Greetings!
Here we are deep into the summer season and kids are off school and families are on the road enjoying vacations, getting some quality time together, and making memories. When I think about making memories, it is typically with family and your closest friends. When I think about my Amway business, one of the joys I have is making memories with IBOs that have become close friends - in a way, family. Without a doubt, there are so many qualities that make owning your own Amway business very appealing to people who desire more options and choices in life. We all have our own objectives and outcomes that we want out of building a successful business. That is very personal. Financial goals and achievements are just one of the outcomes I seek. My definition of success is probably different from yours, and when I show the Amway business to prospects I make sure that I listen to what they are really looking for. Having clear expectations about what can be achieved and the effort associated with that outcome is really important. We never want to exaggerate or mislead prospects in any way. The opportunity will speak for itself. I stand behind one of my favorite expressions, and that is that this business is a good business, not perfect. Your financial needs are going to be different than mine early on. What is great is that they are your goals, not someone else's. We can't promise outcomes, but we can promise a legitimate opportunity. What is also very evident in an IBO's journey is that they don't work their business by themselves. A thriving business environment and community can be a great place to learn skills, follow successful habits, and receive enormous encouragement and support. We have that support with Amway resources and training as well as your upline and in many cases an Approved Provider of Business Support Materials. I personally love to call this community my "Famway". It is a "family" that cheers us on, encourages us, and teaches us the basics of building a successful Amway business. The real variables are our work ethic and a desire to learn how to be as productive as possible in our efforts to achieve our personal business goals.
On another note, our recent June IBOAI Board meetings were held in Grand Rapids. I am so proud of the current Board members as they are all contributing greatly towards the objective of collaborating with the Amway leadership to help make this business better than ever. The pandemic challenges are now in our rearview mirror and supply chain issues are subsiding. The final pieces of CORE Plus will be implemented September 1, 2023 and we expect PY 2023-24 to show the continued positive trends regarding profitability, sponsoring and new IBO onboarding. Collectively, VCS in North America is still over 80% and there is no reason to believe that we will see any change in that healthy level of IBOs selling our great products to customers.
Another great opportunity for the IBOAI happened right before we kicked off our June Board meetings. Andrew Schmidt, ANA Managing Director, invited us to Amway World Headquarters to participate in IBOAI Day 2023. After an enthusiastic greeting by Amway staff when we arrived at the Center of Free Enterprise in Ada, we joined Amway North America team members in a forum setting. The team members were able to submit questions to IBOAI Board members and officers to learn about what we do at the IBOAI and share our own thoughts about our great appreciation for the partnership we have with Amway Team members and their commitment to improving products, processes, and incentives for IBOs. Immediately following, an Expo featured individual departments where team members described their specialized expertise and the role they play in supporting IBOs across North America. I was so impressed by their passion, skill, commitment, and professionalism focused on making better products and a better business model for IBOs to utilize in building their own businesses.
Finally, be watching at Achievers this year for the roll-out of digital content featuring IBO leaders in North America who are involved in wonderful philanthropic projects they are passionate about. Also, mark your calendars: 2024 IBOAI Board Election will be held September 18-29, 2023. Platinums and above will again have a voice in who will be representing them on the IBOAI Board next year by voting. Last Fall's election had the greatest participation in the history of the Board and I expect to see the same engagement and interest in this Fall's IBOAI Board election.
Enjoy your summer and look for one more letter from me this Fall before my term expires at year-end.
Proud to be in business with you!
Joe Markiewicz
Chairman, IBOAI Board
