As you begin to explore how much it will cost to launch your MLM, here are some important questions to ponder:

• Are you selling services, products, or a mix of these?  What is the status of your services or products?  Do they need to be researched and developed or is the service all set for duplication and delivery or are products in the warehouse ready to go?
• Are you planning to build or lease MLM software to support your enterprise, including genealogies and compensation plan calculations?
• If you plan to retain an MLM consultant, an MLM law firm, an MLM compensation plan design team, or an interim head of sales, how much will you be budgeting for these services?
• Will you operate from an existing business location or do you need to secure and prepare office space?
• Will you be fulfilling orders, and if so, do you require warehouse and fulfillment systems (regardless of how small or grand)?
• Will initial workers be unpaid family and friends or will you be paying them money?  If you compensate them, how much will you budget for labor costs until the business is cash flowing?
• Will you create forms, brochures, and other documents?  If so, do you have a budget for creating the templates, writing the copy, and printing them?
• Will you have a starter kit, catalog, or other marketing collateral?  What is the plan and budget for creating these?
• Will you create a web marketing strategy that incorporates search engine and social media strategies for presenting your company to the world?
• Do you have equipment that can be used in the business, and if so, what is its value?  What equipment will you need to acquire to supplement what you already have?
• Will you have a budget for the launch event, travel, and costs associated with the early recruiting efforts?
• What other unique expenses and capital expenditures do you expect to have for your company?

Many of your early worries will be eliminated by completing a launch and operating budget worksheet.  If you don’t have one, contact us and we’ll get into our toolbox for you.  As you work through this important area of planning, don’t focus on timing as much as the actual planning of expenditures to start selling products and recruiting and supporting MLM distributors.

Your business should be much more than an MLM Money Machine.  Some view business in purely financial terms: business is nothing more than a way to create money.  Everything else is superfluous.  This approach can work, but it’s a very limiting way of doing business.  It squeezes the joy out of being a business owner or member of the team that creates the success of the business, especially in MLM which is a relationship business.

Some are intimidated by the financial side of business and, therefore, avoid financial management.  “As long as the bills get paid, I don’t worry about finances,” is a common, casual disclaimer.  This approach might work temporarily, but it is also limiting because it ignores the great potential that lies within the business.

Each view by itself is shortsighted.  Both approaches leave something of value out of the business equation.  And both diminish the chances of achieving the company’s true potential.

Your MLM business, like any business, should be about making your life better, not merely paying the bills.  The financial view of your business—as long as it’s not the only view—is an essential element of your management arsenal.  The pursuit of money, when balanced with the other aspects of your life on the way to achieving your personal purpose and passion, is appropriate and should be one of your most important business objectives.  In other words, always keep in mind that a successful MLM business is one that fuels the path toward your purpose and passion.  And the financial strength of your MLM business is a key component to its success.

When working at Melaleuca, LaunchSmart™ I learned early on that other direct selling companies were not the competition.  For Melaleuca, the competition was Proctor & Gamble, the personal care and home products giant.

There are different types of competitors in direct selling:

1. Traditional (non-direct selling) companies that sell the same or similar products and services
2. Direct selling companies and MLM companies that sell the same or similar products and services
3. Direct selling companies and MLM companies that offer income opportunities that will draw reps to them

As you become aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your MLM competitors, you will grow strong and confident.  If you are keenly focused on your unique differentiators, the primary one being your culture, you will find that the game of growth will be challenging and fun.

As you go through the strategic planning process, don’t skip through the SWOT analysis where you will be guided through the exercise of identifying competitors and creating profiles from which you will learn.