2005 - 10-12-05original

4. You need someone experienced in addressing the above-mentioned issues and handling them in the most damage-controlling way.

5. You need a reserve (of money) for customer returns, which average about 10%.

6. You need a merchant account that will accommodate your sales volume and not be cancelled without notice. This is ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE to find. In fact, I received a letter just a few days ago from a person who started his mail business and had $90,000 in sales in his first week... and... was then shut down by his merchant processor. Now, this guy has no merchant account, no way to sell his program, and $90,000 in funds frozen for the next nine months while he sorts it out with the all-powerful banks.

7. List Selection. You need someone who has the skill and experience to know all the rip-offs in the list selection game. This is a minefield for the uninitiated. If you are new to this, you have some very UNPLEASANT surprises in store for you.

8. Other Channel Exploitation. My "Ray Kroc" people's experiences extend from direct mail to newspaper ads, catalog, television shopping, infomercials, online and offline. Increasingly, the most successful roll-outs are those which exploit multiple channels. Having access to those channels give you a tremendous advantage.

I'll stop here but presumably, by now, you've gotten the idea. If you haven't, you are brain-dead and beyond all hope.

Ask yourself, can your $8/hour person handle all this? Probably not.

Is it worth giving up a percentage of profits to have someone handle all the headaches? Well, for me it is. For Tony Robbins, it is. For Victoria Principal, and hundreds of other entrepreneurs, it is.