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Reason 1: Our Chairman is a Capable and Willing Traditional Businessman
Most networking companies die in the first year. Some last 2 or 3 years but that's it. One common reason is that they were founded by networkers. This is a sensitive topic since a lot of people are successful networkers. But somehow, I have observed that the networking companies that fall fail because of 2 things: Greed and Inexperience handling money. When company founders experience success and are flushed with cash, they crumble because they are not used to handling tens of millions of pesos.
Bo Sanchez has a term for this: The Psychological Wallet. If you used to handling only thousands of pesos and you are suddenly given millions, chances are you will go back to your comfort zone and will have a hard time adjusting, especially if the transition is sudden. Sudden transitions from small money to big money occur in networks; it's called MOMENTUM. When the momentum stage comes, the company suddenly gets very rich very fast.
In his 2nd year anniversary speech, Mr. Castaneda mentioned his thankfulness that the company's growth has been moderate and controlled so far. This allowed him and management to build the necessary infrastructure to support solid growth in the years ahead. This includes hiring more employees, expanding the leased spaces, building product centers and improving the products.
On the product launch last July 26, his message was simple: DO NOT BE GREEDY. It was a clear reminder to Royale's leaders to stick to what made us successful: clear, transparent leadership and the drive to help others.
Mr. Castaneda owns a lot of successful businesses. He owns Punchline, Laffline and Metro Comedy/ Concert Bars, Nomu Japanese Resto, Blooming face and body center, an STI and a 7-11(his "smallest" business costing 15M to build). He also owns a lending company. He is a financial analyst by profession. And he earns somewhere between 300-500T per night according to the leaders.
I believe Mr. Castaneda is dead serious about making Royale a big success. He has the capacity and willingness to do it. He is in it for the long term and he definitely has the experience in handling money. Royale earned 50M last year and is on track to earn 100M this year.
So my friends, I think we are in good hands here. Let's continue to pray that Mr. Castaneda remains steadfast in his aim to help Pinoys become financially well.
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Reason 2: Builders, not Recruiters
There are 2 types of successful networkers: recruiters and builders. Only one of these experience true passive, residual income.
Let's tackle the Recruiter first. This guy is smooth, he talks very well and can sell anything. Once you join his network, he only has one recommendation for your plan of action - invite, invite, invite. Because of his inherent skills, he can build his network very fast. His earnings grow big, fast. But just like a field of cogon grass, they are shallow-rooted and die out at the first test of heat. When his network dies, he jumps ship and joins another network repeating the cycle. His downlines are left high and dry. And most of the time, he is the only one who earned big.
In my opinion, Recruiters are the reason why network marketing has such a stigma in our country. Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to present Royale to a veteran networker who prided himself in being a leader. I was excited because it meant we will be talking the same language. His first question was: :Will you give downlines in both left and right groups? My internal answer was: This guy is crazy (recruiter, recruiter, recruiter).
Guys like him belong to an old breed of networkers. They want to get rich quick and don't have the patience of building a network of new relationships. For them, networking is a cold-blooded business. Since they are already 'tested', companies should buy their services to seed their networking. They are also known as Junkies, networkers who have no loyalty and jump from ship to ship.
Contrast that to the Builder. Builders take their time to develop the people they sponsor. They believe that Slow is Fast and Fast is Slow. Their plan of action is TRAIN first before DOING. Doc Butch is an example of a Builder. He once told me that networking is like planting Mangoes. There is a cycle: Plant - Nurture - Harvest. People always seem to forget the nurturing part. Recruiters follow the Plant - Harvest scheme (Munggo yun, hindi Mangga).
Builders' networks seem slow at first because each person sponsored, if willing, get to train. But networks like this are deep-rooted and can weather storms. Some people do fall off but here, in this system, a lot of leaders emerge.
And that is the key. Once you train and help enough people, the success follows. They bloom, you bloom with them. That is the forgotten essence of networking and the source of true, long-lasting passive income.
And if you look around Royale, you can't see a lot of old, 'popular' networkers. In fact, some old networkers tried it but found the growth too slow. If you look around the main office, most active members are new blood leaders who have embraced networking as it should be: a legitimate, relationship-centered business. There's nothing quick about it because it takes time to build leaders.
Most of Royale's leaders (Pres Juluis, Doc Butch, Jay, Elmer, Ariel, Maam Grace, Karen etc.) came from a company called I-Gen Portal. It was a networking company that lasted for only about a year before bickering weakened it's foundations (see reason #1). I heard that Royale's leaders were the loyalists to I-Gen. They never wanted to leave their downlines behind until the doors closed on them. I personally asked Doc what his commitment to Royale is and his answer was: "Hanggang padlock ako dito." If he is in for the long haul, I'm also in for the long haul.
Builders - these are the kinds of leaders our company is built on. I know most of you don't know them personally yet. I am hoping that through my blogs and emails you will understand them more and see what I see in them.
On my part, my commitment to you is: Hanggang padlock din ako. Walang iwanan!
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Reason 3: The Three-Pronged Attack
To start of this article, let me quote a book titled Law of Leverage by Rane Panaligan, a CPA:
"...Micro-franchising, home-based businesses and network marketing are the most viable alternatives and wealth-building mediums to survive the economic world." p.26
This book was first published 2004, 2 years before Royale was formed and yet if you read it, you will find that the 3 alternatives for small and medium enterprises are all present in Royale. This is no coincidence. Our Business Club is a well thought out, 3-pronged approach to present viable businesses for first time entrepreneurs.
We got Franchising, Direct Selling (a home based biz) and Networking options that can be done independently or at the same time.
Some people (members included) have the mistake of labelling Royale as a Networking company. While that is true, I think what they mean is that it is a Networking company ONLY. And that, is definitely NOT TRUE.
How different are we from pure networking companies? I had the pleasure of talking to networkers from AIM Global (networkers of the Alive brand) last friday. After the presentation, I only had one question to them: Can you present your company to cooperatives? Their answer was no, probably not.
Even though networking could be a good business to start, a lot of people have mistaken concepts about it. This is the reason why you cannot bring networking concepts to coops anymore. They hate it. I know because I have presented to many coops already and they always warn me that they dont accept networking opportunities anymore. But...
Take Royale to cooperatives and say this to the cooperative board of directors: We are from Royale Business Club and we would like to partner with your coop in providing livelihood/ micro businesses to your members. Present the RBP WITHOUT presenting the networking. Just the Franchises up to the Finder's Fee and Royalty Income. You will be surprised by the positive reaction of most coops to this.
The reason is most coops earn by lending to members. If the coop becomes a Business Club member and the coop members avail of coop loans to buy Royale franchises, the coop generates 3 incomes: 1. from the business loan interest, 2. from the Finder's Fees, 3. from Royalty Incomes of the franchises.
This is my proof that Royale is a chameleon. You can change the way you present it to suit your audience. A grocery or drugstore owner might be more receptive if you focus on the products. Conservative people might only want to franchise.
My point is this: Just because there is a networking option in the business club, it does not mean ALL members need to network to earn.
This means that what we really have are 3 weapons for income. A good friend of mine, Rolly Pagaspas put it this way: your franchise is a traditional business, your dealership is your distribution business you can do on the side and he calls networking "Sharing The Concept" - a business you can carry inside your pocket.
This is what makes the Royale concept unique. We got all the ingredients to succeed as entrepreneurs.
To end, let me quote from another book - Robert Kiyosaki's Retire Young, Retire Rich (p.295)
"If you are serious about retiring young, begin studying the different types of income, which will allow to become rich without working forever. Some of the other types of income are:
1. Residual income, which is income from a business, such as a network marketing business or a franchise business you own but someone else run...." (underlines are mine)
In short, mag Royale na kayo! We are on the right track.
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Reasons 4 and 5: Product and Franchise Innovation
This was supposed to be 2 articles but I thought the line of thinking was too similar so I bundled it together.
Product Innovation - When I became part of Royale September 2007, the Glutathione product was in its second revision. It was placed on smaller (and uglier compared to the current) plastic bottles and was soon replaced by blister packs in a box. Those had problems when exposed to heat because the aluminum in the blister pack heated the capsules which turned yellowish-brown.
Royale hired Lollie Sarmiento, and ex-Splash Corporation product developer who recommended most of the improvements in the packaging.
The result was a better plastic bottle package, better labels, Halal approval plus the Angelica endorsement. The rest of the products followed suit.
Now, the best selling Gluta Soap as well as the Kojic soap package was revamped to have plastic instead of the paper packaging. Also, the newest coffee product has packaging that can rival Nescafe or San Mig.
One thing that I like about the company is it's eye for continuous innovation. They never seem to rest, always churning out new ideas on how to make the products more saleable. They are also open to suggestions on how to improve some more.
Franchise Innovation - To sum it up: No Franchise fees, no royalty fees, no renewal fees. Most of Royale's franchises started as unknowns and so they had to innovate to get noticed by the market.
To do this, they removed most of the fees that standard franchising charges and instead offered the franchises as an all-in package. This simplified version was easier to understand for the new micro-business owner and help fuel Royale's franchising success.
However, based on my research into franchising, not charging royalty fees could be a double-edged sword to the franchisor as this severely limits his cash flow. I think that as more and more people know the Royale brands, the franchisors will introduce small royalty fees (e.g. Chickco Country Chicken now charges P1000/ month royalty fees).
At this point, I can see some franchisors already improving their offerings. JCFran has released The Noodle House HongKong Style noodles. While not yet officially a franchise carried by the Royale Business Club, JCFran proves that innovation is at work in their company.
Chickco Country Chicken also has recently hired Francorp to improve its franchise structure and also introduced financing plans for their new franchisees.
The spirit of innovation is evident in our products, franchises and IT systems. I am hoping that the company can improve and react fast enough to adapt to the challenges. But as for the past year I have been on board, I could say that the management of Royale never rests with their achievements. They are always pushing forward. And that is always a good sign.
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Reason 6: The People That You Meet Each Day
The transformation from anti-networking to pro-networking was a hard one for me. I still couldnt believe I lasted this long (1 year on Sep 9!) and yet the longer I stay, the more open-minded I have become.
I have met a lot of curious characters in Royale and I would like to introduce you to some of them.
There's Ate Lorna, the once hardware saleslady who now owns 3 Galaxy Burger carts. She used to be so shy because of her speech impediment but now, looking at her give presentations to many people makes me smile.
If Ate Lorna had a speech impediment, Abe's got it worse. Abe stutters and can't say anything straight. Hearing Abe stutter his way to a testimony in the PEC about how he got his cheque gave me pause. How can a guy who talks like Abe gather the guts to present - and succeed?
There's Ate Darly, ang Reyna ng Benta. She's a sweet 50 something year old government employee who likes to grab my elbow when she talks to me. Who whould know this lady earns 6 figures a month selling soap? :-)
Doc Butch just bought his dream car, a BMW Z4. He was already rich before he started networking. But looking at him work puts me to shame. I have seen this guy take 'lunch' at 7PM and for the past year, has seen him work to exhaustion. He owns 3 businesses but still works like a blue-collar worker.
Tony is one of the top 3 Distributors for Smart in Cavite. He turns over at least 30M worth of load each month, became a millionaire through Smart at the age of 22 (he made his first million in 3 months swapping sim packs back then). But he is one of the most humble guys I have ever met. He is also one of the leaders of Royale's Dream Team.
And you partners, I have enjoyed meeting and working with each and everyone of you. Meeting you really expanded my heart and mind.
Networking is a hard business because you deal with people but it's also a great business because of great people.
One thing that has cemented itself into my philosophies for the past year is that you make your own destiny. The people I have met didnt meet success in their first try. They too were rejected just like the rest. They were just mentally tougher.
I am now sure that God wants us to be prosperous. But we have to give something from our end. As Jay Ocampo says: God is a Multiplier. In the story of Elijah, the prophet asked the widow what she has left in her possession. She said she had some oil left. Elijah told her to borrow jars from her neighbors and from what little oil that was left, God multiplied it til all the jars were full.
Being with people like Abe the stutterer cements my belief that God indeed is a Multiplier. Abe took what little he has and gave it his all and he has success to show for it.
Looking at him makes me look at myself and find those little drops of oil that He can multiply. The people we meet makes us reflect on ourselves. Hopefully, they will continue to reflect what's good in all of us.
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Reason 7: Entrepreneurship 101
People who dismiss Royale as just a networking company miss an important point. Royale offers a chance for you to hone your business skills, especially those who don't have any business experience. Let me elaborate.
Networking = Traditional business? - I have been in the 'traditional' business of laundry and dry cleaning for 5 1/2 years now. The skills I needed to survive that long were: mental toughness, belief in one's self, marketing and basic math. I always say to my partners that business is just a reflection of you. Whatever your core beliefs are, they show up in your business. If you think 'pang small time ka lang' then you will never go big time.
What does this have to do with networking and Royale? Well, for one, it takes much much more mental toughness to build your own network than to build your own small business. The reason is, you expose yourself to more chances of rejection in networking compared to just being in your shop.
The same thing goes for marketing and belief in yourself. As I see it, networking is a springboard for people to develop critical business skills.
Businesses within the business - Another good thing about Royale is that there are opportunities that abound inside the club to do you own business. Consider this: you are a member of a club that contains THOUSANDS of business-minded people. What do they need???
1. Can you print marketing materials on tarpaulin and flyers and resell these to business club members?
2. Can you look for potential locations for franchises and make your own survey and sell these for a fee to potential franchisees?
3. Can you offer your own specialty entrepreneurship trainings to franchisees? How about technology-enhanced services on the web? Or the mobile phone???
4. How about if you talk to franchisors and offer logistical support in the provinces. You can act as the hub where they drop off their supplies and you deliver to franchisees in that province.
These are just ideas I got off the top of my head and of course we will need to really scrutinize the details but there's a lot of stuff we can cook up if we just get creative.
The thing is, Royale is all about creating the entrepreneur in you. Open your eyes and see that it's not just about networking. It's a goldmine of opportunities to practice business.
