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Network Marketing Business Plan How-To: 9 Guidelines

Got a network marketing business plan? If you want to reach pro status, you might want to think about it. Having a plan can really help you understand what it will take to become successful. And it doesn’t have to take long. I’ll help you bang out the basics in a few minutes with this set of easy guidelines.

Caution!

The guidelines don’t take much to write down, that’s what makes them easy. Doing them may take more effort, of course. You’ll find trade offs along the way that may make the work easier or harder, too. A personal network marketing business plan will help you plot your future success.

With that word of warning, let’s move on.

Guideline 1: Decide where you are going

Decide what you want. I know that seems like a strange first step, but you’ll find it essential. I heard one very successful woman in high up in a company summarize it this way: No one comes into the company saying they will start out working hard, then kind of peter out and finally give up.

Understand this: to succeed in any business at a high level, you will need to commit to success and work hard. I can’t think of any exceptions. Your network marketing business plan will be the better for it.

I suggest picking a level of income that you need to be successful, as an example. Say $1,000, or $10,000 per month, or $25,000. You pick your goal.

Guideline 2: What is your business?

In a typical business plan, you would have to describe your business here. Such as, selling gasoline, snacks and soda. That’s a bit short, but you get the idea. A grocery store sells groceries. What do you offer?

Most likely your network marketing business plan will include two easy things:

- You offer a product, right? Meaning the line of products your company sells.

- You offer an opportunity, meaning you can help someone learn to sell your products and earn money and build a business.

You can add to that a funded proposal if you want to use one, and I recommend it.

In network marketing, you don’t make money on signing people up, but on moving product, same as any other business. I included the second item above because you will add people as your business grows and you move more product. Just like a grocery store or insurance agency, when you move more product, you need help.

Guideline 3: Your Industry

Contrary to what some people believe, your industry isn’t network marketing. When you say network marketing, you refer to a business structure, not the industry. Your industry depends on the product you have to offer. So, if you sell a nutritional supplement, that is your industry, Nutritional Supplements.

I only bring this one up to be thorough. Usually, when you start a business, you want to know who you will compete with, and how crowded the market. For instance, within 1 mile of my house I can name at least 5 stand alone pizza places, plus mini-marts (3) and grocery stores (2) that sell pizza.

Should you or I open a pizza place within a mile of my house? I would say no, but another one opened just a few months ago. You think about this to decide if you can make some money. If you have a good market or a good angle on your product, you will make money. If not, you will want a new business.

In your MLM, you survive not on your location and how close others are to you, but more on your capabilities. I'll handle more on this part of your network marketing business plan in the marketing section.

Guideline 4: The Structure of the Industry

How do people buy this product now? Do they get it at a grocery store? Online? I ask because you fit into this structure in some way. You want to know if you add something valuable. For instance, how do you get paper clips? What if your neighbor or best friend came over and wanted to sell you 100 paper clips for $15? Not likely, right?

Why? Because you don’t need a new source of paper clips, and at $15, they cost too much. But when it comes to nutrition, or many other things, you need to know more before you buy. Network marketing can help in these instances. Is that true of your product and industry?

Do you help people understand the value it brings, or do you help in some other way that adds value? How?

Guideline 5: Organization

Very simple. Have you created a corporation for your business, or not? What about a partnership? Or do you own it outright? These are the 3 biggies: sole-proprietor, partnership, or corporation. Later, when you have a large business or some other reason, your accountant or lawyer may recommend a corporation.

If you have a partnership, make a point of discussing how to handle things with your partner. Who owns what, how will profits be split and so on. Write it down.

For the purposes of your network marketing business plan, we'll assume you are a sole proprietor. This means you reap all reward from the business. It also means you are totally responsible for any problems.

Guideline 6: Legalese

Hopefully your company has already handled some of this. Basically, you need to know you can legally sell and recruit in your area. You can check with your company and the state attorney general if you have any questions.

One other item in this area. Both the government and your company will have a few things you can and cannot do or say. For example, you cannot claim to cure any illness. You cannot promise any income level. You probably cannot claim to represent your company or be an agent of the company.

Read your company manual for more. You may want to call your company and ask about this to make sure you know what’s what.

Guideline 7: How do you do what you do

Also called operations, this section can include things like continuous improvement, risk assessment, and process design. Sounds technical, so I’ll summarize. You sell directly, you place the order, or your customer places the order online. Then, the company fulfills or you deliver from your inventory. That’s the typical operations method for the personal network marketing business plan.

Some companies get into a lot more like factories, contractors, private labeling and so on. You can add to yours if you like, but that’s a quick summary. If you need to add to it, jot down the specifics of your operations.

Here is guideline #8, your MLM Marketing Plan .

And here is Guideline #9, the Most Forgotten Element in your network marketing strategy.

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