I was reading the book Go Pro by Eric Worre. The first chapter was titled "Network Marketing Isn't Perfect... It's Just BETTER." In the chapter, Eric summarizes audience feedback in what he call's "The Perfect Career List." People from over 30 countries shared specific things they'd like to have in a business and things they'd like to avoid. These are the same qualities I look for in a business. My wife and I are currently experiencing these benefits in our network marketing career. Here are our experiences with some of the things look for in having their ideal business.1. No Boss I've always been self-employed so I don't have personal experience when it comes to having a boss. Prior to joining me full-time, my wife worked as a teacher's assistant at a preschool. I've learned that you can't take off any time you want to. When you have a boss, someone else determines your work schedule and sometimes the fate of your career. There are politics in the workplace that creates a hostile environment. All of this adds to unneeded stress. I saw my beautiful wife being worned down by work. Today, she lights up as she steps into her role in business. Having no boss is one of the top reasons people want to start any type of business. 2. No Employees Some people start their own business and have no boss, but most businesses have employees. I watched my father deal with the challenges of employees. I've seen him deal with employee turnover and payroll and insurance expenses. I've even seen him experience theft and other issues with employees. Although the idea of having employees is leverage, many small business owners find that they have a full time job managing their employees. Some business owners found it difficult to navigate through the recession with employees. In 2008, a family friend shared that they made less than their employees, but didn't have the heart to let them go after working for them for over 20 years. When I started my first business, I didn't want the headache of managing employees. I always felt that a person's time would be worth more than I can give. I did not have employees. Even though I was technically a business owner, I did not truly own a business. I owned a job. Business requires leverage, and fortunately in network marketing, you can leverage on the efforts of business partners and other entrepreneurs rather than employees. 3. No Commute I have a confession. In my first 4 years of network marketing, I commuted 15 minutes to an office I rented to do meetings 3-5 times a week. This year, we started to do more business out of our home, over the phone, online, with a in person meetings. Even though our office was near to where we lived, doing business out of our home is a lot better. Having a fully stocked kitchen for snacks or meals throughout the day is great. When I used to do meetings at my office, I ended up eating out late. Now that we do business out of our home, I eat home cooked meals earlier. I enjoy comfortable furniture, more space, and a nice view. There's nothing like working at the comfort of your home. 4. No Educational Requirement I didn't finish college. Without a degree, I could either choose a job with less pay or go back to school. I chose the third option of starting my own business. By starting my own business, I save time and money (The average graduate has $37,000 in student debt). I also have more income potential with a business. I talked to a person works as an auditor that works 12-16 hours a day. Although his career path will lead him to have higher pay, work takes up most of his time and with each promotion comes more responsibility. I'm not against a college education, but network marketing gives an opportunity to non-college graduates like myself. Having no educational requirement doesn't mean there is no learning involved. Your business will only grow as much as you do. Throughout the years, I develop skills and learned a lot about my trade. Every single job or career requires skills. The good news is you don't need to be an expert in math, science, English, or even business or finance to succeed in network marketing. 5. Residual Income Residual Income is also known as passive income. It is one of the top features promoted in network marketing. You've probably heard, "You can make money while you sleep." It's true if you have a solid business. Every morning I wake up and I notice new orders that were processed. This could be from an autoship order that was set up,or a new enrollment in another part of the world. Either way, we would receive a percentage of that. That is residual income. Some people use residual income as supplemental income. Although it may not seem significant, an extra $500 of residual income can make a huge difference in a working family's budget. Other people use residual income as replacement income, so that they have more time doing things they enjoy rather than working 9-12 hour days. Residual income can also be seen as retirement strategy. I'm no financial advisor, but I've talked to many. They would often ask how much do you need for when you retire and how much you can save. Many times, the average American would have to adjust their retirement goals. It is said that you need at least $2 million in retirement to maintain a middle class lifestyle, without touching the principal. I've met many people in their 50s that will not have $2 million in their retirement account by the time they retire due to circumstances in their life. The number one benefit to residual income is time freedom. I've heard it said, "Wealth is measured in time, not in money." 6. Time Freedom A lot of times people think with time freedom, all you do is go to the beach and relax all day every day. That gets boring really fast. We have time freedom. We set our hours to work, Monday all day, Tuesday and Thursday evening. We fill up the rest of our week (except for Sunday) with various business tasks or personal errands. If we need to re-prioritize our schedule, we have freedom. Last year, my uncle was in the hospital and we were able to take off and spend our time there. This year we had a friend visit us and we were able to take a couple days off showing him around Hawaii. Had we had a typical 9-5 Job or even a business to run, we would not be able to take time off. We take the time each year to travel, we are not limited to how much time we can take off. Last year we traveled to Japan for a month without having a negative impact on our income. 7. International Currently, we have distributors and customers in 7 countries outside of the United States. International business is always exciting because you can meet new people, experience different cultures, and see visit new places. With an international business, you are not limited to your local market or economy. Expansion is a great way to increase business. Prior to network marketing, I would only dream of having millions of dollars of sales internationally. There are many legal and financial challenges to have business overseas. Fortunately, network marketing companies handles all the logistics like shipping, licensing, rights for distributing product in other countries. All we have to do is share our products or services. Emerging markets in Asia have huge business potential. Having a network marketing company minimizes risk. You don't have to worry about spending millions of dollars or having palettes worth of inventory to supply a new market. 8. Low Risk/Low Start Up Cost Network marketing has a low start up cost. It is so low that people don't take it seriously. Most network marketing companies require a monthly order or autoship every month to earn commissions. There are no "requirements" for traditional business, but you will end up spending much more than $100 a month (average autoship cost with tax and shipping) on cost of goods and/or overhead. I used to joke with my father and told him if I didn't have office rent, I'd have an extra $20,000 a year. He would reply that if I didn't have an office, I wouldn't have a business. That was true for my cell phone store, not only did I have to pay for an office month after month, I had to make sure I had inventory. I would spend thousands of dollars each month to turn a profit. Some businesses spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. You can spend a lot less with network marketing, which can translate to more money in your pocket and less bookkeeping and accounting. 9. Tax Benefits I recommend consulting with your tax person regarding tax benefits. Different businesses have different types of expenses. Due to the nature of network marketing and sales, you may be able to deduct travel and business meals. When I owned a retail store, I did not have as many opportunities to travel for business as I do now. As you make more money in network marketing, you can think of ways to grow your business, increase your profits and offset your tax liability. In the United States, we are fortunate that any one can start a business and capitalism is encouraged. 10. Fun! I love what I do. I love working with my wife. You choose who you work with. You make new friends constantly. You get to travel if you choose to. You share new experiences with your business partners. I love the feeling of achieving success after working hard towards a goal. Most of all I love making a difference in people's lives. Network marketing isn't perfect... There were days I felt stressed, overworked, and felt like quitting. But as I think about it, I conclude that network marketing is worth it. I'd rather work had building our dream rather than someone else's dream. I'd rather work hard doing what I love. I'd rather work to build a legacy and income that I can pass to the next generation. I've started network marketing when I was 23 years old. Today, at age 28, my wife and I are able to enjoy a simple life on our residual income. We work out of home. We spend a lot of time with family. We travel every year. We have no boss and no employees. We love doing what we do. In summary, network marketing isn't perfect, it's just better.