Monday, January 24, 2011

Who's The Real Loser?

One of the things I recall as an IBO was thinking how sorry I felt for people who were not IBOs because we were all going to be rich and everyone else was a loser. Our upline used to tell us that we were winners - and if you weren't a winner, then obviously, you are a loser. Many times, the term "broke" was attached to the term loser. That was my mindset back then, but having been out of the system more than ten years, I can look back and laugh, realizing that the losers were the ones buying stuff they don't need, stalking people at malls and bookstores, and wasting their time and money on tapes (cds), books and functions.

What goes unnoticed in many cases, is how much time and money really goes down the drain for IBOs who work the system. Your life revolves around the business if you are dedicated and hard core. You are always looking for prospects and people to show the plan to, and you have to rearrange your schedules, or outright skip social or family gatherings because of the neverending number of meetings and functions, many of which teach you nothing about running a profitable business. When I first left the Amway business, I was sort of angry at the time and effort that was wasted, along with the cahs I threw down the crapper.

But after I did finally cut ties with the business and the people associated with it, I got back into a routine of sorts. I focused on my job and after some years of gaining experience and working my way up the corporate ladder, I received some promotions and I am scheduled to be retired before the age of 60 with a decent retirement income and will likely have my home paid off by then. So while I did have to work a dreaded job to be able to retire, pretty much all IBOs are also working a job or business PLUS having to expend their time and money to run their Amway business which has little to no chance of providing a long term stable and significant income. And if I may add, it is the systems such as WWDB or N21 that usually end up costing the IBOs the most money because of things like the functions.

So I will ask the question. Who's the real loser? The person diligently working and saving for their future or the person chasing a dream that is unlikely to materialize? Factoring in the expenditure of time also makes the systems even more costly than it appears on the surface.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amway will now begin the effort to go after the 'X' generation. Too many boomers have been burned and are now in the fight of their lives to secure their retirements. They simply must stay focused on what has been paying their bills for the last 30 years. They are getting tired and they are significantly less willing to throw money away on functions.

We, Boomers, raised the 'X' generation. They are not as loyal or as well financed to take on amway/wwdb. They are simply a different generation.

It will be interesting to see how amway deals with this new group. On the one hand, they live in the 'Kardashian' world of instant gratification (2-5 yrs. to diamond will seem like an eternity to them); and on the other hand they will think amway's stodgy way of doing things laughable. Try to imagine this young generation doing product pick-up at thier upline's house every Monday. They buy from the internet - so good luck with product p/u.

Where will they get the money to fly all over creation for functions? Can you see this generation in suits and panty hose sitting night after night showing the plan?

This scenerio would make for fascinating tv.

Chris G said...

This generation is doing things differently. They promote on YouTube and try showing plans through Skype and connect and prospect on Facebook and Twitter. Amway is not being competitive with its shipping. Now it is a $100 minimum on select products to get free shipping. The AMO's are the only thing keeping Amway going. I do not associate with my former AMO URAssociation. The profit margin on prices is at max 30%. You need to sponsor to get big monthly bonus check and that downline must be buying and selling as well.

Anonymous said...

stupid stuff. STOOOOOOOOPID!