This is an article I wrote for YP Nashville in March 2014.
As I approach the 10th anniversary of Eric Jans Insurance, I have been reflecting on what has gotten me to this point and on some of the mistakes I have made along the way. The biggest mistake actually happened years before I even started. It was a huge financial setback and a blow to my ego, but it just might be the key to my business’s success.
It goes back to college. Three years into my degree, I was restless. My major was not the right fit. I hated my classes. Time was running out. Student loans were piling up. Quitting school seemed like the right thing to do. Not long after, I saw an ad in the paper that promised: “Make $10,000 a month working part-time!” Say no more, I had found my answer, and a way to get what I wanted in half the time. As you’ve probably guessed, I entered the world of multi-level marketing, selling products that were going to save the planet and make me rich beyond my wildest dreams.
For the next year or so, I racked up credit card debt trying to keep my new enterprise afloat, purchasing products wholesale and trying to hawk them to all my friends. The unsold merchandise started to accumulate, and my friends stopped returning my calls. Getting rich quick was taking forever. When it crashed and burned, I returned to school with just a sliver of my ego intact.
Fast forward post college and with a few years of the corporate world under my belt. Tired of working for “the man”, I became brave enough again to start my own business. This time I used the lessons (my mistakes) the multi-level marketing experience taught me.
I didn’t borrow money. Instead, I was patient. I worked slowly and steadily to build a client base one sale at a time. As profit came in, I committed to reinvesting a portion, and my business grew and continues to grow.
I didn’t cut corners or entertain outrageous expectations. Expecting to “get rich quick” is like trying to erect a building without laying the foundation. I saw many examples of this as my peers fell by the wayside and moved on after becoming disillusioned by the exaggerated promises and claims so rampant in my industry. Yet, I am still here. Ten years later, I have a successful business and hundreds of happy customers.
Sometimes, I wish I could go back and erase the multi-level marketing experience, avoiding all of the debt and embarrassment that came from my mistakes. I think about how much further along I would be now if I had started my business then, but the lessons it taught me made me patient enough to lay the foundation of my business brick by brick.
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