Starting Point

(Well, it's a bit late, but here's the snapshot I promised.)

History:

I registered in early 1996 as what's now known as a Prosumer (wholesale customer/small business) with the intention of upgrading to business builder IBO "when I knew enough" (read: when I grew a spine). Understanding the potential of the business to be greater than my intended career track, and understanding that I lacked the experience, the preparation & the maturity to run a business, and since no one else I knew (including instructors at my college) had a track record to prove they possessed what I lacked, and understanding that multiple years in the WWDB system was more economical than one year in college, I quit college, got the best-paying job I felt I could obtain at the time, and plugged myself into the WWDB training/mentoring system.
In the 9+ years that followed, I have increased my job income 250%, travelled to multiple international destinations, increased my knowledge of business, leadership & people skills, and most importantly, courted and married a beautiful, intelligent, ambitious woman who had inadvertantly succeeded in intimidating all of her previous suitors-- I cannot point to any other factors in my life that could be credited for the increase of confidence and wisdom that allowed me to accomplish the above.

Oh yes, and in the last year, I've actually begun business-building activities.

Now, last year's business efforts were, I will admit, quite pathetic. I've shown a whopping 7 business plans prior to this year, and out of that, generated 2 wholesale clients (family to whom I sell at no markup), 2 retail clients, and of course, my own household as a Prosumer.
The return was proportionally pathetic-- My gross income was less than my expenses. Fortunately however, the American tax code favors business owners, and it appears that I will have nearly all of those expenses returned to me in the form of a tax refund (another reason why critics shrieking about the $115/mo gross profits are being misleading.) Counting my tax refund, last year was essentially a wash-- neither profit nor loss.

Present:

So for the starting point of this blog, it's practically a clean slate-- last year was a wash, I have yet to sponsor anyone, and have only qualified for bonus checks on personal volume.

Critical readers may be amused by this disclosure, but the irony is that the more pathetic my business is at the starting point, the more dramatic the results will be when I reach my objectives, and the more starkly obvious the correlation between effort and return. Yes, that same dreaded proportional effort-return relationship that the intellectually dishonest are loathe to concede, particularly in regards to this industry.

Given this disclosure, one may fairly question why anyone should listen to me. Obviously, you shouldn't. I have no track record. I am currently operating only on theory. I am only as reliable as your local business college professor (if they had demonstrated knowledge on running a successful business, would they be teaching for a living?)

If, in the course of this project, I demonstrate an ability to create a profitable business, I will have proved the theory in a transparent manner. Further, doing so under the advice of, and utilizing the tools available from the WWDB system will have proved the utility of that system.

Otherwise, until the project is complete, the purpose of this blog is strictly for tracking my own personal accountability to my business, and posting related personal observations.

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