Choosing a Party Plan company

And so the majority of our children have gone off to their nurseries, schools and colleges and we are settling back into our routines again. For many of us, this means back to the same old thing, but for some there has been a transition – first or last child starting school or moving schools, and some of us will find ourselves with more free time on our hands.

This is the time of year when many mums think about taking up a part time business venture, to fill those extra hours. One of the most popular formats for working from home part time jobs is the party plan or Multi Level Marketing (MLM) opportunity.

The premise is simple – you become an independent representative of a company. You receive training and advertising materials from the company you have chosen and then you sell their products, either in person to your friends or online. You can do home parties (hence party plan) take stalls at schools and nurseries, or basically sell any way you choose. You are paid a small amount of commission on your sales and then when you get confident with your sales you can recruit other people to join your team and get paid commission on what they sell too.

In practice, the vast majority of people who start up in MLM only make a small amount of money on personal sales, maybe build a small team and stay at a very part time level with it. You can work as much or as little as you like and go at your own pace. If you don’t enjoy it, you can just stop and there is no consequence to that.

It’s a great part time job for a mum of small children – it’s sociable, you use your brain a bit and make some pocket money. But at the other end of the spectrum there are a small number of people who make a career out of MLM, build huge teams and get paid sums of money that most people can only dream of. So if that is your dream, then this is a possible route to it, but only if you are prepared to put in a lot of work.

Examples of MLM companies include Usborne Books, Pampered Chef, Phoenix Cards, Body by Vi, Stella and Dot, Forever Living and Scentsy. I’m prepared to bet you have seen a mum selling one or other of these products at a school or nursery near you and maybe you have purchased from them But have you ever been tempted to give it a go yourself?

If you are thinking of starting a new business venture and you are trying to decide which one to go with, then here are some guidelines to help you decide if the opportunity in front of you is a good one:

The Products:

First and foremost it has to be about the products. You absolutely must love the products you sell if you want to be a success at MLM and enjoy doing it. Two reasons for this – firstly you need to be happy at all times to tell anyone about the company you represent – if you are reticent about it or if you don’t believe that the products you sell are the best in the business then you will not be very convincing. Secondly, most MLM companies pay some of their commissions and bonuses in free and half price products – you will build up a stock of the products at home – so it is a good idea if it is something that you love to use.

The Person Recruiting you:

You need to be comfortable with the person who recruits you. The way MLM works is that each level recruits people underneath them and is responsible for training those people. If the person who recruits you is a bit new and clueless, or on the other hand if they have a huge team and do not have the time to give you personal support and attention, then you may well flounder in your company. If the person who recruits you talks all about the money you can make and not about the lovely products, then steer well clear – the prducts are always the important thing,

The start up cost:

The best MLM companies will give you a sample pack of their products when you join. They should be at a substantial discount. Other companies will charge you huge joining fees, administrative fees, or fees to set up your website. Take a look at the costs involved – you are unlikely to make much money at first so a huge upfront investment is a bit of a risk.

Penetration in your area:

You do not get a territory when you start with MLM – you have to find your own customers. So if your local area and the places you go to is already saturated with people selling that product then you will struggle to find a market. Some companies allow you to sell online or on facebook so that is a bit better.

How do you sell the product?

Picture yourself tellng people about your product. Is it something small that you can carry around with you all the time and show to people? Is it something that you use yourself and can demonstrate to people? Is it something that people like you and your friends might want? Is it good value for money, or what other benefits does it have to the people in your area?

Repeat purchases:

The easiest MLM companies to work for are those where the customers will buy the product, consume it,, and come back to you for refills again and again. If the product is something that people are only going to buy once then you will have to be constantly prospecting for customers

So these are my tips for how to pick a MLM company

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