You are fed up, you don’t like the way the economy is going.  The value of your 401K is shrinking and your heart tells you not to follow the popular advice to invest for the long haul.  You have to work overtime to pay for last year’s Christmas; you don’t know where the funds for this year’s holidays are going to come from.  You’ve missed yet another ball game.  Sesame Street is baby-sitting your children and there is no end in sight.  Panic is everywhere as the unemployment rate rises and you wonder if you and your job will become another statistic.

Your friend comes to you with a business opportunity that has “just come across his desk” and he urges you to take a look.  You do because something has to change.  You are tired of feeling vulnerable and vulnerable is what you feel as daily you go to your mailbox, afraid of what you will find there.  You decide to  attend your first opportunity meeting.  You are learning about the industry of Network Marketing.  Everything you heard growing up about MLM or Network Marketing tells you to run for the exit, but the presenter says, “this is not your father’s MLM.”  You look and it isn’t.  You won’t have to deliver or inventory products, the company will direct-deposit the checks you earn to your account, the products are high quality, you won’t have to sell anything or hold “home parties” if you don’t want to, and you can get information to people and sign them up all over the internet.  The Network Marketing industry has caught the attention of best-selling authors and economists and they endorse it. You are told that you need just 4 things to be successful:  Belief in the industry, your company, the products and yourself.  You say check, check, check, check and you hand over the check and get started.

But there was one thing that they didn’t tell you that you need and it turns out to be the most important thing that you need for success.  That all-important thing will make or break you in the industry, it will determine your success or failure…it is your team. 

That is right, your team. 

It is your team that will determine whether or not your Network Marketing business will grow and at what pace.  It is your team that will determine the enthusiasm you and your prospects feel when they look at your opportunity.  It is your team that will help you through the hard times that will inevitably occur in your business.  It is your team that will propel you to success.  Some people find that they don’t have a team when they start their business.  They find that the group of people that they got started with are just as flat-footed as a duck and as unimaginative as a post.  It is the rare individual in that situation that will reach out crossline or downline and build a team and build success with their chosen Network Marketing company.  Most will quit not understanding how close they came to success and that all they lacked was one critical element.  You see, a team will provide the leverage that you need to build a long-term residual income. You cannot build a successful business alone.

What are the qualities you should look for in a Network Marketing team?

Does your team have a vision or mission?  All great organizations do, your team should be no different.  Once you find out what that vision is, does it resonate with you?

Does your team offer training?  What format is the training?  If your team only trains on Wednesday nights and Saturdays, will that fit for you?  Do you have to leave your home for training and business presentations? If so, does that fit for you? One of the things that you will have to do is edify your team’s training system to you new distributors; if you are not attending the live training, they won’t either.  You’ll get stuck having to create a training system that is more to your taste or watch your organization die and your income disappear for lack of one.

Is your team training purposeful or do the calls seem directionless?

Is your team enthusiastic?

Do your team members help each other with presentations to prospects?  Three way calls?  Will you have to do it all?

Is the culture of your team one that you can work within? Does everyone dress alike at business meetings? If so, are you comfortable with that?  Are women allowed to present at business meetings?  If not, are you comfortable with that?  If you are a professional, are there other professionals or other successful business owners on your team?  Are the people on your team similar in age to you?

Do your prospective team members have integrity?  This one is much easier to answer than you would imagine.  All you have to do is talk to people at the opportunity meeting about what is important to them and what their business has done for them. 

Do you like your team members?

Yes, team is the critical success element.  Without it your Network Marketing business is doomed to failure.  There is no way around that.  The importance of team is made all the more difficult because you may have been invited to look at an opportunity by a friend.  Did your friend join a good team?

The time is right for Network Marketing. Owning your own business is one of the few ways you can be in control of your financial future. 

You will be successful if you remember to evaluate the fifth element.