*The more I write here with the intention to help and warn others not to make similar mistakes, the more I also get the feeling that it’s actually a letter from my mature self, to my younger self if that makes sense… and it’s been quite therapeutic doing so too.
So, with that said, hopefully it may also offer some helpful tips and advice in some capacity if you may have been feeling the same way too. – Warmest regards, Chris 🙂
The path of an entrepreneur can often feel very lonely at times, and understandably during some of our darkest times of struggle, it can be really confusing and difficult to know what to do or where to turn next. This can strongly influence our decision making and even cause us to act impulsively, which may not always be in our best interests when it comes to actioning our intentions to help achieve our goals.
So before I continue on, I firstly want to acknowledge you as a fellow entrepreneur. I already respect you immensely because of that and want you to know that even though it may be tough at the moment, you are strong, independent, driven, intelligent and most importantly worthy. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be here reading this.
You may also agree that being an entrepreneur is not something that one suddenly or simply chooses to be. I truly believe real entrepreneurs are born. No one can teach you how to be an entrepreneur, it’s just there from the beginning. That deep ingrained wiring that penetrates every molecule in our body is a very part of our soul and who we are at our very core. Even if we were never given a real opportunity to show it, we’ve always known it was there. Nothing can stop it and we instinctively grow more resilient and stubborn if we try. It’s just there whether we like it or not and the only thing we can really do is further educate ourselves, build upon our skills and continue developing our mindset to support our natural entrepreneurial drive and intuition.
Entrepreneurs are the impactors, the disruptors, the visionaries and natural born leaders who aspire to be more and in turn, create opportunity for others to benefit from. The most effective are results driven action takers that do what it takes to simply get shit done. The resilience and sheer determination of some entrepreneurs is truly something to behold and many have gone out and achieved what others have said they simply couldn’t or wouldn’t do, which is nothing short of inspiring to say the least.
It’s something to be very proud of because the common traits of many entrepreneurs tend to carry the innate ability to naturally influence, lead and achieve great things. The need to operate within highly ethical spaces that truly align with our own personal values and integrity is also imperative, so our moral compass doesn’t become disorientated by potential self-sabotaging decisions in brief moments of naivety or weakness.
Although many are naturally gifted, entrepreneurs are also human and we can all make mistakes. So, during our unique individual journey (and often steep learning curves), it’s not uncommon to find ourselves facing adversity at some stage in some capacity, possibly suffering from imposter syndrome alongside a rollercoaster of emotional and/or financial stages of vulnerability.
This is not weakness or uselessness or not being good enough. Far from it… it’s just life. Sometimes shit happens and we have to bear the brunt of it. The many learning curves most entrepreneurs have to endure can really suck and even set us back for a while… but that doesn’t mean it’s the end either and many of us will stubbornly refuse to give in, no matter what.
Our vulnerability is truly a strength, but it can also become a curse if we’re not careful.
Why is that exactly?
Because entrepreneurs generally see and identify with opportunities differently. Instead of shying away from them, many of us tend to focus towards them with genuine curiosity honed in like a stealthy special forces sniper with calculated precision ready to fire at just the right moment. We often interpret what others see and consider ‘impossible’ as a challenge that requires conquering, and many will stop at nothing to achieve that goal not just for the financial reward, but even more for the sense of accomplishment.
Therefore, we need to be careful because this same entrepreneurial drive and curiosity we possess can easily take over very quickly when presented with new opportunities. So, if we’re currently struggling and find ourselves in a vulnerable position emotionally and/or financially, we can become completely blind as to what’s really in front of us if we don’t fully understand it properly. Especially when our self-doubt has been tested or influenced in someway and we’ve been led to believe a perceived authority and seemingly respected & successful individual promotes as a ‘better and more intelligent’ option to progress forward.
You see, as entrepreneurs many of us have many positive attributes and often amazing resilience. However, that doesn’t mean we’re automatically immune to naivety and making unintentional mistakes, especially during our more inexperienced years where many learning curves exist. This includes the areas of business, developing our levels of emotional self-awareness as well as our fiscal awareness and responsibility… to name a few.
Entrepreneurs aren’t born knowing all of this. We may have the determination, ambition and drive but we still have to continually educate ourselves and master many skills amongst the many mistakes and learning lessons as we strive to progress forward.
Understandably, tough and challenging times can wreak havoc on anyone, playing nasty mind games that can negatively affect our levels of self-confidence, self-worth and self-esteem. It can also influence rash and impulsive decisions that we’d be a little more cautious about in different circumstances. Most entrepreneurs I’ve come across, including myself, have experienced this… more than a few times too!
I make mention of this because when it comes to the subject of using recruitment based strategies within the network marketing space, many up and coming entrepreneurs are under the impression they’re on the correct path, but have actually become susceptible to an obvious indoctrination that is simply not sustainable in business and there is rock-solid evidence of this. I understand this can be overwhelmingly difficult to hear right now, but this can also be absolutely heart breaking to observe from the outside when someone who cares very much for us can already see how it’s going to end up. This is why it feels particularly painful when it’s a deeply treasured loved one or friend that may see you struggling temporarily and tries to talk us out of something where the only thing we can see is a strong sense of possibility. Their intention is coming from a good place, as is yours and a communication breakdown can happen when we feel like they’re being negative and fearful and they think we simply want to switch off and refuse to hear any sound advice to help protect us from emotional and financial harm.
It can be very frustrating for both sides and sadly this very thing has caused many anger filled rifts and long term damage to many relationships. But I also this is also where genuine empathy, care and compassion plays a very important role in this situation, because, the really strange and surprising thing is this…
A new business opportunity to many entrepreneurs can, in fact, actually have many similarities to an addiction.
How is that exactly?
Because a lot of entrepreneurs often regard opportunities as an ally and for many a first option ‘go to’ for solving and even escaping difficult situations. This friend rather than foe relationship brings more excitement, hope and potential where we are more than happy to work an 80+ hour week for ourselves to avoid working a 40 hour one for someone else. Most of us also need our independence to think freely and build our own empires, rather than contributing to someone else’s at the expense of our precious time, energy and effort, which can often make us feel physically sick to the stomach. These are just a few of the qualities and characteristics that can make many entrepreneurs so unique and truly formidable.
But when it comes to taking on a business opportunity within a network marketing framework, whilst also nurturing a healthy dose of naivety… it can also have damaging side effects (just like an addiction) both emotionally and financially. It also has the potential to cause hurt to precious and treasured relationships around us.
For example… perhaps we’ve been encouraged to approach a close and trusted friend or family member, and then suddenly treating them as a recruitment target and presenting them with something they never asked for or requested any info about in the first place.
Now, speaking of first place, I’m going to be perfectly blunt here and put this as the NUMBER ONE FUCK UP you can make when trying to promote and generate an income using this type of strategy, which I hope you will eventually make the decision to steer well away from.
I have always strongly discouraged this practice even when I was involved in various network marketing ventures. It may work for a little while and get your hopes up, but expecting it to last from an ‘ethical and sustainable’ standpoint, is just not the reality. So if you are still going to pursue this path no matter what, please always lead with the product first and NEVER the opportunity.
And that is ONLY if they specifically ask you about it first without any manipulative prompting or curiosity generating questions too! I’ve actually been trained in this sort of unethical and manipulative crap when briefly operating within the sales division of a decent sized financial services organisation many years ago. During their highly questionable ‘sales training’ phase, they merely promoted this sort of manipulative behaviour as… ‘asking the right type of questions’… that are exclusively designed and carefully positioned to generate curiosity by creating / manufacturing a problem. This allows you to then exploit that curiosity and promote what you have to offer as a valuable ‘time limited’ solution. The uncomfortable feeling felt by most in the sales training room was astoundingly obvious (with a range of reactions from nervous giggles, looks of derision, blind nodding acceptance and so on), so needless to say… I lasted less than a week out on the road after questioning many of the sleazy unethical tactics, and was then told to pack my bags and piss off.
But that is the extent many people can become indoctrinated and blindly following whilst adamantly believing wholeheartedly in their own bullshit. That was a real eye-opener for me, but so grateful it happened due to what I could’ve become if I hadn’t been able to quickly identify what was really happening.
It was a good learning lesson indeed!
So in a network marketing opportunity, we can be strongly encouraged to adopt a ‘follow the system’ mentality often feeling obligated through rather heavy doses of biased motivation to go out and engage in what’s generally considered ‘ludicrous unethical self-sabotaging behaviour’ which appears to be rampant in the recruitment focused models and may end up as mentioned before, severely damaging or flat out destroying treasured and valued relationships as well as your own credibility.
This is also why you should never approach friends, family, close contacts etc. because although your intentions may be noble at the time, that feeling of you attempting to exploit your loved one for your own financial benefit and gain can really hurt (which is what is really happening here). Plus it will most likely remain as an ugly festering underlying silence (aka the elephant in the room) because they can feel manipulated, even if those feelings aren’t apparent at the time and end up creeping in later after they’ve had time to process everything and what you’ve managed to get them involved with.
This feeling of manipulation can also be felt a lot sooner, especially if you keep trying to convince them to be involved in something they simply don’t want to be a part of. Telling you ‘no’ can be very hard for them because they want to be supportive but don’t have the heart to tell you they simply don’t want to be directly involved because they don’t want to hurt your feelings either. That is NEVER a nice feeling and it sucks for both of you and in some cases may have a negative long term impact and side-effect of distrust that may never be reversed, which is devastating for both parties… so PLEASE DON’T DO THIS!
I’m not entirely sure how true this is (because it seems so outrageously ludicrous, preposterously absurd, lacks any sort of emotional intelligence and absolutely wreaks of desperation) however, I have come across some stories where some individuals involved in a network marketing venture will actually tell their downline newbies to keep carrying on similar a young child having a tantrum until a prospective family member signs up. Why anyone would actually do that (let alone recommend it as an effective selling strategy) is honestly so bizarre that it barely warrants a mention. Yet, it does happen… apparently. But that is the level of idiocy some may actually fall to with this sort of thing.
So you feel that you may have been indoctrinated by the workings of a recruitment focused scheme, then first and foremost, it’s important to know that it’s okay and it’s going to be okay because the simple fact is… we don’t know, what we don’t know and we can’t fix what we don’t acknowledge. But at least you now have an awareness of it and that is a powerful step forward in itself. So give yourself a pat on the back because now you’re fully aware of how moments of naivety, weakness and self-doubt can be easily exploited (even unintentionally from other good yet naïve people with good intentions) just by using a few well placed words, a little motivational enthusiasm and unfortunately a completely ineffective and unethical strategy.
This is particularly important for the younger generation of up and coming entrepreneurs to understand because many haven’t experienced the challenges of operating a network marketing venture. But there’s plenty of sharks out there ready to have a good go at enticing you into a primarily recruitment-focused system, which is something we all need to steer well clear of. So please continue educating yourself, exercise discipline by not rushing into anything, and be very careful who you choose to trust!
Now if you are currently in a place of financial struggle and it’s playing games with your emotions, please understand that signing up to a new networking opportunity thinking it will fix your situation is NOT the right path at this time due to all of the reasons I have stated thus far with a few more to mention as well.
I’ve experienced this first hand as have many others and it will save you a lot of pain and anguish, particularly if those ‘sharing the system’ with you have something to gain directly or indirectly from your involvement, no matter how genuinely nice they are or seem to care.
And let’s be completely honest with each other here… Do we really want to be considered as THAT PERSON everyone wants to avoid who is also willing to exploit trusted loved one’s for their own personal financial gain?
Some will say it doesn’t bother them, but we all know most of them are not being 100% truthful. How could it not for a decent person with integrity, ethics and morals. But, let’s say it’s true and they simply don’t feel any sense of icky and uncomfortable guilt or remorse for what they’re doing. Well, those characteristics are in many cases directly associated to those with clear sociopathic / psychopathic behaviour.
Now after everything that’s been said, it should be pretty obvious that I’m trying to get you to steer clear from any sort of product / service based recruitment focused pyramid scheme.
But if you still insist on going against the grain (I do get it, because it’s like an unstoppable addiction that you still adamantly believe in), then I need you to please take note of the following to help protect yourself in some type of capacity…
Let’s start here…
When pursuing this path, we need to begin by executing some humility and be acutely aware by humbly acknowledging that if we’ll struggle to come up with the money just to be a RETAIL customer on an ongoing monthly basis, then it’s NOT the right time to pursue this opportunity. This is also referring to the money from our own pocket / bank account that has been generated from current monthly earnings (without using any form of credit whatsoever). That is not the wholesale price either. It’s based on the advertised RETAIL price.
*If you love budgeting like me (yes, I’m one of those weirdo’s… ha!), this will be easy because you should already have a meticulously maintained monthly budget where everything is tracked to the cent and balanced nicely. Therefore, you can ensure that your expenses don’t exceed your earned income. If you need a few more tips regarding financial literacy click here
So, why base the product / service purchase on the RETAIL price, rather than the wholesale price?
Because I want you to start building in an automated Financial Safety Buffer to help protect yourself a little more each month when making your product / service purchases and if it hasn’t already, it will soon become very clear as to why as you progress down the path with your chosen network marketing company.
Now if you discover that you’ll struggle to afford this retail purchase price, the reality is that you simply can’t afford to pursue this at the moment. There’s nothing to feel insecure or ashamed about. It’s actually a gift, so exercise every ounce of discipline you can possibly muster and just put it to the side for now. It’s perfectly okay, it’s not going anywhere. It will still be waiting for you when you are truly ready. It’s not a definitive ‘never going to happen’ thing. It’s simply just not the right time and again, that’s perfectly okay. You’re not going to miss out on anything because these types of recruiting schemes are consistently on the look out for new recruits at any time and at any chance they can get. So, be very careful not to fall for any unprofessional cheap and sleazy ‘fear of loss’ horseshit or internal ‘fear of missing out’ feelings because many unscrupulous types are absolute masters at manipulating with this kind of BS. But it’s negligible, null, void, nada, in this space because they’re ALWAYS RECRUITING and it NEVER stops.
I was once part of a company that actually promoted ‘Recruiting Blitzes’ where distributors were actively encouraged to go out and recruit as many new people as possible to receive extra generous bonuses in return for the effort. I never got involved in that because it went against everything I believe in and it was actually the straw that broke the camels back for me, but this is the type of thing you may also get exposed to… just as a heads up.
But, if by chance you find the company disappears before you get involved and begin representing it, then congratulations… you have just dodged a MASSIVE bullet. Lots of these recruitment-focused companies come and go all of the time or simply get shut down. I was involved in one of these for a very short period of time back in my younger naïve years but was able to quickly see the light and only lost a small amount of money (I think it was the sign-up fee if my memory serves correctly), before it was shut down after 11 years of screwing people over. You can check it out here if you want to know more about it.
Just as a side note: People who intentionally choose to promote an ‘opportunity’ using any sort of that fear of loss type crap in the network marketing space are… to be perfectly frank… absolute predatory unethical immoral scum of the earth bullshitting douchebags and we need to distance ourselves as far away as possible and immediately cut off all communication channels with them. They’ve already proven they don’t care about us by trying to rush us into a decision and not encouraging us to firstly take the time to do our due diligence and really suss things out thoroughly. If they claim to be completely legit, then we really have to start asking ourselves…
Why aren’t they 100% transparent about everything?
Why aren’t they giving me time to think about it?
Why are they in such a hurry to recruit me?
Why aren’t they encouraging me to thoroughly research the company they want me to be associated with and begin representing using my genuine authenticity, good reputation and credibility?
The simple fact is, they just want to use us because we’re just another number in their downline so they can make a decent amount of coin off us at our expense from our own individual product and/or service purchases.
However, there’s something a little more sinister going on here because by recruiting us directly into the business opportunity first, they have more of a chance of us sticking around. Why? Because now they can consistently pump us up with all sorts of cheesy motivational BS to keep us ‘believing’ that we can also ‘build a passive income from building our own team this way’ until we eventually quit. Then it’s just a rinse and repeat process by replacing you with some other poor sucker like a well-oiled unethical predatory machine.
But the one that really gets to me is this… ‘Believing that you’re actually offering a golden opportunity to others so they can also become wealthy!’
FFS… yeah well… you know what I believe. I believe THAT IS A COMPLETE AND UTTER LOAD OF BULLSHIT, obviously due to all the reasons presented thus far!
Would you really want to become someone that does that to other people? Seriously… what a completely shitty thing to do to someone. It’s hard to believe that anyone actually has the audacity to happily exploit others like that and then be proud of what they’ve achieved. I’d personally find it difficult to sleep at night if I ever did that, and if I’m going to be 100% honest, have come desperately close myself (on several occasions) to believing that it’s the right way to go.
As ethically driven entrepreneurs, we’re better than that and we deserve better than that!
But, unfortunately this sort of unethical garbage and brain washing still happens A LOT. That’s why I believe it’s important to speak up about a few things that’s obviously hurting others because they simply don’t know where to look or truly understand WHY it’s happening.
This is also why I have created a dedicated section on our website with some other alternative ideas to earn money ethically that don’t require you to recruit and build teams of sales reps who are also the customer or require you to go into large amounts of debt etc. I’ll be expanding on these as time goes on but hopefully there’s enough info there already to help you become more informed about different options and strategies you can use to generate income, BEFORE deciding to further explore any that spark your interest.
Now, if you’re currently dead set flat broke with no decent sort of liveable income coming in (maybe even struggling to feed yourself or pay important bills like I was many years ago), then please don’t even consider those alternative ways to earn money ethically either. Instead, try to seek out some sort of employment or something similar that pays you without you having to fork out a cent. This is VERY IMPORTANT if you’re currently in this predicament. Again it’s nothing to feel insecure or ashamed about because it’s not forever and it will get better because of your unwavering entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, you’re in a really great spot believe it or not, because you can be grateful that the only way from here is up. This may sound like little consolation right now, but you’ll start feeling a lot better once you start getting things back on track, which you will. From one entrepreneur to another… I believe in you 🙂
I also understand the recommendation of seeking employment or something similar completely sucks to hear at this point in time (yes, I have also felt sick in the stomach at the mere thought of working for someone else and still do even though I’ve had to swallow that pill), but this is REALLY IMPORTANT because it will firstly give you some time to help gather your thoughts and consider some different perspectives.
It’s not giving in or succumbing to failure or anything like that. It’s a gift you are giving to yourself, which you really do need at this point in time before even thinking about making money through any sort of legit opportunity. This will allow you to put a bit of coin away to help get a good start with funding the next venture you wish to be part of. That feeling of having some money, especially if you’ve gone a long time without it can make a big difference and do wonders for your self-confidence and self-esteem. You may even find that you actually enjoy it and remember… it’s not forever. So once you’ve got yourself back into a bit of a groove, begin putting small dedicated increments of your pay into a separate investment capital account that will eventually be used to help financially cover the starting point or even the first few months of the next exciting venture you wish to be involved with.
Also breathe, meditate, exercise / go for a short walk to get some fresh air. Even seek out counselling if you feel it could be of benefit. I understand the energy levels may be really low at this point like it was for me because I was struggling so much, so just do the best you can with what you have whilst working towards getting yourself back onto a more secure, reliable and steady path both emotionally and financially.
The energy will eventually return in time and you’re already smart enough and more than worthy because you’ve already used your brain and initiative to seek out ways to help better your life in the first place. You deserve to be commended for that because at your very core, you are one of the genuine true blue rare breed entrepreneurs that are needed in the world. You just need a little time to re-focus, get things back on track and continue on with that beautiful spark and powerful internal drive that everyone else can see, but you will only ever understand… okay?
If you then wish to continue pursuing this path a bit later, you’ll have a decent buffer of cash behind you to help start you off and support you financially during your learning journey. Also be sure to keep a track of every cent spent, so you can see if you’ve turned a profit at the end of the financial year.
If you have and you’re happy with the way everything is going from an ethical standpoint without having to involve yourself in some sort of unsustainable product / service based recruiting-focused pyramid scheme, then obviously the results are showing that it may have been the right choice for you and that’s great. So here’s a BIG congrats you savvy unicorn hulk-like entrepreneur, you!
However, if that’s not the case, then you need to make a solid promise to yourself and muster up every ounce of discipline you have left to completely fuck it all off if you end up in the negative after one year of giving it a red hot go. Even seek out a trusted friend or family member to hold you accountable as an extra backup to make sure you do it.
There’s nothing to be ashamed about and you’re not a failure. I’m proud of you because you have finally acknowledged these types of unsustainable recruitment focused systems have and will continue to fail you like they have for many others. You can then begin the process of healing and reflecting upon the lessons learned and eventually be able to treat it as a gift to be grateful for from a valuable character building learning lesson. Think of it as having played a vital role (i.e knowing what NOT to do) that has created more wisdom and will further benefit your decision making as you progress further along in your own entrepreneurial journey.
It’s a bloody hard lesson… but a good one that you’ll never forget!
To your health, wealth and happiness.
Chris and Sarah xo
