I’ll never forget reading that email.
She was a retired school teacher who had been working on building an extra income for herself and her husband so they could get out of debt and live life more comfortably.
She had been a part of a company I was in.
My heart ached for her as she related her story of racking up $50,000 in credit card debt so she could ‘buy all the products‘ and ‘go to all the events.’
Now the company was out of business and she was in a worse financial position than she would have been had she never joined that company.
Of course, all is never lost and there are other benefits I’m sure she received from that experience, but none of that changed how I felt in that moment.
Terrible.
“This is not what I joined the home business profession to do.”
For me, home business has always been about a path to a better future.
The ability to chart your own course, grow your self and your income.
Help others.
Achieve financial freedom.
When I read this email I realized that in this case, home business had actually been more harmful financially, than helpful.
Unfortunately, the sad reality is that statistics in business show the percentage of people who earn money, is far from the majority, and the percentage of people who earn full time incomes – even smaller.
Just look at any income statistics sheet from any company who reports them honestly and you’ll see, this is the truth.
This is not a fate suffered by the home business profession alone by the way.
Statistics in traditional business tend to mirror these percentages.
I like to think there are specific reasons for these numbers and that yes, we can work to educate and train and help people overcome.
That being said, we are very naive to ignore reality.
If you are going into business knowing these numbers, how can you in good conscience entice people to spend large amounts of money based on the “potential” of the ‘opportunity’ when we know that the lions’ share of the people joining will not experience the benefits of the ‘opportunity’ like the smaller percentage will?
And this is where, I think, high ticket sales in home business, can be dangerous.
Customers join for products.
Affiliates, reps and distributors join for opportunity.
The lines get very blurry when people begin to buy products, not alone for what the products can do, but also for the financial potential of what can happen when they sell those products to others.
I have nothing against selling opportunity, by the way.
I think much of what we buy in life is based on opportunity as I wrote in this post a while back.
I love opportunity and appreciate deeply the potential of what can happen to change a person’s future for the better financially and otherwise.
‘Without vision, the people perish’ says the Bible and good sales, as the greats know, is enriched with vision.
I’m also a fan of substance.
I’m a fan of delivering more in use value than I take from the market in cash value, as Wallace Wattles wrote in his book The Science of Getting Rich.
This is not a perfect science and I’ve made plenty of mistakes myself.
I like to think I’m learning something over my years of experience and I guess I’m just saying that as promoters, we have to be careful.
If we want our work to matter and make a net positive difference in the lives of people we are endeavoring to serve, we have to remember how easy it is to become intoxicated with fattening our bottom line and temper that temptation with a consideration of what our actions might be producing in the lives of all the people around us.
Not everyone we sell to will become a top producer or a smashing financial success.
Remembering this can help us choose more wisely, the products and businesses and ideas we promote.
I’m not against ‘high ticket’ products just because they have a high price tag.
There’s not a thing in the world wrong with a high price tag, as long as the value is there.
In the business opportunity space, it’s important to remember that the value of the opportunity is always relative, and not as high as we’d all like it to be, so we have to be careful enticing others to make large financial decisions based on ‘opportunity’ alone.
And that, in my opinion, is the danger of high ticket sales in the Home Business Space.
Proceed with caution.
I was reading another post you wrote and saw the link to this which looked like a really great read and it surely was. I surely wished I saw this years ago. I too, took out a huge loan to “go all in” and even after the company disappeared, I was STILL paying off that debt. I am pleased to say, that I did pay off that loan, but it taught me a valuable lesson (since it was such a painful lesson), I am not much more smarter in what I do cause I never want to experience that financial burden ever again from “going all in” with nothing to show for it. Thank you Paul for your integrity in the industry. Very refreshing 🙂
Hey Lt… Thank you so much for sharing your experience… Congratulations on getting that debt paid off… So sorry you had to go through that and grateful it turned into a valuable lesson for you and hopefully many others who will hear your about your experience, learn from it and not have to go through it themselves… I so appreciate you LT.. Thank you for the kind words also… You always lift those around you and I’m grateful to be in your circle receiving that benefit!
Great post! I agree 1000% the part about resisting the temptation to fatten our bottom line reminds me of this quote…
“We gain the strength of the temptation we resist.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thanks Sakshi and WOW! I LOVE That quote.. Thank you so much for sharing.
I agree with you, Paul. The danger I see of high ticket sales in any business is a big problem even if the value is great because there is always the risk of that business going out of business. As I have experienced, once the company goes out of business, ALL of your income stops immediately.
Hey Shelley, so great to see you.. thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.. and so true. Something so many of us have experienced in the home business space far too many times.. Hope all is well and would love to catch up sometime.
Couldn’t agree with you more, Paul! I just rec’d an email with the headline “$33,000 in 48 hours.”
It’s an upstart “company” already listed on those “scam warning” sites that you and I know to avoid like the plague, but, unfortunately, there are so many “newbies” who see an opportunity to work “closely” with that “guru.”
They think nothing in the moment of parting with $20,000 , not realizing that $16,500 is going directly into the pocket of that emailer as an upfront commission.
Maybe that “guru” is worth a $16,500 commission. (Doubtful, but we’ll give benefit of doubt).
However, that “newbie” probably isn’t going to be able to deliver the same value and/or service to his email subscribers.
My greatest wish is those “gurus” who know better … start to do better.
Be of service to your subscribers.
Be an open book.
Be honest.
Be like my friend Paul Hutchings.
And “be” in business for a long-time!
Merry Christmas, my friend!
“$33,000 in 48 hours” – I don’t know if I can possibly say “YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK” loud enough.
Yup.. great point on the ability of the newbie to duplicate…. So many people sell the “Opportunity” and opportunity is great but in my experience – it’s about
1. How good the opportunity is
and
2. How good YOU are at promoting the opportunity…
Buying an great opportunity is never guaranteed to make you a great promoter and I guess that’s what I like to remember when selling.
I love your words…
“Those who know better – can do better..”
Be of service… be an open book.. be honest… SO SIMPLE and yet SOOO Few people seem to fall into that category…
and thanks for the great compliment… “if you spot it, you got it” 🙂
Merry Christmas and happy new year to you too Kevin and the whole Knecht family!
Great post, I feel the same way! I never want to lie or overextend someone just to make a sale, I continue to look for ways to empower and help people with automation and ease. I am so excited about the opportunities we have together!
Thanks Jim… I love how you are approaching business and admire your heart in thinking of others in the way you do. I’m SUPER excited about the opportunities we have together and am SOOOO grateful to be working with you and Kristi. Your both such amazing people and have inspired me more than you know… Thank you, thank you, thank for rising up and helping us to lead.