There was a time I would feel down right depressed whenever a team member I sponsored wasn’t doing well. I almost felt guilty for introducing them to my business! Fast forward to today and I’ve come to realize that I’m not in the business to rescue, save, or babysit my team. The problem was, I wanted them to be successful more than they did. You can’t save people but you can influence others by setting certain examples.

You see, building a successful direct sales, network marketing business means you’ve got to be minding your OWN business first. You can’t feel responsible for your team’s lack of activity. You’ve got to take ownership and be your own boss if you’re going to be a successful direct seller. Your priority has got to be focusing on building your direct sales business first and helping your team second. Here’s how to keep your eye on the main prize and mind YOUR business.

I know you’re probably thinking- isn’t the success of my network marketing business about helping others to succeed? Yes it is! But you’ve got to set your priorities straight. First, know the difference between working with a team member that is just as serious as you are, or working with someone that views their business opportunity as a hobby so they’re not always willing to put in the time. Or, working with a team member that’s quite frankly put- a whiner. It sounds harsh but there are a bunch of whiners in this business!

If you cater to the whiners, some of these things will start to happen to your business: You will start doing the work for them. Answering questions for them instead of pointing them to where they need to go i.e. the company’s back-office to get answers. You’ll offer to set up their blogs, help them with their copy ads, and so forth. You’ll soon become their “manager”. Stop!

If you want them to become top consultants like you, the best thing you can do to help them, is to lead by examples. The people who are serious about building a business get this and will duplicate your success. Highly motivated people will do whatever they need to become successful. And the whiners, unfortunately, will continue whining and look for excuses to exit. As I heard Brian Tracy once said- it’s easy to find yourself on the island of “excuses”.

If you want to build a successful direct sales empire, continue investing in yourself: read books, learn new ways to be a better leader, marketing, prospecting, and doing these things daily to build your business.

As Tim Ferriss shared in his book The 4-Hour Work Week- start managing your time wisely and use the Pareto’s Principle  80-20 rule. That is, 20% of your top consultants or distributors are responsible for 80% of the volume of your business. Spend time with those 20% of your distributors that are serious about building their business. Work with them and coach them to become leaders for their own teams. That’s how the process of duplication works in direct sales!

If you want to build a successful direct sales, network marketing empire, focus on your business first, and don’t get into the trap of babysitting your teams.

Are you minding your business? Or do you find yourself “babysitting” your teams? Share your thoughts with us in the Comment section.