4 Factors to Consider When Launching a Direct Selling Product

Dec 1, 2022Sheffield Blog

This article is a summary from educational training materials available at Sheffield Global Academy.

Developing the perfect product for the MLM business is no easy feat, but with the right product and the right planning, you can help ensure your company’s long-term success. Here are four key factors to pay close attention to when you’re looking to launch a product for your network marketing company. 

Distribution

Here’s some good news! There are more products looking for a company than there are companies looking for products. There are so many exciting products out there that have not found distribution. Distribution is king of the marketplace. A product that has a story and can be demonstrated is a great opportunity for you to bring to the direct selling marketplace. 

Sometimes, you have old products that we must reposition in new ways. And sometimes, you just need to target new markets – markets that have never seen the product that you’re now able to offer. 

If you have a product in-mind, consider how you’ll reposition it. Is your product new to the direct selling market? Make sure there is a story for your distributors to tell when marketing the product.

Control and Ownership

If you’re going to go through the time and effort to bring a product to market, you want to make sure that you negotiate some level of control over that product. The best approach is to simply own the product outright, and you can do that if you have a lot of money. 

But if you can’t own the product by buying it, then perhaps you may want to create a partnership with your manufacturer or supplier. Many times, they can see the big picture and would rather be a small fish in a big pond by supplying the product for your company.

If your supplier does not want to partner, you may also want to negotiate the exclusive marketing rights to the product. Exclusive marketing rights can be worldwide, categorical, or geographic. In any case, you do not want your supplier doubling as your competitor. 

It’s very important to negotiate the option to buy the product outright at a later date for some sort of cash payment in your contract with the supplier. Since you will eventually become very successful, you can use that cash to exercise your option to buy the product. 

Another option is to negotiate a performance clause, whereby selling a certain amount of product over a certain amount of time earns you sweat equity in the ownership of that product.

MLM Legal

In most cases, unless you’re buying directly from the manufacturer and they have marked their profit into your wholesale price, you’re going to pay some type of royalty to the owner of that product. With these sorts of legal issues you’ll need to make sure that your direct selling attorney understands what’s necessary to secure the product so that you maintain control. This protects your company and distributors down the road.

Don’t be afraid to be a creative copycat. Learn from the mistakes others make. It’s not uncommon for companies that are second or third to market to become the real winners on a new product concept.

Marketing

Marketing always wins. The best marketing always trumps the best product so make sure marketing is first and foremost. Be sure to understand that you’ll need to spend money, time and expertise to create award-winning, world class marketing campaigns. Be ready to open your pocketbook for quality marketing. 

In summary, your product must be unique. It must be profitable. It must be consumable. It must be enduring if it’s going to have success as a product in network marketing. Own the control of your product and remember marketing, marketing, marketing.

This article is a snippet of Sheffield Global Academy’s comprehensive MLM startup video training program

If you’ve not already read the article 10 Product Characteristics for Today’s MLM Entrepreneurs, now is a good time to check out that related content. 

Do you have more questions about the distribution of your product or need a professional consultant to get your product launched off the ground? Contact us for a free consultation or join Sheffield Global Academy for a crash course in ALL THINGS MLM.