Helen Keller said, “It is terrible to see and have no vision.” Ask yourself a question. Do you know what an opportunity looks like? Describe it. Define it. Bottom line… would you know one if he bit you on the butt? They all say they are looking for “one”. Being in the right place at the right time is not enough. As network marketing industry legend Randy Gage says, “It’s about recognizing a magical moment of opportunity and acting accordingly.”

In network marketing and home-based businesses, everyone says they have the “perfect opportunity.” So how do you evaluate? What’s the difference between a golden opportunity and fool’s gold?

The scope of this article is to help you evaluate businesses, determine indicators of success, and outline potential risks. I am a CPA, business owner and consultant. I look at companies from top to bottom, from start to finish. There are some fundamental characteristics that will point you to a good opportunity. A little homework and research can go a long way in making a wise decision.

Nine out of ten business failures are due to a lack of general business management skills and proper planning. Misery loves company and mistakes involving any of these three M’s will put you in the company other than the “nine” out of ten businesses that fail: Money, Management, and Marketing.

Money. It takes a long time for a new business to become profitable. It usually takes much longer than most business plans project. Business projections that seem too good to be true in the early years are probably just that. Even the best product ideas, management, and marketing won’t be enough if you run out of capital before achieving enough momentum, exposure, and market acceptance. You have to look at what will happen if the company has a bad first quarter, a bad second quarter, or even a bad first year. If a company is relying on cash flow to be generated in the first few months and quarters, beware.

management. If you’re looking for a new business, the management of that business should be seasoned veterans, not first-time entrepreneurs, and your five closest friends. Yes. You need the visionaries, but you also need long-term planners, people who have started small and grown big, know the industry, react quickly to change, etc. To be successful, a new company will go through many stages such as introduction, market penetration, exponential growth, expansion, etc. A company can be mortally wounded if it is not equipped to handle each of these stages.

Marketing. Great ideas, innovative products and services die unrealized due to improper marketing. There are two marketing forces: the “push” and the “pull”. The lack of attention to the latter is where the ball most often falls. “Push” is the strategy that “pushes” the product through the marketing pipeline and brings it to consumers. This creates exposure for the consumer. The “pull” is the piece that makes the consumer aware of their need for the product. It tells them what the product will do for them and prompts them to “pull” the product out the other end of the pipeline. A company’s marketing plan must be able to evoke emotions in the final consumer. Emotion that is tied to a need or want that your business can satisfy. Otherwise, all the exposure, fancy packaging, and “opportunity” appeal will be wasted.

People generally fall into two general categories. The optimist who wears rose-colored glasses and the pessimist who wears dark glasses. They can both see. However, you should take off those glasses when looking at various home or network marketing business opportunities and compare them to a set of standards that will guide you to the ones with real potential.

The last thing you have to do is be ready to act! Alfred North Whitehead, a British philosopher, said, “Without adventure, civilization is in full decline.” Take a look at where you are now. Then ask yourself where you will be in five years. Are you on your way to decline? Network marketing is not the network marketing of 15 or 20 years ago. Things have changed and it is an increasingly viable option for those who really want to change their financial situation.

The trick is to find those home based business and network marketing opportunities that have the capital, the management; product and marketing plan to achieve sustainable success. If you’re actively searching and know what to look for, when opportunity knocks on your door, you won’t risk going out to lunch!