“She must be lucky.”
Every time I hear that I take it as a compliment. Clearly, I have made the difficult work of running a retail store look so easy that others can only attribute my success to luck. The fact is, the path to where I am now has been long and difficult – but well worth the reward.
To understand how I got where I am, let’s start at the beginning. In 2003 I was laid off, along with thousands of others, from my job with a major telecommunications company. I watched people left and right of me lose their homes and cars. Some would find jobs, but at such low wages they still couldn’t pay the bills.
As I was half-way through my MBA at the time, I decided to start my own business as an independent home inspector. You read that right, a home inspector. After three months of tireless planning, the training I needed to get going was put on hold indefinitely. With only two weeks of unemployment left, I had to find a way to bring in money immediately. I thought about getting a job, but I knew I would take a huge pay cut. With two small children, ages 4 and 7, after paying for daycare, I calculated I would work full-time to bring home maybe $500 a month. I decided to stick with my original plan of starting my own business. I only needed to make $500 a month to equal my take-home pay from working full time outside the home.
I told my husband I would sell Avon products. At least I’d have money in my hands within two weeks. He said, “Just do something.”
This is when I hit my first streak of good luck – fueled by 40 hours a week of work. My district sales manager had several hundred extra brochures on hand. She let me have them to go door-to-door in y neighborhood. I worked my neighborhood and then went on to the next, and the next, and the next. Within one month I had knocked on over 1,000 doors in my little town.
Why would I go door-to-door? I had no job. I was new in town. I had recently moved there when I married my husband George. In fact, when I started selling Avon I only knew two people in town – my neighbors on both sides. To this day, neither has ever bought from me. I’m not knocking them, but pointing out you have to get out of your comfort zone to find your customers.
In the next six months I achieved President’s Club ($10,000 in sales), Advanced Unit Leader (the name for the second tier of team building back then). I won a cruise to Key West and Cozumel. I even landed on the front cover of Avon’s then in-house magazine Dreams. If I heard of a new method or technique to increase sales or find team members – I tried it. That’s when I first started hearing, “She must be lucky.”
When Avon flew me to New York for the cover shoot of Dreams I met four other new stars with Avon. One of the ladies had an Avon Sales & Training Center. I was so intrigued I looked into the idea further. When I returned home I decided to open my own. It did not go well. My husband and I lost money every month we were open. However, that little practice run gave me the confidence I needed to go all out and open a fully-approved Licensed Avon Beauty Center – in a better location of course!
The Licensed Avon Store did not perform well in the beginning. My first day open I sold $50. My second day open, I sold $25. In the first month, we barely sold more than the cost of our rent. Traffic was incredibly slow. I attribute much of that to my lack of knowledge about what it takes to open a retail location. Somehow I thought my MBA would carry me through. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was earning my “real-life” MBA.
Then I had another streak of luck! After six months of working 90-100 hours a week, reaching out to experts for help, and obtaining a loan from the SBDC (Small Business Development Center), the store started breaking even. Yeah! I was able to hire some help. I even started to pay myself a small salary. I would have made more money working part time at a McDonalds, but at least I was getting paid!
The first few years were super tough, but things got better.
As of spring 2016, my main store has been open 11 years. My second store has been open two years. I was named Existing Business of the Year by my area SBDC in 2008. I was named an Avon Woman of Enterprise in 2010 (a national award). I make way more money than I did as an IT professional. I have a store manager on salary and a sales staff of eight. For the most part, I only need to work in the stores a couple of days a week to complete the retail work I have kept for myself.
With my extra time I’m able to run a consulting business that entails speaking engagements, helping other’s grow their businesses, and even time to write this book. More importantly, I have more time for my family, something very precious to me. My two small children have grown up and moved out (if you’re doing the math, the youngest one started college a couple of years early). I now have my eight year old son and the two year old daughter we adopted at home.
I want you to achieve your goals and dreams. For me, the goal started out at $500 a month. I now earn much more than that, have a great deal of time for family, and continue my professional growth.
I’ve seen and been through it all – tough times, good times, and everything in-between. I have my own experiences and the experiences of others to share. Please take the knowledge I have to offer, regardless of what direct sales company you work with, and use it to achieve your goals and dreams. That is my highest wish for you.
The section above is the Introduction chapter to Elizabeth Demas’ book From Knocking on Doors to Making Millions: Top Strategies for Direct Sales Success.
The book can be purchased on Amazon or Kindle or you can get a signed copy here.
For more information on Elizabeth Demas, visit her site at www.successwithelizabeth.com.
