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Working from Home the Barefoot Millionaire way. Today’s topic: HONESTY

Written by: Richard Knowles

Article Overview: Successful work-from-home entrepreneurs are often faced with the difficult dilemma of being brutally honest about a friend's new MLM opportunity or dancing around the truth to save his feelings.

Working from Home the Barefoot Millionaire way. Today’s topic: HONESTY

When a friend asks your opinion about an ugly shirt or a lousy haircut, you can probably dodge the question with a little double talk. ("I don't think I've ever seen a shirt quite like it! How unusual!") What's a white lie to save a friend's feelings, right? But what do you do when you're asked for your "honest opinion" about a work from home opportunity, and your honest opinion flies directly in the face of what your friend hopes - and expects - to hear? "Tell me the truth," your buddy says, "I can sell four hundred dollars worth of vitamins every month, right? Dude, I'm gonna be rich!"

This dance suddenly got a whole lot tougher. On one side of the coin, your friend really isn't looking for feedback so much as your confirmation of his business savvy. On the other side, you know better, and realize that he is going down a very dark and frustrating path. He could lose a lot of money and time, or worse, alienate his friends and family with pipe dreams of an old, broken down MLM business model.

So how do you handle this sticky situation?

1. Don't lose sight of the immediate issue. Your buddy's feelings are out in the open right now. Be gentle with your words, even when you know that tough love may be just what the doctor ordered. Helping your friend is priority number one, but be kind.

2. Answer the man. He asked for your opinion, so don't shuck and jive and say you'll get back to him in a few weeks. This is your friend, after all. You owe him a response as soon as possible.

3. Don't be vague. While you could easily knock him over the head with reasons why the idea is way past its prime, it's tempting to retreat into vague comments about his plan "needing a bit more meat on the bone," or "may have some potential." Point out the specific flaws you see in his business plan.

4. Steer his optimism to a work-from-home business that actually works. Nothing hurts worse than getting your dreams stepped on; however, if another option is presented, one that upon examination is far superior to the original idea, then that original enthusiasm will multiply when fed the water of factual possibility.

5. Judge the idea, not your friend. He will probably take it quite personally when you pull the curtain away from his shiny MLM ambition. Remind him that it's the business model that stinks, not him or his goals or being financially free.

In the end, if you handle the situation gently but firmly, your friend will get exactly what he asked for: your honest opinion. And if you're lucky, one day he might even return the favor.

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Article Tags: business model, business plan, confirmation, dodge, feelings, friends and family, haircut, home opportunity, honest opinion, optimism, pipe dreams, priority number, shuck and jive, sticky situation, tough love, truth, ugly shirt, vitamins, white lie, whole lot
Referred by: http://jaykubassek.com



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