products over and over. This flaw is what has killed many Lularoe “businesses”. 

I can't recommend this mini-documentary on Lularoe on Amazon Prime Video enough! So fascinating to watch! Best part is Amazon video is included in your Prime membership. 

​You might be thinking “but these products are premium! I’ll have no issue selling them, they sell themselves!” Ask yourself this: if they are so excellent, why aren’t they on store shelves? If they sell themselves, what does the company need you for?  

2) You have no control over your messaging or branding

​In a legitimate business you get total control over your messaging and branding. If you tried the color pink but realized your customers didn’t like it so you switched to blue, you can do that. In an MLM you get no decision making power on messaging or branding. You also cannot participate in traditional marketing. You do not get to do social media ads, email marketing, or news pitches. At some MLMs, you’re not even allowed to sell products at vendor shows. You’re at the mercy of the higher ups. Lots of women get involved in MLMs because they are promised freedom, but sadly the opposite is true. 

3) Income is largely based on recruiting, not sales

In an MLM you recruit your friends and contacts to become part of the company. In an MLM, any warm body is a “business opportunity”. Friends from high school? Absolutely. Co-workers? You bet. Fellow church members? You know it. Neighbor you’ve talked to exactly twice? Yessir. Random guy sitting at McDonald’s? Yep, him too. 

While networking can be an important part of entrepreneurship, it’s not the end all, be all. In fact, in a legitimate business you don’t want to sell to just “any warm body”. That can hurt your business instead of helping it. You only want to sell and market to your identified target market, which is rarely your friends and family. 

4) You're more likely to win at the casino, literally

​According to this study of over two million tax returns, 99% of participants of MLMs are LOSING money! You are more likely to win at the casino than succeed in an MLM. Most participants do not get their initial investment back. In one particular MLM, even if you’re in the top 1% of distributors, you could still be losing over $14,000 a year. 

Yes, business requires some financial investment. All of those risks should be calculated, and I’m a big fan of doing business debt free. The important thing is that as a legitimate business owner at any time you can cut back your expenses or quit without fear of intimidation.

All MLMs have complicated compensation plans that more closely relate to the gamification you’ll see at casinos and in buyer rewards programs than a legitimate business structure. 

5) Ultimately you're not the owner

​Even though you signed up for a “business opportunity”, ultimately you’re not the business owner. At best, you’re a salesman for someone else’s company. And guess what? The salesman at Mercedes Benz doesn’t have to buy his own inventory before selling it. MLM’s would have a more accurate name if they renamed their business as a buyer’s club. For signing up, you get a discount on products and the more you buy, the more your recruits buy, and the more recruits you have, you get bigger commissions. 

So at this point, you can probably guess my stance on MLMs. If you’re not in an MLM, I cannot advise you against it enough. It’s actually in my policy to not coach anyone trying to grow their MLM "businesses". It’s not because I don’t like you, I just don't like MLMs and their predatory nature. From a business perspective, you simply don’t have enough control over your business for my coaching to help you. If you love your company and want to earn the revenue that you were promised, go talk with the person who recruited you. They should be the one to coach and mentor you. But if you’re not happy with your position in an MLM and want out, I can help you create your own business, turning your own passion into profit. Id be more than happy to help you make the switch! Let’s talk! 

I help women who want to turn their passion into profit take their next steps with clarity and confidence using business planning, strategy, marketing, coaching and accountability. 

Your first call is free, I’d love to get to know you and your business and see if I’m the right coach for you! 

​Hey! I’m Christine. I’m a small business coach who helps women who are new to business turn their passion into profit. Your first coaching call with me is completely free, and it’s not a sales pitch. Let me help you sift through the mental clutter and come up with a plan that’ll help you turn your passion into a profitable business.

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