If you're thinking about getting involved in network marketing, choosing the right company to work with is essential. Get involved with the wrong outfit and you will be doomed to failure from the off.

As an absolute minimum you need to be sure that the company you decide to work with is financially sound. If not how will they pay your bonuses and commission? And since you want them to pay you, and then keep on paying you, you will want to have some confidence that they will be around for a good long while.

You will also want to avoid being scammed or ripped off in any way. This is easier to do than you might think - but there is a downside.

One of the tell-tale signs of scammers is that they don’t stick around for too long. They set up their scam, collect the money and then close down before they get caught. Often they will reappear a short time later with a new scam or with the same scam under a different name.
And the same thing is true for operations which are financially unsound. They tend not to be around for very long - but for different reasons.

One of the best things you can do when choosing which company to get involved with is to select an operation which has been going for some time. It’s not a guarantee of success by any manner of means - but it does mean you are much less likely to lose your money through illegal activity or incompetence on the part of the company.

It’s a simple enough strategy which if followed will protect you - there’s just one small problem of course. In many cases the best profits to be had will be with new, innovative companies who have no track record. At one time companies like Microsoft, Amazon, etc. were upstart startups with no history but plenty new ideas. It would have been good to get in on the ground floor with one of them - right?

Of course, for every fledgling mega star out there, there are probably a few thousand flops doomed to failure. Going by the numbers it probably makes more sense to avoid organisations without some pedigree - but risk and opportunity are two sides of the same coin. If your personality is such that you are prepared to take a little more risk then you may be rewarded - just don’t invest more than you can afford to lose.

If you do decide to get involved with a relatively new company, in the hope of gaining higher profits, then do a little research to try to minimise your risk exposure. Something as simple as an advanced search on Google with the company name and “scam” as the search terms can yield results. It’s also worth checking out the various forums that exist to help you avoid being scammed.

In addition to avoiding being scammed, you will definitely want to know that the company you are getting involved with has a good support structure in place. This is especially important if you are new to home business and this is your first venture into network marketing.

Make sure there is a dedicated support line and email address for distributors/affilliates and also check out what training is made available. Even if you have years of experience in other business ventures you will still need help with some of the fine details in the early stages.

Do a little investigation into not only the amount but the type of training you will be able to access. Basic training should be included in your startup cost - any serious company knows the importance of training and will expect you to go through at least the basics.

However, you should beware of any company that tries to charge you extra each month for training - it could be that training fees form a significant part of the company’s income stream. since we want to be involved with companies that have genuine products then this should ring alarm bells.

Key Characteristics of The Perfect Company

Hamish Hayward

Starting A home Based Business?

Discover the 6 key factors you need to master for success - online or offline. Free e-books, newsletter, tools and resources.

It seems that more and more people are interested in setting up their own small or home based business these days. Current figures indicate that, in the USA alone, there are over 25,000,000 people operating a home based business. And just in case you think that many of these businesses are run as hobbies, the figures show that over 5,000,000 of them have turnovers in excess of $100,000.

Not all of these businesses are internet based of course but, if you are doing business on the web, then the world's your oyster and you can multiply those US numbers many times. It's also worth considering that those numbers represent people who are currently involved in their own homebased business. For each of those who already have their business up and running there will be another 4 or 5 who are "thinking about it" - just looking for the right opportunity.

So given the huge number of people who want to run their own business, and given the phenomenal power of the internet as a communications/advertising medium, it's hardly surprising that you are continually presented with business opportunities as you surf the net - is it?

Websites, pop-ups and pop-unders advertising your road-to-riches abound - not to mention all those email messages that somehow manage to squirm past your spam filter with monotonous regularity.

Of course, a lot of these so called opportunities are complete nonsense. Some of them are fanciful notions conceived by people with no real idea about business. Some of them are out and out scams. Some are completely illegal. Others are genuine business opportunities which, although they would work well for others, just aren't right for you.

However, hidden in amongst the hype, the lies and the incredible dreams, there are some very genuine opportunities that could truly change your life. You just need to know what to look for.

There is absolutely no point investing in a business opportunity just because it has a nice, professional looking website, or because the sales letters/emails are well written. Both of these might stimulate you to investigate further, but they're not enough on their own.

You certainly shouldn't get involved with something just because some guru tells you it's the next big thing - no matter how successful or famous the guru may be.

There are 6 key criteria to be used when assessing a potential business opportunity. Apply these rigorously and you will avoid nasty surprises - and you may very well find the perfect business for you.

1. The company.
You need to be working with people who can be trusted, and who will be around to pay you in the future.

2. The product.
A good product is essential. Ask yourself if would you buy it if you weren't a distributor.

3. The payment or commission scheme.
What do you get paid for? When do you get paid? How do you get paid?

4. The sales method.
Are you comfortable with the sales method? can you produce your own adverts?

5. The level of admin required.
This should be low. You don't want to waste your time on paperwork do you?

6. The cost - both startup and running.
Is it affordable? Will others be prepared to invest when it comes time to build your own team?

Evaluate the above points dispassionately before you commit yourself to anything. If you find it difficult to get enough information to make an assessment then that tells you all you need to know. Avoid any opportunity that won't give you the facts up front.

Hamish Hayward
Starting A Home Based Business
Free e-books, newsletter, tools and resources.
http://www.perfectsystem.co.uk