Together We Represent the Best

A note from Jody Victor:

They were the Fabulous '50s, when cars had fins, kids had hula hoops, and families with television sets welcomed Ed Sullivan and Ozzie and Harriet into their living rooms. Near the end of that decade, the business opportunity was starting to take off in some of those living rooms. And from the beginning, the entrepreneurs who have embraced the opportunity have had a strong, active voice in the business.

Today that voice is the Independent Business Owners Association International (IBOA International)—a clear, open channel of communication with Amway North America (formerly Quixtar) and an Association that any Independent Business Owner can join. Guided by their elected Board, the Association provides ongoing interaction and partnering with Amway to make the Internet-based business and traditional business opportunities the best they can be.

The Association was born in 1959. Its seven original Board members supported five key principles in developing their business opportunity. These five principles remain as true today as they were then.

1. The business offers a universal opportunity, available to people from all walks of life.
2. Success is based on repeat business and long-term relationships. There's no room for shortcuts or fly-by-night operators. Your word is your worth, and your worth is your word.
3. The opportunity offers impressive growth potential with a modest initial startup cost and without territorial restrictions. Intangible benefits include supportive relationships and the fact that it's well-suited to participation by the whole family.
4. The business offers products and services that people always need and use, and thus is not at the mercy of economic fluctuations. This was very significant to the original Board members who had personal memories of the Great Depression.
5. The business is the perfect embodiment of the free enterprise concept.

What's so remarkable is the vision with which those first Board members set forth these enduring principles. People and their needs have always come first.

The Association is becoming more effective than ever at working for improvement in a rapidly changing business environment. It is an independent organization with an independent Board representing independent entrepreneurs in the field. Thus, the IBOA International and its Board need your support to continue to serve as the voice of the Independent Business Owner (IBO).

Send us your ideas and concerns, either through your upline or directly to the Association office at the following address:

IBOA International
220 Lyon Street NW Suite 850
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
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IBOAI Blog
Fax: 616-776-7737

Your financial support is critical, too, for the Board and the Association to continue to address all aspects of the business. In 1959, it cost one dollar to support the Association. Today, a small, voluntary contribution will aid the Board's efforts to preserve the autonomy of the Association.

Since 1959, the opportunity has only improved. I say that as an IBO leader and longtime Board member with early memories of the IBO business and compensation plan being presented in one of those 1950s living rooms. Our work together today to strengthen the Association will help ensure that the opportunity continues to improve for generations to come!

Jody Victor

Editor's note: Jody Victor's father, Joe Victor, was one of the seven original Board members, and Jody's son, Stephen, was the first third-generation Platinum IBO. In 1982, Jody began his Association Board service, which has included several terms as president.