Thank you for visiting Mommy Lynn Blog. My name is Lynn and I am from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The above is a picture of me and my husband taken when we went to Osaka, Japan.
My husband and I have been building our network marketing business using the BE International business opportunity since March 2018.
We did quite well in the business.
Our trip to Osaka was fully sponsored by BE International when we qualified for the BE Lifestyle Travel campaign.
BE Lifestyle Travel campaign is a sales campaign held twice a year where the qualifier can get to travel overseas free of charge!
This is one of the many benefits building the BE business.
I wanted to write this post after I read an article on The Star Online.
The title of the article was More student entrepreneurs by 2020.
Back in 2017, the Malaysia Higher Education Ministry had a target to get 15% of the university students to venture into entrepreneurship while they are still pursuing studies at institutions of higher education.
That got me thinking, what are some practical ideas that a university students can use to start their own business while still studying in university or college?
In this post, I will share some of my experience building a network marketing business together with my husband.
Is there a demand?
Which are the top universities in Malaysia?
According to QS Top Universities website, some of the top universities in Malaysia are:
- University of Malaya (UM)
- Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)
- Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
- Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)
- Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
- Taylor’s University
- Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP)
- Sunway University
- Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN)
- International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)
If you are currently a university student and you want to start your own part time business, firstly you have to decide if you want to be in a business to sell services or to sell product.
If you are currently studying full time, my advice is to focus on selling product.
Selling a type of service will require you to put in your personal time which will take you away from your studies.
If you are going to sell product through your part time business, the questions you should be asking are:
- What product are you going to sell?
- Where to source for the product?
- Is there a market for your product?
- Where are you going to sell your product? Are you going to be selling your product online or offline?
- Who are your competitors for your product?
- What marketing channel are you going to use? Are you going to use print advertising or social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, blogging etc?
- What is your expected profit margin?
- How are you going to deliver the product you are selling?
- How do you handle after sales service for you product?
As a university student planning to start a part time business, the main question that you should consider is capital.
How much money do you have as a start up capital for your business?
If you don’t have the capital, sorry to say, you have to find it.
How much do you need as a start up capital?
For my own personal business, I’ve started it with a capital of less than RM1,000.
When you have your business start up funds, the next step is to source for product.
Sourcing for product to sell can be quite challenging for someone who has never done any business before.
My advise it, do not source for cheap and low quality product from China.
Reason being, cheap products from China would not be able to give you big enough profit margin for your business.
Since it is cheap, anyone can buy the same goods from China and become your competitor.
You want to avoid this situation especially if you want to sell your product through online channels.
Next, lets talk about gauging the demand for the product you want to sell.
Preferably, you want to sell a product which can be used by both men and women, young and old and by every ethnicity in Malaysia.
You want your product to have a big potential market as much as possible.
Here’s my other advice, for a student, try not to run every aspect of your future business by yourself.
You should get a partner in your business.
For your part time business, you can actually partner with a local company.
Many people do not know this, there are many companies in Malaysia which provide the platform required to start a business from home or from your university dorm room.
What’s important is to partner with a good company that can help you to promote a very unique product in the market with very little competition.
If you are a student and you want to be successful in starting an online business, make sure you choose the right platform with the right company.
As for our network marketing business, we’ve partnered with a local company known as BE International.
BE is a direct to consumer company based in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.
The main product from BE is a type of Wearable Technology.
Above is a picture of the best selling far infrared ray (FIR) athleisure garment product from BE.
The FIR athleisure garment is promoted using a multi level marketing (MLM) / network marketing business model.
Partnering with BE
What are the benefits of partnering with BE International to build a network marketing business as a student?
I’ve spent some time thinking on the above question and I came up with 10 benefits:
1) Earn extra money – The first benefit when you partner with BE is of course the ability to make extra income.
You can make money while still studying in university.
The extra income can help you pay for tuition, books or your personal expenses.
2) Flexible schedule – You can work on your business whenever you have free time, making it easy to balance with your classes and studies.
3) Learn practical business skills – When you are building your network marketing business, you will gain valuable skills like marketing, sales, and communication, which are useful for any future career.
4) No big investment needed – The BE member registration fee is only RM60.00!
You are not required to keep any stock for your business making it accessible for university and college students.
5) Meet new people – BE International has an amazing culture.
When you are building your business, you will connect with lots of new people, helping you build a strong network of friends and professional contacts.
6) Be your own boss – You get to make your own decisions and be in control of your own success, which can be very rewarding.
7) Build confidence – Running your own BE business can boost your confidence and help you develop a positive attitude.
8) Work from anywhere – You can work from your dorm, the library, or a cafe.
All you need is your smartphone or laptop with internet connection.
9) Supportive community – BE International offers training and support, helping you learn and grow as you build your business.
10) Future opportunities – The experience you gain building your BE business can open doors to more career opportunities and possibly even help you start other businesses in the future.
Challenges as a student
In any business, there will be challenges.
Building a network marketing business is no difference because you will encounter challenges.
In this section, I will cover some of the problems you may encounter.
You have to keep it mind that you are starting a business, not another university assignment or hobby project.
You’re going to be greeted with a great deal of skepticism from your friends and especially from your family members.
Why you may ask?
Well, their intentions are good…they just want to protect you from disappointment.
Most new businesses fail and we can’t blame them if they don’t believe that you will succeed.
Let me share with you a story.
It is about the humble mouthwash that probably you’ve used before.
It’s Listerine.
An unlikely case study, I know.
But hear me out.
Introduced all the way back in 1879, Listerine was a runaway success.
Nearly a century later though, in the year 1966, Proctor and Gamble introduced Scope, the “good tasting” mouthwash.
It was immediately popular.
For the first time ever, Listerine was in a tough spot, losing market share fast.
They knew that competing with Scope’s Unique Selling Point (taste) would be a disaster.
So Listerine did something clever.
They counter-attacked with brutal honesty, launching an ad campaign with slogans such as…
“The taste you hate, twice a day.”
“I hate it, but I love it.”
Above is an old ad by Listerine to counter Scope.
Above is an old Listerine magazine advertisement.
Think about it.
Anything that tastes that bad must be REALLY good at killing germs, right?
You can’t touch that logic.
Needless to say, the campaign was a success, and Listerine remains the leading brand all these years later.
So what does this mean for you and your new business?
Well, instead of trying to argue or convince your family members…
Just be authentic with them.
Be real.
Tell them that you understand what it really takes, not what you think they want to hear.
Slowly but surely, you will gain the confidence and you will have their blessing.
Thank you for reading this article and I hope it was helpful for you.
If you are interested to know more about the BE International business opportunity, please click the link below to contact me on WhatsApp.
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