The Necessity of Delayed Gratification at All Levels of the Business

Network marketers have to learn the art of delayed gratification in order to build a successful business. It just doesn't happen over night. It takes time to build a solid and profitable organization. One of the main reasons for the high turn-over rate among new affiliates can be attributed to most people's expectation of seeing immediate profit. They are expecting a paycheck as if it's a job, and when they don't get paid early on, they quit.

Delayed gratification isn't only a problem at the early stages of a business either. Once a modest profit starts coming in, many affiliates make some very bad financial decisions. They may decide that they need a new car or a new house before they can really afford it, and will go out and buy these things putting themselves in serious financial difficulties.

There is also a tendency to want to keep up with other people in the business who are showing initial signs of success. This "keeping up with the Jones" mentality can often bankrupt an otherwise viable business. The affiliate has no way of knowing what is really going on with another couple in the business, or what their personal finances are like. Following another affiliate's example of ostentatious purchases can jeopardize both businesses.

Another common mistake is for affiliates to quit their job before they are financially ready, or before the network marketing business is capable of covering their expenses. Sometimes the reason the affiliate got into the business in the first place was to create an alternative to their job. Most of us are dependent on our job for more than just the security of a weekly or bimonthly paycheck coming in. Retirement is a huge financial undertaking that must be carefully thought out. It's certainly a viable long term goal, but should be approached with caution.

Premature retirement can be a very costly mistake. When major decisions affecting the business and our personal lives such as this are being considered, upline coaching from someone at your level or above can be extremely valuable. Once you are successful in the Network Marketing business, and have built up a large organization, you are acutely aware that a single mistake could affect a multitude of people.

Thus, delayed gratification is an essential part of a network marketing business at all levels. You never want to do anything that will potentially negatively impact you or those people downline from you.

Some Will, Some Won't and So What!

In Network Marketing it's normal to experience extremely high drop out rates, sometimes as high as 95%. People come into the business, or at least they sign up, but then they often fail to build the business. For some of them, signing up is the last official act they do. This happens in spite of our best efforts to train and motivate them. The reasons for this are fairly simple.

First of all, we have made the sign ups absolutely free, and the training is free as well. We did this so literally anyone could build the business no matter their financial situation. The downside of this policy is that if people have nothing invested in the business, they lose nothing but the opportunity if they quit.

Most people come into this business with an employee mentality, expecting to get paid regularly whether they produce or not. When they discover that it takes prolonged effort over a period of time to get results in a network marketing business, they fold up shop and quit. Those who succeed in this business realize they are in this for the long haul, and that what they are investing is their time.

Many people simply never learn to treat it as a business, or to take it seriously. Their participation is occasional and halfhearted at best. If you had any other type business, would you expect to make money operating just a couple hours a week. The business can be built in cracks of time, but only if the affiliate is serious about doing it and treats it as a business.

A big part of the problem is simply human nature. For the most part, people get by doing as little as they possibly can. They are basically lazy, and building this business looks too much like work to them. They have never really learned to apply themselves to anything, thus this type business doesn't appeal to them at all. They are basically looking for something for nothing.

So what does that leave you with? It leaves you with 5% or less who treat this as a serious business, who dedicate themselves to making it happen, and who go on and build it to phenomenal levels. Those are the people who your organization and your business volume is based upon. That is more than enough to take you to any income level you might desire.