Can Anyone Successfully Work From Home?

I recently saw an article titled, “Anyone Can Be a Direct Seller”.   I emphatically disagree.   Anyone cannot be a direct seller. If anyone could, there would be many, many more that do.

Lest you think I am anti-direct sales; on the contrary, I have had a home based business since 1988 and currently lead a large successful organization.   I love being in this industry, else I would not have stuck around for the past 23 years. I simply do not agree with the statement that anyone can be a direct seller.

According to the Direct Selling Association (DSA) the average direct seller in the United States earns $2,400 per year.  Clearly with any statistics or averages, those numbers tell us what we want them to tell us. And an average means there are plenty who earn far less, as well as plenty who earn far more.  Also, less than 9% of all direct sellers work their business thirty hours or more each week.

Though to make the statement “Anyone Can Be a Direct Seller” true, I can concede that anyone with a credit, debit or prepaid card, and a balance of $100 can be a direct seller. That much is true. What I am referring to is that not anyone can be a successful direct seller. Again, if that were true, then anyone would be.

Some of the recruiting tactics I’ve heard is that their product “sells itself.” False. If it did, we could just put our inventory on the porch and people would throw money at us. Or that it’s a “lucrative business.” Well; there is some truth to this. Having a successful direct selling business can be lucrative; but not without a whole lot of perseverance, dedication and time on the job. No get rich quick deal here.

I frequently hear prospective recruits lament that they : are shy; or don’t know anyone; or don’t want to do home parties; or don’t have any start up money. Yet eager recruiters poo-poo those concerns and tell them “how anyone can do this business.”   So then the shy, isolated, broke person signs up, only to learn it’s not as easy as it was foretold. Then they get frustrated and quit. They feel they were bamboozled.

A more accurate statement is: Anyone Can Be a Direct Seller if:

• You are prepared to make a way, not an excuse
• You are prepared to work far more hours, at least initially, than you care to
• You are prepared to get out of your comfort zone
• You are comfortable, or willing to work through your discomfort of, talking to strangers
• You realize you need to experience rain to get a rainbow (read: rejection is part of this gig)
• You commit that Failure is Not an Option
• You are willing to Keep on Keeping on

Well that doesn’t sound nearly as glamorous as “Anyone Can Be a Direct Seller”, does it? Perhaps not; but it’s authentic. Wouldn’t you rather have someone be up front with you than to blow smoke up your skirt?

But there is GOOD NEWS! Direct Sales can be a fun business. Direct sales does give you freedom to set your own schedule (most of the time). You can earn a full time income with direct sales. You can earn exciting trips and prizes and meet some wonderful people; some will become lifelong friends.

You will get out of direct sales what you are willing to put into it. If you’re willing to keep on keeping on, even when you really want to quit, you can have a very rewarding career. If you go into it with realistic expectations you will be able to soar with the eagles.

See you at the top?

About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a Michigan work from home mom and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. She enjoys helping men and women start and maintain a home based business in the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Germany, Ireland, France, Spain and the UK. To download a FREE Start Up Guide which provides more details about how to start a home business as well as to learn about our compensation plan go to www.thrivingcandlebusiness.com/how-to-start-a-candle-business/ or for updates on Facebook LIKE www.facebook.com/ThrivingCandleBusiness and twitter @directsalesblog