Leaders have a responsibility to their group both to train them and provide support in building a successful business, but an even greater responsiblity to make sure they have selected the right business to build for their group, one that has a decent chance to survive and one that does not require a rep to be a superstar to generate a profit.
So many leaders are only focused on company criteria that benefits them which I consider very short-sighted. Look at the history of the leader and see how many companies they have been successful at and why they switched companies. The "why they switched" can be problematic because like any divorce, there are always two sides to the issue and the truth is typically somewhere in the middle.
If the leader is very successful in the mlm industry they are constantly being offered leadership positions by other companies, usually very large and typically secret signing bonuses are paid and they are frequently "positioned" in their new company. A very large "juice" company is known to gather top talent this way and the strategy took them from being an obscure, struggling company to becoming a massive company in just a few years. That strategy has served the company and the "bought and paid for" leaders very well, unfortunately their distributor base is starving and their attrition rate is mind numbing.
What constitutes a good mlm company?
First and foremost is company lifecycle timing. New companies are a dime a dozen and their failure rate is 95% in their first 3 years and 98% in 5 years according to the mlm industry trade group, the MLMIA. Obviously the most dangerous company to work with is a company under 5 years of age regardless of what the leaders and owners say. Case in point is Eiro Research.
Building a company that is mature is a safe bet but a tough road to profits. The sweet spot in a company's lifecycle for distributors is after 5 years of age and immediately before and during that company's rapid growth phase that is called "momentum". The distributor's efforts are greatly multiplied by the company's rapid growth and as all are well aware, growth in the mlm industry is geometric, not arithmetic. That is why most distributors who experience great success in mlm achieved it by building a team with a company in "momentum".
There are many other vital factors including corporate leadership and reputation, owner's experience and reputation, financial stability and ability to access growth funding, field leadership experience and reputation, product positioning, market positioning and more.
I can tell you from too many past experiences that ALL the stars have to line up when you select a company or your efforts are doomed. I am not expert in what happened to Eiro Research but it is very evident they did not have the money available to make it through the slowest time in sales for all mlm companies, Thankgiving through mid-January. There were probably other factors in play that I am not aware of but when you can't pay rent or headquarters go dark, the end is imminent.
It will be interesting to see where the Eiro Research leaders lead their teams. Ty Tribble and Bo Short have huge reputations in the mlm industry but have also made their share of missteps in selecting what companies to build, most recently in selecting Eiro Research. Top leaders like Ty and Bo always land on their feet and are in huge demand by young companies and startups because they have large followings and know how to attract new distributors quickly. You can bet they are getting piles of offers.
So what is a network marketer to do when their company goes belly up?
The most important thing for them to do is their own research. Stop playing "follow the leader" because the leaders are typically doing what is best for them, not what is best for a distributor who is trying to make it in this dynamic industry.
Over 30 years of experience is speaking when I tell you to avoid any company below 5 years of age and any company that is past momentum (usually over 12 years old). It is very disheartening to put a pile of time, money and effort into building a distribution business and have the company turn out the lights and with a young company you have only a 2% chance of long term success. Those are really bad odds and are completely beyond your control other than it being your responsibility to research and select the right company.
It took us almost 35 years to find the right company and we are happy to share it with you. Take some time to examine our website: http://www.mysunshinehealth.com/ and give us a call to see if it is a "fit" for you too.
Network marketing is hard work and anyone who succeeds in it has my respect. Just make sure you fill in all the blanks and dot all the I's when you select your MLM company.
