I want to start with a confession.
Six years ago, with a five-month-old baby and absolutely no desire to go back to work, I typed this into Google: "What can I do where I can stay at home and still earn money?"
I fully expected nothing useful. Instead, a woman called Lisa Prescott popped up on my social media. I was convinced it was too good to be true. We got messaging. I found out what she did. I started doing it. And I loved every second.
That woman is the reason I'm in business today. Without Lisa, there would be no Women Inspired Network.
So this week on the podcast, I finally got her on to talk about the topic that makes people pull a face: network marketing. Is it a scam? Is it illegal? Why do so many people do it, and why do so many people quit?
Whether network marketing is your thing or not (and it isn't for everyone), the myths we busted hold lessons for every woman building a business. Here's what I took away.
Myth 1: "It's a pyramid scheme"
Lisa was a police officer when a friend messaged her, telling her to come round with £200 to start a business. She laughed. She'd joined the police at 18 and knew nothing about business.
But she was a detective, so she did what detectives do. She researched. She looked at how long the company had been trading, whether it was stable and debt free, and whether it sold a product people would genuinely buy again and again.
That last point is the key difference. A pyramid scheme makes its money from recruiting people, with no real product changing hands, and it's illegal. Network marketing is direct selling: you recommend products you actually use, and you're paid by the company when people buy them.
And as Lisa pointed out, we already do this every day. You post about an amazing meal and tag the restaurant. A mum at the school gate asks where your top is from and buys it in three seconds flat. Recommending things we love is just how people buy from people they know, like and trust.
The lesson for any business: when Lisa's colleagues told her it was a scam, she didn't take their word for it. She made an informed decision for herself. The loudest opinions usually come from people who have never tried the thing they're warning you about.
Try this: next time someone tells you something won't work, ask yourself two questions. Have they actually done it? And have I done my own research, or am I just borrowing their fear?
Myth 2: "It's a get-rich-quick scheme"
Social media is full of overnight successes. "I made £1,000 this month!" "I hit my goal!" What you rarely see is the months of graft that came before.
Lisa thinks this is where the industry has gone wrong. Over the years, the message became "join today and be a millionaire in three years", and people genuinely believed they could put in very little effort and become wealthy overnight. In any industry, that idea needs to go.
Her advice to her team is one of my favourite things she's ever said: "People will be okay with the Ferrari when you get there, as long as they remember you driving the Ford."
In other words, invite people along for the journey. Lisa is really open about parenting four children at very different stages, and about the fact that it isn't all rosy. That honesty is exactly why people are happy for her when the success comes.
It also means showing up as you. Before I started my first business, I avoided social media like the plague. Some of my family didn't even know I'd had a baby. Then I realised the people judging me don't pay my bills. These days I share my kids, my motherhood journey and my business, roughly 80% lifestyle and 20% business, because people need to get to know you before they'll buy from you.
As Lisa put it, we don't like everybody in real life, so why are we trying so hard to be liked by everyone online? Let your personality come through. The people who don't like it were never your people.
Try this: once a week, share something behind the scenes. A hard day, a small win, a lesson you've learned. It builds far more trust than another highlight reel.
Myth 3: "It doesn't work"
Here's the uncomfortable truth Lisa shared: a lot of the "it doesn't work" stories come from people who never really tried.
Lisa has a friend who spent £20,000 opening a salon. She had to work around the clock to make that money back. Quitting wasn't an option.
When a business costs £200 to start, or sometimes as little as £10, it becomes very easy to walk away. You register, tell two friends, one of them says "that's a bad idea", and you quit. Then you tell everyone network marketing doesn't work.
Lisa says most people who give up do it within the first month or two. Her comparison made me laugh: it's like going to the gym three times in January, doing 16 sit-ups and declaring it a scam because you haven't got a six pack.
No business is full in its first month. Not a salon, not a networking group, not a VA business. And definitely not one you're building around your children.
Try this: before you start anything new, decide what "giving it a proper go" actually means. Six months? A year? Write it down. That way a slow first month is just part of the plan, not a reason to quit.
Myth 4: "I haven't got time"
"I haven't got time" is probably the most common thing anyone in business says. I've said it. You've said it.
Lisa built her business around a newborn and a three-year-old, in pockets of time. Her question is simple: could you find three 20-minute windows a day? On your lunch break. On the commute. On the sidelines at football (Lisa takes her own chair and politely tells her friends she's busy for 20 minutes). Or, as she put it, locked in the loo if you have to.
And let's be honest: most of us lose 20 minutes to doom scrolling without even noticing.
Lisa also said something that I've carried with me since I first started: pick your hard. When she began, building a business meant knocking on doors, handing out flyers and phoning people. Now you can post into ten community Facebook groups in one go. Running a business still takes effort, but compared with what came before, the hard bit has never been easier.
Try this: look at tomorrow and find your three 20-minute windows. Put them in your calendar like appointments, and decide in advance what you'll do in each one.
Myth 5: "I can't afford it"
When Lisa registered her business, it was two weeks before Christmas and her stepson's birthday was on Christmas Eve. She didn't have £200 spare. She was 31 weeks pregnant, living in her overdraft and dreading going back to work.
But she decided she couldn't afford to stay where she was. The fear of staying stuck scared her far more than the fear of trying.
I feel exactly the same. If you do nothing, you'll stay exactly where you are. And I'd much rather look back and know I went all in than spend years wondering "what if?"
It's a mindset shift, and I know from experience how much it matters. When I finally invested in my own mindset, everything started to change (more on that in a podcast very soon).
Try this: add up what you spend in a typical month on things that don't move you forward. Then ask yourself honestly whether the real cost is the investment, or staying exactly where you are.
Whatever your business is, the lessons are the same. Do your own research. Show the journey. Give it long enough. Find the time. Invest in yourself. And surround yourself with people who will lift you up rather than tell you it'll never work.
That's exactly what our networking community is for. 💛
🎙️ Listen to the full episode
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0DM7Ooc5nLezg4u91OklYo?si=3cec6810f1c84ccc
YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDVCZqf8LiBs92aTeEHZsWrtoNRJEVCXn&si=koWBnwsqqRlLFa1o
More from the blog: https://www.womeninspirednetwork.com/blog
💛 Find Lisa Prescott
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_lisaprescott/
👤 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lis.Prescott
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