by Sue Miner

Created on: May 22, 2008

Today more and more people are taking their future into their own hands by starting a small business. Each week 175,000 people start a small business. In fact, it is reported that 98% of new businesses in the US today are small businesses, accounting for forty percent of the US gross domestic product. More and more people want the freedom to be home with their children, spend more time doing the things they enjoy, set their own hours, and be in control of their own destiny.

There are many legitimate home-based business opportunities available. The wholesale for resale is one way of moving a product. Although, in the wholesale to resale business you do the marketing, selling and delivery of the product and most cases requires inventory be kept on hand. The other choice is direct marketing also known by names such as direct selling, network marketing, multi-level marketing. The name it goes by does not matter, fact is the direct selling industry is taking the business world by storm.

Direct marketing is changing how we think about business and changing the career path for millions. Studies show that 55 million people all over the world have decided to go with direct marketing over more traditional careers. Since 1997 direct marketing has grown 91% and today has annual sales of $100 billion dollars worldwide, this includes $30 billion in the US alone. Fortune magazine had this to say about direct marketing, ".an industry with steady annual growth, healthy cash flows, high return on investments, and long-term prospects for global expansion."

Corporate executives, politicians, economical specialists and other professionals have praised the direct selling industry for its impact on the world and potential for growth. It is being seen as a huge contributor to the growth of the economy. Traditional education can not teach real-life skills and values that one obtains by becoming involved in direct marketing. It's predicted that many of the new millionaires in the United States over the next decade will come from the direct selling industry.

Direct selling is truly an equal opportunity employer like no other. It represents equality through free enterprise. That is why individuals young and old alike, no matter their education, ethnic background or social standing are benefiting from the direct selling industry. The majority of people becoming involved in direct marketing are women. Discrimination in the workplace, the ever rising cost of quality childcare, and wanting

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