Chew on this cookie...

I applaud anyone who wants to work from home full time. There's just nothing like it, but it's definitely not a life of leisure if one is to make a successful living from working at home. Although I could work in my pajamas, I still have to take a shower and put on day clothes like anyone else because I don't stay inside all the time. There are errands to run, and even if there weren't, it's not good to be in your jammies all day. You'll always feel better when you're dressed for the day and for anything!

My television is never on during the day, so I am not interrupted by the news, Oprah or Court TV. I'm not out lunching every day with my friends - they're at day jobs. No, most of the time I'm quietly working at home.

Starting a business like a cookie business, is a business that starts literally from scratch. No one has heard of you, you don't have clientelle, you don't have a track record. Heck, you probably don't even have enough baking trays. It's a claw your way up order by order business and then every month you hope to "rinse, wash and repeat" if you're lucky.

As I mentioned before, I have a Network Marketing business, also known as Multi-Level Marketing or Direct Sales. It is also a business to work from home, but let's look at the advantages of having a MLM in your back pocket as opposed to a regular business.

1. When you become a distributor in an MLM, it's like buying a franchise but for a tiny fraction of the cost.

2. You're dealing with an established product or service.

3. Although there is an initial investment and a monthly auto-order (for most), there is no overhead. Personally I wouldn't be with a MLM that required me to resell the products retail, forcing me to have a huge backlog of stuff in my garage. That could make anyone broke. Plus that just reeks of traditional selling, and that's not what I'm about. Contrast this with a cookie business where there is a lot of overhead between baking ingredients to packaging supplies. There's a constant need to keep things in stock and keep the stock rotated.

4. When you start with a MLM, there is a lot of team support and training. Yes, there is a learning curve, but when you start your very own business, there is no team support from people who have been doing it longer and who want to help you reach your success. You are basically on your own trying to fly by the seat of your pants.

5. It would be hard for your home-business to send you on an all-expense paid vacation to a resort. In MLMs, you can earn such vacations every year. Not even your old corporate America or non-corporate American job could offer you that. These are called "incentives." My MLM not only pays for the flight, but the 5-star hotel and all the meals. Plus I can earn enough incentive points to bring someone else along.

A Network Marketing business is simply a vehicle to get you to your goals, and it can be done fairly quickly (within 6-24 months) or longer. The average seems to be 3-5 years - IF you stick with it. Most people don't stick with it. That's the reason for the high attrition rate (but not as high a failure rate as the home business in general).

There are a lot of reasons for the failure, but it's the individual who must accept most of the responsibility.

1. Lack of passion
2. Lack of participation
3. Lack of seeking support
4. Trying to be a traditional sales person in a business that's about NETWORKING and MARKETING.

I've heard it said that when you're feeling down in your MLM to call UP (your upline) and when you're feeling UP to call down (your downline). My upline has been tremendously supportive in more ways than I can count. Thankfully they are some of my dearest friends, and our extended team is like a family, constantly on the phone with each other. You might think we only talk about the business, but we talk about normal stuff too! We even get together for BBQs and movie nights. We think, we plan, we participate, we're involved.

In conclusion, while I again applaud anyone who is contemplating starting a cookie business, I just want to encourage you to think about finding a MLM that you click with and using that as a vehicle to help support you and build residual income (no residual income in cookies, I guarantee you!).

I am always looking for business partners in my MLM - people to strengthen my team and to whom I can be of service. The MLM industry has made more millionaires than any other industry in the world, and the wellness industry, which is the overwhelming majority of MLM companies, is the next trillion dollar industry.

Interested in learning more on how you can start up with a great MLM and be immediately part of a dynamic team? Just email me at: cookies@signaturesweetshoppe.com