Over Organizing Your Home Business
Posted in Watkins Business by Eldon on October 13th, 2006 Many people, when starting a network marketing or MLM home based business, think they must have everything just so-so before they can launch their new business. They will attend to every imaginable detail in an effort to ensure future success.
I was guilty of this when I first started with Watkins. I wanted to have everything in place. I created a small home office in a spare room. After setting up my computer, I evaluated and reviewed many contact management software options before I finally settled on one. I fretted and agonized over numerous details, like how to organize a filing system. I planned, thought, planned some more, thought some more, planned even more…..I think you get the picture.
I was a victim of “paralysis by analysis”. All I really needed to do, to be successful with Watkins, was jump in and start advertising and talking to people. This is what I eventually did, but not after many wasted hours of planning and analyzing. Now, it IS important to have a plan for your business, and you DO need to think some things through. However, it is too easy to get overly involved with non-productive aspects of business planning and neglect the very things that will build your income.
For example, at one point I was consumed with tweaking my Watkins web site and adjusting things so as to appear higher in the search engines. All the while, I had lots of good leads coming in from my past efforts. I finally realized that I was neglecting working with the leads and my new Watkins associates, because I was always working on my web site trying to get even more leads. I finally learned to strike a profitable balance - I started spending more time working with my new associates, and my prospects. I just dove in and made that my top priority. When I had time, I worked on things like my web site.
I believe that people sign up for network marketing or MLM businesses, with superb intentions, but find themselves lacking in confidence. They may not have a clear vision of what they want their new business to be, or what they want from their business. When there is confusion and lack of confidence, there is a strong tendency to either do nothing, or to spend endless hours thinking and planning without ever acting on anything.
The bottom line is this - many new network marketers find themselves consumed in working on details that are non-essential and which take precious time away from doing the fundamental things that build a business. Talk to people, advertise, pick up the phone and follow up, answer questions, make presentations - these are the things that make your business grow. Focus on them, and avoid the over-organization and “paralysis by analysis” traps.
About the Author:
Eldon Beard is a Watkins Manager with Associates All Across the USA and Canada
