Meg's finances were okay, but she wanted more than to just barely meet expenses. So she decided to start an Internet business.
She searched around, found a reliable company that she liked, products that she felt comfortable using and promoting.
But she didn't have the money to promote her business. What did she do? What any smart business owner would do. She borrowed the money to invest in herself.
Meg found a quality Network Marketing trainer, studied Internet Marketing and invested her borrowed money intelligently. She slowly built a thriving business.
Meg is the ideal. She built her business from the ground up, was able to pay back her loan in 3 years time and retire from her job.
But what happens if you're not Meg. What if you're Bill?
Bill's Floundering
Bill has already gotten himself over-his-head in debt.
He responds to an ad, decides to put yet another $20-$100 into a "business opportunity" for the sole purpose of making quick bucks to pay off his debt.
He sends out a bunch of ads to a mailing list of 100,000 that someone sells him for $50. He waits for the responses, for the $20 bills to start pouring in.
He does get a response all right, but not the one he wanted. His ISP pulls the plug on him for spamming. He is now $70 to $150 further into debt and is worrying his socks off. Plus, he can't get online.
What's Your Story?
Which movie do you want to play in? Meg's scenario or Bill's? Silly question.
The point is, if you're Bill, you need to get out from under debt weight first before you can seriously pursue a business.
Does that mean you shouldn't look for a viable opportunity or that if you are already in one you should quit? No, it doesn't.
But it does mean that you need to separate your business from your debt elimination program, so that you can work your business long term instead of trying to make a profit from day 1.
Make a Business Plan
Your business plan must be long term. It should include: Goal setting -- what you are aiming for in what time frame
long term 3 plus years medium term 1 year
short term 1-6 months Know Your Product -- study it well Know Your Customers
get into their brain
know what they want
know the benefits
Create a Marketing Strategy Learn from the experts Create a Budget
Test Your Advertising Use your company's co-ops Work the Strategy -- See your business grow
Make a Debt Reduction Plan
You have several options to debt reduction.
Self-Help Plan -- A simple plan whereby you pay off your smallest debt first.
As that debt gets paid, you take the money saved and add it to the payment of your next smallest debt.
As the next smallest gets paid, you take the amount saved and add it to the smallest remaining debt.
You continue on this way making larger and larger payments to your next debt until your last is paid off.
This plan works very well, if you have at least a little more than the minimum requirement to pay on each debt.
If you're near bankruptcy, this won't do.
Debt Consolidation -- you can consolidate your own debt if you still have substantial credit. This will allow you to make one monthly payment to one source. Refinancing a mortgage would come under this plan.
You can consolidate through a consolidation company. The advantage here is that they can bargain with your credit card companies to give you a zero finance charge. The trade-off is you lose your good credit.
Debt Payment Organizations -- You can join a cooperative that works to pay off members debts. The main advantage here is that you can get your debt paid without losing your good credit. You need to be careful here, though, to make sure you have a genuine club that does pay your debts. It's easy to fake this one.
Bankruptcy - This one has to be included because it is an option, although a poor one. You will get your debts eliminated but you are also guaranteeing the loss of credit, something you want to avoid at all costs, especially if you really want to build that business and achieve some success. Bankruptcy can haunt you for a long time to come.
So, if you are under the weight of a debt load, choose the debt reduction plan that's right for you and turn around your Bill scenario to that of a Meg.
If you're not in debt yet, play out the Meg story. Avoid Bill (and bills) at all costs