Goal Getting - An Alternate Way To Approach Your Direct Sales
Business.
In my many years of Party Plan direct selling I have seen it
time and time again... women come home from their annual
convention fired up, determined that by next year they'll be
able to walk the stage in the top 10, earn the cruise and have
enough income to purchase their dream home on the ocean. It is
great to come home motivated and excited about your company.
Having big dreams is a wonderful thing!
Sometimes, however, it's just not realistic for the average WAHM
who wants a life outside of her business. Because she has just
heard some wonderful goal setting advice from the top leaders in
our company she sets those wonderful goals, posts them on the
fridge with a picture of the dream home circled in red pen and
she looks at them every day.
But the reality of it is, many work at home moms have life
boundaries that they are unwilling to cross. And those
boundaries will make it very difficult to achieve even one of
those goals. Because of this, unfortunately, many women who
could have a wonderful and fulfilling career in direct sales
quit because the goals they've set are just plain unrealistic
for where they are in life. Instead of enjoying the benefits of
a business with the freedom and flexibility to earn some money
while still living the rest of life, they assume they've failed
because the unrealistic goal was just that... unrealistic for
now.
That said, if you're a mom like me who has a full life with
other involvements and time commitments that you are unwilling
to shelve even temporarily for your direct sales business, you
might enjoy an unorthodox approach to goal setting. I like to
call it Goal Getting.
With Goal Getting you are looking at your life and determining
exactly what you can expect from your Direct Sales business
based on your priorities and life commitments. Basically, you're
working backward from the usual goal setting process.
First, let's lay some groundwork. If you are married, talk with
your husband about your schedule. If you were to say to him,
"Honey, I'm planning on being out four nights a week for the
next 6 months so I might earn a cruise," what will he say? What
about three nights? Two nights? Is one night a week or even one
night a month the more realistic schedule for you? You can
always come back to him after you've written down your schedule
(see next step) to add in an extra day or two or more.
Now, here's where the work comes in. If you don't already have a
master family calendar, it's time to get one! Get a nice big
calendar with room to write in each day of the month. Pull out
all the schedules you have, school, church, mom's groups, bunco
nights, etc, and put them all on there for as many months out as
you can. Do you have date nights with your hubby regularly (if
not, you should... but we'll save that for another day)? Is
there a TV show that you absolutely will not miss for ANYTHING
and are not willing to record? Be realistic here ladies...some
moms come into a business and say, "Oh, I can sacrifice
'Survivor' to do a party" but then the first time a party comes
along on that night, and they resent having to give it up. Do
yourself a favor and admit it...and schedule around it!
Do not just look at evening activities, but write in the daytime
stuff too. Think through a typical week for your family. You
want a realistic picture of what is there. So few women do this
but it's a worthy exercise no matter what home business you are
in but particularly with Direct Sales where being away from home
for a party or workshop is a given.
Now, take that full calendar back to your husband and work
together with him to determine how many and which nights would
be best for you to be away. Meet with the rest of the family and
talk over what this is going to look like so everyone is on the
same page.
The groundwork is laid...now let's GET the goals...
1. Find out from your company what their average party/workshop
sales are. This will likely be your average too and even if your
totals are higher, use this average for the goal getting process
since it will allow for cancellations, reschedules and the like.
2. Based on your commission structure, and basic costs of doing
business, determine how much you'll take home from an average
party.
3. Multiply that number by the amount of parties you've
determined you can do in any given month.
Ok, now what do you think of that number? Not bad, huh? Do you
want it to be higher? Talk with your family again and see if
there are any changes that can be made, but remember that those
changes will mean sacrifices in other areas of your life. That's
fine but just remember that you cannot have it all!
Although many hope for it, most in the home party plan business
will not reach the $100,000 annual achievers club and the
company incentive trip while still being the president of the
PTA, singing in the church choir, being the Girl Scout Troop
leader, having a date night with your husband and maintaining a
spotless house where husband comes home to every night to a
rested wife ready to meet his every need!
However, even with a full life, you CAN make a nice additional
income, purchase your own products and gifts for others at a
discount and maybe even earn an incentive or two. And who knows,
when the kids are older and the scout troop no longer needs you
as leader, you can add a party or two to your schedule and earn
that cruise.