What to ask, where to look: tips for before you start a direct sales business.

Believe it or not, Jamberry is not my first experience with direct sales, and I did not jump in as soon I discovered it and got excited about the company. My first experience, while fun at first, was with products that were more expensive, required more book keeping and business savvy from me, and did not have an online component. While it was marketed as "work from home", I reached the point quickly where I had gone through my list of family and friends, had lost money, and needed to start making cold calls and doing quite a bit of out-of-home networking to keep it going. If I wanted to work outside the home, I would have remained a teacher and hired a babysitter, so I knew that I wanted to resign from that particular company. Plus, I didn't really enjoy the products anymore, which is one of the most important rules about direct sales: you have to love the product if you expect to sell it.

Direct sales, though, still remained a good option, if only I could find a company that would allow me to truly work from home. Enter (for me), Jamberry Nails. With the option of online parties and networking it allows me to run a business truly from home, and the few parties I have scheduled at friends' houses I can schedule at a time when my husband is home to watch the boys. This online option was what first attracted me to the company, and here are a few more things I made sure to research and find out before joining. Note: I spent about 4 months researching before beginning.

1. How much will it take to start? If you're required to invest more than a couple hundred dollars to start a direct sales business, I would seriously question the product and company. It does not take a lot to get going; my total start-up costs (before I made any money back) was $195.97. This included the starter kit and business supplies.
2. Do I have the cash to invest? I made the mistake with the first company of putting all my start up costs on a credit card...and guess who was paying interest when I didn't make it back right away? This time I waited and saved and invested with cash. That way, even if I didn't make it back, I wouldn't be putting the family further into debt. As it turns out, I made back my initial investment and started turning a profit in the first two months...and the profit went toward groceries, not credit card interest.
3. How new and popular is the company? It's good to get a feel for how well known a particular company is in your area, especially if you are planning on running your business off-line. I asked around and found that while there are a few consultants in my area, many people either hadn't heard of Jamberry or didn't know anyone who sold it...as opposed to other, older direct sales companies who have hundreds, if not thousands, of consultants in one area. Another reason to know how new the company is, is the get a feel for whether they'll last. Most direct sales companies fold within the first couple of years, so you want to make sure a company is established enough to give you at least a small profit and good experience.
4. What do the customers (i.e., most important people) say about it? One thing I did was google reviews of the company. I read blog reviews, watched video reviews, and even searched whether there had been any lawsuits against the company. I wanted to make sure that I was signing up to sell a product that was good quality and most people enjoyed, as well as sign up under a company that is in good standing in the business world for their product, ethics, and history. I also wanted to know the history of the company and see if I could find any reason why I would have a problem representing them.
5. Will you get a good response from family and friends? A couple of months before I joined I put out feelers with family and friends to see whether I would have support and interest from them. These people (especially my husband) are the ones who will stick with me, and if any of them had told me they couldn't support the decision or thought it was really unwise, I would have seriously reconsidered. As it turned out, many family members love the product and have hosted parties for me, helping me get started and get more bookings to get going. They are a large part of why my first couple of months were so successful.
6. Give it some time for the excitement to wear off. This sounds backwards...let me explain. Part of the reason so many people quit their direct sales businesses, in my opinion, is because they join when they first get excited, or in other words, emotional. I waited about 4 months not only to do all my research, but also to see if the excitement would wear off and if I'd "get over" what might be just a phase. While I did calm down a little, I didn't stop enjoying the product, didn't stop thinking of questions for my sponsors, and didn't want to stop researching. I stayed interested enough and excited enough during that time to say, "this isn't just a phase; I really want to do this". I recommend a little time for everyone, no matter what goal I as a sponsor might want to reach, everyone needs to be 100% sure that a direct sales business is a good choice and not just en emotional decision. I was really excited to join Jamberry and start my business and that definitely contributed to my first successes...but that was excitement that stuck around for awhile, proving itself against time and distraction by other things.

In summary, there are a lot of good things you can do to get yourself ready; to make 100% sure that this is something you want to do. I'm going to post later about my "personal rules" as a sales consultant, but for now, encouraging people to make sure they're truly committed to their effort is a priority. No one likes to be "that person"...the one who is flaky and goes through so many phases and hobbies before settling on something that really "clicks", and I believe that a little time and a lot of research help avoid that situation.