If you are a small business owner, an entrepreneur, you would have loved this short documentary (if you would call it that). I did!
I’m an entrepreneur, and I'm everything in the first part. It feels real. It reminded me of why I went down the path I did.
After the climax, if I could be very honest with you that I don’t believe that becoming a MLM member (regardless of what one sells) will make that person a “real” entrepreneur. (I want to be very careful about the word – REAL – as to not to offend anyone) because I do believe that high success can be gained by the selected few.
I agree that it has a low starting cost. I believe it’s a great supplemental income ($300-$500/month) and if one is a little better than 99% of MLM members, s/he might even earn $2000/month!
This movie tried to de-bunk that and again, in my unchanged opinion, it didn't change my mind.
I guess like in ALL small businesses, only 10% succeed just like any other.
I felt this was a great short movie but once it started to get more and more into the MLM, I started losing my interest. MLM is a recruiting business. It isn’t about the products. And I know a selected handful people do make it a successful viable business. You know of a few very successful realtors too, right?
At the same time, maybe my bar for success is very high. I think for any small business, to be considered relatively successful, one must earn at least $300-$500K per year. If one makes over 1M per year, that’s a shining star. (One can say that s/he doesn't desire that, I'll just agree to disagree).
Hence, in my personal opinion, whenever I see businesses who end up making $60-80K net (take home), I personally think they are better off having a full-time position somewhere. In order to make it worth while (risk to themselves and their families), I think one should make at least net $150K after paying taxes. Otherwise, what is the point?
My numbers might seem HIGH (and I don’t know how you feel about them. Maybe you don't agree). But those numbers came from very conservative money managing skills on our personal journey.
So numbers aside, here’s more I wanted to share with you:
We became Christ followers in 2004. We started the Dave Ramsey thing in 2006. Our Christian walk (as much as it is our home church, Hope Fellowship in Frisco and Pastor John imparting on us) has to do with a lot of what Dave Ramsey has taught us/ me about money managing, about contentment, about gratitude, about ratios and lately about it’s time to dream again and it’s okay to spend a little of what we have for ourselves. Dave Ramsey has been a great influence in my life.
I used to find security in finances – even in my early Christian days because I felt if I got into trouble, finances can make big problems into little inconveniences (it’s just money!) and in some ways, that statement is so true. But Dave Ramsey’s FPU about a clenched fist have changed my views about generosity so much that I could give everything away so the Holy Spirit has recently nudged me about being careful about that.
Dave Ramsey has an APP and you can listen to him every 30 mins a day while you drive to work. Over time, great biblical financial lessons will sink in. Like me, I’ve done it for 8 years and going.
I know life is not about money. But the lessons of money teach people about a lot of things (as I observe) in life relating to living out an intentionally focused life on other aspects. Dave talks about life, relationships and so many things in life intertwine with our finances, believe it or not.
Dave Ramsey taught us (my husband and I) how to live humbly, be contented and I feel that we are on our way to the next journey in life where it’s not about us, about how debt straps us down but our family conversations now recently begun how we can set up a family foundation to help others.
I’ve requested for the church to allow us to teach Legacy Journey (a 7-week course similar to FPU). Legacy Journey has put a lot of “Why we do what we do – ie going about handling God’s money”. FPU is more about the “How-Tos” and it’s not a requirement to complete FPU, be on Step 7 to take this course. This is a spiritual reminder of Why – regardless of how hard the journey is, is to give us a HOPE that the other side is very well worth heading to.
If you are in the “searching”/ trying to figure out mode, I was at your position many years ago until I hear a voice from God that I’m suppose to do Kingdom work through real estate. It’s not about houses. But God do use real estate as a platform for us to connect with so many others than we wouldn’t have otherwise.
Listen to Dave Ramsey a lot and often.
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