5 Reasons Your Business Has Gone Backwards and What to Do About it
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[00:00:00] Hey friends. Welcome back to the call to lead podcast. So today we're going to be tackling a bit of a tough subject. And that is for those of you who might be feeling like your business is going backwards. So some of the reasons that might be making your business go backwards are within your control.
Some with our would not within your control, but today we're going to be addressing five. Issues or circumstance. Stances that might be present or have been present in the past, in your business that could have contributed. Or might be contributing to your business, not [00:01:00] being.
Okay. So let's dive into this tough conversation because some of the things I'm going to share might not be popular opinions, but they are things that I have seen to be evident in the teams on my team. I've got about 4,500. TV's, but I'm a part of a bigger team and I'm pretty in tuned with what's going on in our big company of about 25 or 26,000 something along that. Lines in the us and Canada.
So whether you're insane, like me or you're in a totally different network marketing company. There are certain aspects right now that absolutely are completely out of our control. That likely are contributing to your business. Not being like at once was especially if you joined your business pre COVID. This is a completely different world, right? But there's other things that we can't control, right?
Like the economy. And I've, I got an [00:02:00] email actually from a trusted kind of industry person. That's actually not in the network marketing industry, but she's a business person. And it kind of said that there's like this underlying feeling of like something's different out there. Like things aren't maybe like they, they have been in the past.
And so you have to kind of try new things and do new things. But whether it's the economy, whether it's trying to recover from a post COVID world where everyone was held captive to their phones, and pretty much anybody could win just by putting themselves out there on whatever social media platform also, you know, the rise of Tik TOK. ~Um, ~Instagram reels, things like that have exploded.
And the market has gotten really crowded, whether it's an online influencer or a network marketer, there's just more people doing it. Right. And so these are things that are not within your control. And the reasons that I'm going to talk about today are the things that you will know when I say it, if [00:03:00] this is something that's impacting you now, or if it's something that you've maybe done in the past that has contributed to where you are now.
And I'll kind of talk about why on some of those things, but the cool part is the advice that I'm going to give it's based on some amazing quotes that I did. I write. That are true. Buckets of wisdom. That can help you shift your focus on to what's possible in your business, despite the fact that there's all these uncertainties things out of your control and the things that are within your control that we're going to dive into today.
So just again, just to preface this, some things are out of your control. We're not going to be addressing those things. We're not going to talk about the corporate things that could be impacting your business. We're not going to talk about the economy. And we're going to talk about the network marketing industry.
Those are all a totally different podcasts. It actually, I interviewed Brett Blake, who is a network. In marketing legend and industry leader. He's amazing. And he works with like doesn't. Well, he is working on the boards of multiple [00:04:00] companies right now, but he has worked with dozens of some of the biggest companies out there.
So he's really got a handle on the state of the network marketing industry. So I'll link to that recent episode if you miss that one, because that will address more of kind of like what's going on in that, but today's is going to be all about you and your business. What that has looked like in the past, what it looks like right now and how decisions that you've made or are going. To make in the future will impact your business moving forward, which is always the goal or moving backwards. So let's start out with reason.
Number one. And that one it's really simple. And it's based on a quote from Zig Ziglar, which is if you aim at nothing. You'll hit it every time. So the first reason that your business might be going backwards is you might not have a clear focus or a clear vision for what you actually want out of your business. You might just kind of be taking it day by day and while network marketing can be fun.
I mean, playing with makeup and doing the things like it definitely can be fun, but if you're not treating it like a [00:05:00] business with clear goals and clear things that you're working towards, you're not going to be moving forward in your business. And sometimes you can move backwards because you don't have something that you're working towards.
And I think I talked about this on a recent podcast episode. I at church a couple of weeks ago. ~Uh, ~our pastor was talking about the parable of reaping and sowing. And it essentially talks about like the fact that sewing. Seeds like planting the seeds and reaping the rewards that always takes time. Right. But it's also matters like where you're planting those seeds.
So if, if you don't like, for example, for me, I always have very, very clear goals in all areas of my business, my life, my marriage, our family. My spiritual life, all of those things, I have very, very, very clear goals that helped me really stay focused on what it is that I want in that area. And if there's a shiny object that comes my way, that doesn't fit into that, then I don't, I don't worry about that.
Right. Like I focus in on what that looks like. [00:06:00] So for example, for me, I know that YouTube and in-person classes are two ways that I can really build my business. They've been effective for me. There's something I enjoy. I just. Did an in-person class last night, it was so much fun. It was a little bit of a late night again, but I love it.
And it's always so much fun to get together around doing what I do. And so instead of my focus or my goal, You know, like once was being to try to do all the things and try to like, you know, be consistent on Instagram and grow a huge following there and do an affiliate link thing with launch and. You know, trying to like also do the in-person stuff and also focus on my team.
What I've learned is if I laser focus in on one clear goal or one clear vision for a month for a season, like maybe a quarter or for a year, then I'm always going to be knowing exactly what I'm working towards. I'm going to be knowing if I'm seeing results towards [00:07:00] whatever that is. And I'm going to then know if I need to kind of course correct or learn more or, you know, kind of figure, tweak or figure something out to do better in that area. So again, I mentioned like in the past I was trying to do all the things now I'm simply focusing on growing my YouTube channel. I took a course and I'm still kind of taking that course in order to how to do it most effectively.
I am seeing progress and it's super exciting to watch it grow and get the feedback. And it's, it's awesome. ~Um, ~but that's an area of my focus, right? Like that's my area for, for where I'd have a clear goal for where I want to grow. And it's a big goal to. I want to read, I want to have a hundred thousand followers and I believe it's possible right now I have about 1100.
So I've got about a long way to go. But I believe that I can get there and I think it could even happen this year by me being continued, continuing to be consistent. So have a clear goal. And as I'm working towards that goal, my personal sales are growing. And so I'm seeing growth. And my personal business is not [00:08:00] going backwards.
It's going forwards because I have a clear something that I'm working towards and I'm not getting distracted by the things that don't fit in that goal. Same thing. Now I am, now that I've had the taste of a recent reward trip. I am going to be working towards that. So I would love to go on our bonus trip this fall, and it's going to be a Mediterranean cruise.
And so I'm laser focusing in on ways that I can improve my personal cells. Because again, that's something in my control. That's something that I know will drive my business forward and get in something that brings me joy. And so I'm working on that again through my YouTube, but also through in-person because it is just been proven to do it.
Whereas YouTube is, it's a little harder to know what to expect with that. So the first reason your business. I might be going backwards is because you lack having a clear goal or a clear focus for what you're working towards specifically in your business. So ask yourself that question, like, do you know exactly what you're working towards?
Do you have clarity for exactly how much you want [00:09:00] to sell or how big you want your team to be and how many you want to personally enroll to get towards that? Do you know what it takes to get to your next rank? Have you looked at like, we call them the growth guides. ~Um, ~or Reece call them bubble charts, like to see exactly the structure of what's possible. You know, if you don't have that clear focus, that clear goal that you're working towards, you're not going to be moving forward.
And a lot of times, you know, you might be stagnant for awhile, but you're going to be moving backwards. So I'm going to challenge you to set a clear goal, a clear focus, get prayerful to the Lord about it. He will show you. And if it's something that's just like, kind of. Like it's right there in your heart.
It could be from him and so pray about it and know that it could be totally possible for you. So that's the first reason is not having a clear, focused goal. So the second reason, and this is kind of tied to that. If you are like focusing on a million different ways to, you know, to try to grow your, your personal business. The second reason your business [00:10:00] might be going backwards is if you're trying to do more than one network marketing company at a time.
So Bob Heilig just did an amazing podcast on this. I'll also link to that in the show notes, but essentially if you decide to do what a lot of people are doing right now, so this is definitely an unpopular opinion, okay. Where people are even being recruited by saying, oh, this product totally compliments, this, this other product.
You can sell them both and you can make more money. Right? Right. So a lot of people feel like they can grow their business or move it forward by adding in an additional product, into the, or additional company. ~Uh,~ into what they're sharing on social media or sharing out there. But what I see time and time again.
And until somebody can show me otherwise outside of a like 0.01% influencer, which is, I think what Bob also said, who already has a huge following, who is basically could sell ice to Eskimos. Right. And whose people are probably excited to see something new. If someone can show me that [00:11:00] someone can have success doing multiple companies and also not having the problem of people on their teams being confused. About like, okay, well wait, why is she doing multiple?
Like, where's her focus? Like where, you know, where's her, her, ~uh, ~where like, at going back to your goal, like, what is her goal? Like, do I need to join this company too? Like what's going on? ~Um,~ also it's even if you're just sharing that product, it's like picking up, ~um,~ a Baton, right? Like we're, you know, if you pick up this pin, if you're watching on YouTube, If you pick up the one side, you're also picking up the other side.
So if you're picking up the product, you're also picking up where you will have people that will want to join you in business, especially if you have a really, really big following. And that creates a ton of confusion and division because it might not be somebody on your team and they're, you know, it's not compliant to directly.
And I think this is with any company and certainly within ours. And it's definitely not the right thing to do to go and try to prospect someone from, ~uh, ~You know anybody other than your directly enrolled artists, but people are going to naturally come to [00:12:00] you. If you have that big following. And if you join that now, if you don't have the big following, and again, I did all episode on this as well recently, but if you don't have that big following, they may not come to you. But you're going to lose some of that trust with your existing customers, your existing followers.
And you might honestly feel like, kind of like a door to door salesman. There's this hilarious, hilarious video that I'm going to have to find and post in the show notes. Y'all it's so good. It's from years ago. It was right. I think, after, after COVID hit and it was this guy who was like selling jewelry and like pots and pans and plants and all this stuff.
And it's like, you don't want to be that girl. Okay. And so going back to the first one, if you're not focused in, on one product that you love, and you're trying to divide your time and energy to serving two different customer bases with two different sets of systems with two different uplines coming at you, you know, especially if you're doing well in one, like they're going to be like, oh girl, you. Run with this here.
You're doing great. You're so close to the next rank. Well, that's awesome. You know, good for you, but like [00:13:00] which one are you going to go for? Like, cause dividing your time and energy and that's any good business book will tell you that like I'm reading 10 X is easier than two X. And traction, which is all about developing an entrepreneurial operating system for yourself and both of those business books in particular, talk about the importance of getting laser focused. On what's most important in your business.
And so if you're trying to do more than one company, If your business hasn't already gone backwards, meaning your personal cells in your first company that you joined. Your team sales, because they're kind of like watching there, which I'll get into the next, the next one here. They might be, their business might not be growing because of the next reason that we're going to share. But I want you to ask yourself, how is this impacting your existing business?
Because I hear a lot of times people will say, oh, well, this is my main thing. Like, this is where my heart is. This is where my focus is, but then they'll go try to divide their energy with adding the other thing. And then that business starts to slip and sometimes they're doing it as like to try to spread their eggs in multiple [00:14:00] baskets or to kind of, you know, ~um, ~I, you know, how do I say this?
Like just have a safety net, if you will, just in case this one. Like the first one doesn't do as well as you'd hope. So you try to, you know, put your eggs in both baskets. Well, that becomes a self fulfilling prophecy for that first company and for that first set of your team. So just keep that in mind.
You know, I always encourage, if you have, if you decide that you have a new product that you just believe is amazing. And you want to go all in there, go all in there, even if that means leaving your current company. Even that means leaving sate as much as I hate to say that if you're really passionate about that product and you're seeing that results and you want to go for it, that's fine.
But if you try to do them both, and if you're wanting to hold on to your first existing business, hoping that this can just supplement. I would be really surprised if you're going to see them both grow. So. Let me know if you've seen it, ~uh,~ anything otherwise. And, ~um,~ I'll be happy to take a look, but I've just seen it time and time again, that the businesses. [00:15:00] Of the leaders that choose to do this. 10 to go down or to go backwards, which is what we're talking about today.
So that's the number two reason? The number three reason is I think one of the reasons why people will add another company. Or why their teams don't like stop kind of producing. Right. And that's fear. And being afraid of the worst thing that could happen. And so with this by a little quote is worrying is like praying for what you don't want.
So if you're worried that something is going to go wrong with your company or that. You're worried that your sales are going to go down or you're worried that your leader is going to quit and leave. You're worried, whatever, whatever you're worried about. Like you're essentially thinking on and praying for that thing that you don't know is going to happen, but essentially it's like praying for what you don't want.
And so if you're stuck in that fear or you're living in that kind of fear of like, [00:16:00] what's. What's going to happen. Um, or worse if you're like in consumption mode. Cause sometimes if you are feeling a little afraid, you can like consume all the things like including this podcast or whatever it is. But what happens is if you're living in fear, That causes inaction, which leads to shame and frustration. So fear leads to inaction, which leads to shame and frustration in your business.
And so the opposite of this is inspiration and looking around you and realizing that, for example, in Seint. Yeah, we might be in the shakeout and I know if you're like, wait, what are you talking about? Go back and listen to some. You know, previous episodes where our business is about 20% down or so from the height of last year, but we're still miles above where we were pre COVID.
This is tracking with typical things in the industry. There's nothing that scares me, except for people being scared. And diving into inaction or making these decisions out of fear. That's the only thing that, that [00:17:00] worries me, but I don't allow myself, like I said to worry about that because essentially I can't, I can't live that.
So what I live in is the inspiration mode for looking for those who are doing amazing things. So the class I told you about last night, is it brand new artists that joined last month? And she, you guys are in person class. She had more than 20 people. It was 26. People said they were going to come. And I think I counted 23.
I think if you didn't show up. And you guys, if you've listened to my party tips, I have a whole episode specifically on how my best practices for having parties. You know, that I say six to eight, but this sweet new artist, Lulu she's awesome. She invited, I got there and she was like, yeah, there's 26 people coming.
And I was like, okay, we can do this. We can do this. And we did, and it was amazing. But looking at what Lulu did and the way that she took, even the things that I had inspired in her with my top tips, she brought her own flair. She printed these awesome, which I think was inspired by another one of my directs drew that I've talked about on here, [00:18:00] where, ~uh,~ drew had printed on a recent class that she did some little face, like a face map where you could write down the colors, which helped them know where our Seint products went.
They, it was an easy way to write it down. I did our brand new starter collections on there made it even easier for that. Lulu had her link on there. Drew had a little QR code. And so you can see right there that the inspiration for what's working in someone else's business. Then causes action. Which then causes gratitude for whatever that result is.
And you should be grateful even if, like, for example, if Lewis party had been a big fat bust, Or if it hadn't gone well, you still should be grateful for the learning experience, but if you're stuck in the other cycle, fear, inaction, shame. Because you aren't seeing the results. How about look to someone who inspires you? Let that in spark you to take action and then be grateful for whatever that result is. [00:19:00] And so if you've been living in fear and that has led to inaction, Think about that, like is that could. Th that be what's causing you your business to go backwards maybe personally, or again, is that what's maybe causing some of your teenies to not do it.
And is that because you've made the choice to bring in another. Like safety net, which again is going to become a self fulfilling prophecy because your team is going to look to you to be the most fired-up one, the most passionate one about what it is that you're doing. So fear is the next reason why your business might not be going backwards.
And obviously the opposite of that is choosing faith over that. So next step. Is.
Let's see. Okay, next up is. Placing or funneling orders or controlling your rank. So this is something that honestly, I think is one of the biggest reasons that causes the shakeout in any company and in Seint to begin with, because I know because, cause I [00:20:00] know. That this is a practice that happens quite a bit with leaders and it's tied to our sin nature of wanting to control the outcomes.
And so what that means is you might be going for a big rank.~ Um, ~and that requires, and every company's a little different, but maybe that requires someone hitting a certain, certain leadership rank, which means they have to enroll people. And then they might have to hit a certain sales. ~Uh, ~volume in order for them to, you know, qualify for that.
And so what leaders and. You know, again, this isn't necessarily a leader. If you're choosing to do this, but what people will sometimes do is they will like take their own business and they will funnel either actual orders or people like when someone wants to enroll with them, they'll place them under someone on their team. Now, I know certain comp plan structures are literally designed for this and that's a whole other situation.
Although I think that it could potentially cause some of the same problems. I'm not sure because I have never had experience in that. So I don't want to, I don't want to. [00:21:00] You know, speculate that, but what happens is essentially instead of teaching your team to fish, or instead of building them up by having them take the action or get inspired by what you're doing, take the action and they'd be grateful for the results instead, you're essentially doing it for them.
And the reason you're doing it is it's based out of like your uncertainty for what. You think is going to happen? Like you're, you're thinking like, okay, you know, Lord, I don't know if this is gonna happen, so I'm just gonna make it happen. So the quote, and this is a Bob Goff quote is the way we deal with uncertainty, says a lot about whether Jesus is ahead of us leading. Or behind us carrying our stuff. So if you're not trusting that the Lord has the perfect timing for that next, right.
For you, that he's got everything, every idea for your social media content, every person who would join your team. Every [00:22:00] leader who has the potential to be your next solid leader. If you aren't realizing that he's the one that's providing all of that for you. It's likely because you're living it probably a little bit. Of fear, but also a little bit in uncertainty. Which is probably tied to past experiences.
Maybe you had a bad experience in another network marketing company. Maybe, you know, you don't want to go back to being in debt like you were at one point. And so instead of trusting that the Lord is guiding you and will break, continue to bring those people, those ideas, the money, all of the things that are needed for you, especially if you're being a good steward of all of those things that he's giving you.
Right. That if you're essentially carrying that, that weight on your own, if you're carrying those fears or like, I talked to actually one of my leaders and in our Bible study, totally unrelated to business. We both talked about this in the last week, which is how I know it's from the Lord that if you're holding onto these things and you're not bringing those dark, like maybe scary thoughts or those fears. [00:23:00] Out there to someone that you trust. Then you're keeping that darkness in and if you bring it to light and you hand that burden over to the Lord, he will release that from your shoulders.
And he will guide you, especially if you look to him to guide you. And so if you have been tempted and listen, I'm going to say, I have done it. You guys, I have done it only a couple of times. And I know for a fact that that's the reason why my business went backwards, where I have either. ~Um,~ because finally, technically it's not what the out of compliance within our company to essentially have someone who's going to order like a use an end-user order from someone else.
And I thought that it was helping them, but it wasn't, it was the, it was the opposite of empowering that person to do the work in their own business. And they quit. And even those leaders that we sort of made it happen. They're not really doing that much in their business because they don't have the fulfillment from having had it happen. Not in their own control, if that makes sense.
[00:24:00] And so if you have done that, where you've funneled an order, or I don't want to say even worse funneled a person cause you guys like, yes, it might be a bubble chart or a growth guide or a structure, but these are people. These are humans who all have the potential to do amazing things here. And if you're treating them like ponds or if you're treating them, like, you know, something like in an, in a game for you, you're making it about you and it's never going to bring you the success in this business. That comes from truly serving people based off of what they need and helping them dive into action and get the things done.
And it almost always results in your business going backwards. I know there, I know that because I have been there, my friends too. So if your business is going backwards, that's the fourth reason it could be is if you have been placing structure or if you have been funneling orders. So ask yourself that question. And then finally, and this is going to tied to my entire team name, which I totally stole from one of my top leaders, [00:25:00] Tammy Williams.
She's amazing. And we kind of co-lead for a really, really long time. Not that we don't. We all. We all kind of collate together, but it's the fifth reason is keep it simple. How much are you? Over-complicating what you're doing because one reason why your business might not be growing, meaning no one's duplicating on your team.
People aren't having the same success as you is because you've overcomplicated your processes and your systems. And instead of keeping it simple, which is going to be next week's episode, which is going to be the next little letter in the chisel acronym. So in that chisel acronym, the C stands for cash. The H stands for hope. The, I stands for innovation and the S stands for simplicity. And that's what I'm talking about here. So in that episode, I'm going to be breaking this down a lot further for your business, with how are you communicating with your team?
Is it in a million different places? Like, are you kind of like, is your upline doing it in [00:26:00] one place? Like we use telegram for everything, but maybe you're trying to put everybody on Voxer or Marco polo or messenger or something like that. So now they've got to download multiple apps and keep up with multiple things. Or is your process for acquiring new customers?
Maybe a little complicated. So for example, your new person who joins you is actually going to be basically the enrollment starts before she even joins or before she even becomes a customer, because people aren't always going to do what they, what you tell them to they're going to do what they see you do. So if they can't do what they saw you do, because maybe it's like a fancy email, like this like complicated color match, for example, insane.
Or it's something that, you know, you came up with yourself or like you had a developer develop for you because you make the kind of income that you can invest in something like that. But it's not something that your team can also use. Then it's going to be too complicated for them. So for example, when I color match, I just send a text message.
I'm like, [00:27:00] Hey, thanks for your color match. They fill out my form that it's using a free software called jot form that anybody can use until they start to get to the point where they're get a lot of. Action on it. And then it might be worth the investment. But jot form. I will get that jot form in I'll text him like, Hey, I'll get back with you within 24 hours with your color match. And then I text them their color match and the link.
And I, I now am matching almost exclusively with the starter collections because they're so good. So, what I'm doing in that is yes, I could afford to go pay and have in the past, like this fancy system where I get this, like, you know, email, like with all this like shiny information and all of this in there. But the problem with that is my new lady that joins Lulu.
She can't, she can't do that. She can't afford, she shouldn't afford to do that, but she can and did download, jot form, right? She can send the of symbol color match, text out to whoever. And it's something that anybody can do. Oh. And the color matching, she can [00:28:00] color match because she just picks from one of 12 different starter collections.
So that is a perfect example of how complicated are you making your processes when it comes to customer acquisitions or your onboarding? Or, you know, even again, your team trainings, communications really think about like, what, how can you simplify? And again, we'll dive in much more into the next episode. But that's the fifth reason that your business might be going backwards because you may be burned out from being the only one doing the work.
And you're like, I don't even want to do this anymore. I thought this was supposed to be where I can help other people win. And that's where the fun and the fulfillment comes from, but they're not doing it. They're not having success. Well, it's likely because you're, over-complicating it. And you need to keep it simple sister. So that's my fifth and final reason.
So just to review real quick. ~Um, ~the first one is a lack of a focus within your business or a focused goal. Number two, it's kind of on that note where it's, ~um,~ let's see. Where it's [00:29:00] you trying to do more than one company and trying to add that additional revenue stream probably based out of uncertainty or the third reason, which is fear living in fear, which always leads to inaction. Right? ~Um, ~instead of looking for inspiration and taking action and the number four would be placing.~ Uh,~ funneling orders underneath your team from your own personal business, in order to control the rank or the structure in your business, which leads to a going backwards. And then the fifth and final one is you're over-complicating and you're not keeping it simple sister.
So I hope that these reasons will help give you a little bit of insight into why your business might have gone backwards. And I'm not saying that this is all encompassing. There certainly could be other ones that might come into play. But I think that a lot of these things are what causes the shakeout drop.
When, you know, at one point in the growth by promotion or. Actually the hyper-growth phase. Is what Brett Blake calls it, like in that phase, like anybody can win, whether they're [00:30:00] placing, whether they're, you know, doing all the things and then you put some COVID. ~Uh, ~Time, like fuel to that fire. And that leads to success, but when people don't see that same sustainable success, because they did it in a way where they kind of either controlled it. Or they over complicated it, or they didn't have a solid foundation of leadership, which is just really inspiring other people to take action.
Right? That's the definition of a leader. And so they start to get scared, which means they jumped ship that they start to take on another company or they go to a completely different company. You know, based out of that fear and no judgment. And again, if that's something that somebody needs to do, but for me, Understanding all this and knowing that I think that's one of the reasons why our, my team has been a little bit insulated from this.
I mean, I share my numbers each and every month, so you can go back and see. There's like some things that are good. Some things that are definitely being impacted. And I think a lot of that is probably coming from some of the things that are not within my control. But ours has definitely had a bit of a cushion.
And I [00:31:00] believe it's because I've been focusing on these things for years and I've been instilling these principles in my leaders as well. So if you're on my team, this is probably not news to you, but hopefully this has been helpful in some way to you. And I can't wait to continue this conversation and I will be praying for your business to soar and move forward instead of going backwards.
So thank you guys for listening today and you'll have a great week. Bye.
