TIMELESS LESSONS FOR ENTREPRENEURS
Things may be bad, but we’ll move through it together and be rewarded. Dad and Jay lived these values. They lived with integrity. They lived the idea of partnership. And they lived the Amway Vision, which is to help people live better, healthier lives. These principles are built into our operating model. We believe in the entrepreneurial spirit, that everybody should have the opportunity to own a business, and that all businesses come together in Amway. But we’re not controlling the entrepreneurs who choose Amway. Our role is to lead, support, and operate in a spirit of partnership. We’re all in this together. Amway is about our customers, our ABOs, our employees, and the communities in which we serve and do business. So, how do we move forward? In a time of great uncertainty, coupled with market volatility, that’s an important question, not only for established businesses like Amway but for every business and every entrepreneur. It will undoubtedly be a challenge. But the principles are the same. The marketplace is always dynamic and highly competitive, so you’ve got to bring value that is new or special. At Nutrilite, Dad and Jay had a unique product. With Amway, the product was innovative, but they also invested in the business model and the opportunity to make it revolutionary. If there’s not a differentiating quality about the product, service, or support, it is going to be very difficult to get established or achieve a competitive advantage. That was true in 1959, and it will be true in 2029. It’s hard to do, but it happens every day; some entrepreneurs take it to scale and are very successful. That hasn’t changed. What I think is different today are the tactics. Technology is an amazing liberator. It dramatically improves everything we do—management, communication, sales support, and data collection. But we need to use it effectively. Platforms should be easy to use. Operations must be aligned with how people want to receive products. Because the market is so competitive, it’s critical to evaluate the sustainability of products by measuring how they perform, how they compete with alternatives, and how customers respond. If we’re not creating enough value with a product offering, then we need to get better or eliminate it and focus on something else that creates more value for the customer. Coming out of the COVID restrictions, there’s a tremendous desire for human interactions that will add value to our lives. The experience of getting recommendations and receiving products from people we know and trust is powerful. It’s important to focus on building the community inside our organizations because people want to get together and learn from each other.
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What does that look like for Amway? We’ll keep figuring it out and keep bringing value to the market. We want to be more aware, more responsive, crisper in our evaluations, and better prepared to pivot and find products that are truly differentiated. Our targets, which we set as a normal course of business, must be the right targets for the company and Amway Business Owners. Incentives, rewards, and recognition should lead to stronger, more sustainable businesses that can meet current goals . . . and then be taken to the next goal and the next goal. If the field is doing well, then the company will be just fine. The lesson I’d share with entrepreneurs is that the Amway story and Dad and Jay’s founding principles are still relevant today. They were bold. They were persistent. They connected as friends and partners. They connected with ideas that are timeless, and by living these ideas, they connected with people all over the world. I’m proud that so many people have found success through their engagement with Amway. I’ve also met many people who moved on and believed their Amway experience had a positive impact on their lives. That’s the legacy of Dad and Jay. I’m honored to be part of it, to build on it, and make it better so that Amway continues to welcome people from around the globe to this opportunity.
