NK 06_2018 PM-International englisch

WWW.NETWORK-KARRIERE.COM 06.2018
4,75 €
EUROPAS GRÖSSTE WIRTSCHAFTSZEITUNG FÜR DEN DIREKTVERTRIEB
ZKZ 66685
„IF I CAN DO IT,
YOU CAN DO IT!”
25th Anniversary
25TH ANNIVERSARY
PM-INTERNATIONAL –
A HIGH-FLYING COMPANY
REACHES THE
NEXT DIMENSION
www.seitz-mediengruppe.de
NETWORK-
KARRIERE
VERBINDET

2
BRANCHE
“If I can do it, you can do it! Looking
back on 25 years of PM-International,
I want to encourage the readers
to take their fate into their own
hands. It may not always be easy,
but it is always worth it,” says Rolf
Sorg, Founder and Chairman of the
Board of PM-International AG, on
the occasion of his company’s 25th
anniversary. It will be celebrated
with a huge party with more than
13,000 distribution partners from
all over the world at the SAP Arena
Mannheim on June 9, 2018.
Top management representatives
will experience an additional
top-class event on the day
before: An evening gala which is
unprecedented in the history of PM-
International, featuring breathtaking
show elements in historic surroundings
that are too marvelous for
words – the Schwetzingen Palace.
According to Rolf Sorg, “there
won’t be an event like this
again.”
only set out for a few years, and
then leave their partner no choice
but to realign. At the moment, many
of our distribution partners are creating
a new generation of leaders in
our family business by introducing
their adult daughters and sons. This
is a prime example of how stable and
long-term our business is considered
to be by our distribution partners.
Today, the average age is less than
35 years. The second generation has
already arrived.
Another reason for this development
is the high customer satisfaction.
Direct selling depends on the product
and not on marketing
strategies. A
company
achieperiods
of time. Back when PM-International
still had an annual turnover
of 100 million USD, he announced
confidently and determined that the
company will have a turnover of 1
billion in the next years. In 2017, PM
announced 632 million USD in turnover.
Growing at this rate, the company
could reach the 1 billion turnover
milestone by 2020.
“Today, PM has a total development
potential of 36 billion customers
world wide. In the next 20 years, this
affluent group will grow by 60 percent,
resulting in a total potential of
50 billion customers.”
„IF I CAN DO IT, YO
Keeping the Role of the Market
Innovator
Not only the products are premium,
also PM-International as a company
grew in a very positive direction during
the last 25 years. It is solvent
and profitable, showing two-figure
growth rates year after year. In the
sector, Rolf Sorg is considered a
market innovator regarding both product
development and international
sales-building.
Now, it’s important to turn this positive
development into a sustainable
one and to keep strengthening it.
Rolf Sorg doesn’t lack phantasy: “If
you can achieve 500 or 600 million
in turnover, you can also achieve
one billion in turnover!,” that’s his
simple calculation. The phantasy became
a vision. The vision became a
clear goal: One billion in turnover!
PM-International is well on its way
to reaching this goal.
But what’s the secret to 25 years of
success? Rolf Sorg: “We are a family
business that allows all our distribution
partners to grow sustainably
according to their skills and ambitions.
PM is different from many network
marketing businesses that are
06.2018
ving a
high customer
satisfaction and market leadership
by providing good and effective products,
will grow automatically – and
together with the company, the sales
structure will grow.
The younger generation grows up
with us and our products because
their parents live and breathe PM.
Once the younger generation realizes
that the products their parents
are using are also good for them, that
their parents are financially independent,
and have fun working, they will
follow automatically. To avoid an aging
sales organization, it’s crucial to keep
the role of the market innovator by
releasing new products and real innovations
all the time. You always
need to be three to five years ahead
of your competitors and face the
future. Which role will supplements
play in 30 years? Will we still need
supplements by then? What could
the alternatives look like? We have
asked ourselves these questions and
answered them too. Even today, PM-
International is well prepared for the
next decades.”
25 Years PM-International:
The Vision of the Future
Rolf Sorg is a visionary, thinking and
planning in large numbers and long
25 Years PM-International: The Milestones
1993 Rolf Sorg founds PM-International and lays the 2005 Limited company changed into a non-listed jointstock
company
foundation for one of the most innovative and
successful network marketing companies in 2008 Achieving monumental goals
Europe
1995 First product patents registered
1994 Parent Company is founded in Luxemburg Opening
of the first subsidiary in Poland
nual turnover
2009 PM-International achieves 100 million EUR an-
1995 Launch of the first food supplement product 2011 New Logistic and Administrative Center opened
(Q10) Worldwide presence begins
in Switzerland
1995 Cooperation with network legend Lawrence 2012 Second administrative block opened at the Logistics
Center Europe in Speyer, Germany.
Thompson ceremonially celebrated
1995 First FitLine ® weight management products are 2013 Consistent record-breaking sales
marketed
2014 No. 43 in the Global 100 of Direct Selling News
1996 Activize launched
2015 Opening of the Headquarters Asia-Pacific in
1997 First edition of the sports catalog
Singapore
1998 Clear vision for premium health
2016 Product quality tested by the independent external
test laboratory TÜV SÜD ELAB GmbH
1999 Car incentive started
2000 Scientific Advisory Board founded Start of Charity
Program
ters in Luxemburg
1995 Official opening of the International Headquar-
2002 Selected as one of the TOP 100 most innovative 2017 Record-breaking annual turnover of 632 million
companies in Germany for the first time
USD
1995 Launch of the first online shop
1995 No. 41 in the Global 100 of Direct Selling News
2003 Progressive in every aspect.
1995 Collaboration with the Luxemburg Institute of
1995 FitLine Optimal-Set launched
Science and Technology (LIST)
2004 Second warehouse and dispatch hall built at 2018 Anniversary Year: Unstoppable for future success
Logistic Center in Germany
1995 First subsidiary in Asia (Singapore)
1995 Opening of the European Logistic Center in
Germany

BRANCHE
3
U CAN DO IT!”
bution center in Switzerland. As responsible
company, we need a plan
B for every thinkable situation. For
example, when a distributor drops
out, another one needs to step in
directly. But what happens if our Lo-
open another small shipping distrinual
turnover of 800
million this year. We’re
almost there and our course
is set: 1 billion in turn over is
approaching us like a big wave!
We just discussed this in our marketing
meeting too. If you take a visual
approach, I am like a marathon
runner headed directly towards the
finish line. He is determined to finish
his next run with an even better re-
sult. Because
of this, he
is looking beyond the finish line, already
facing the next one on the far
horizon. For me, it’s the same. I am
already facing the next finish line
before reaching the current one.
Some people think I am crazy because
I always see things tenfold. I
already saw us making 10 million
when we made 1, and a 100 million
when we made 10. When you want
to take big steps, you need to think
in big dimensions. I will see 10 billion
when we reach 1. You can’t speed
this process up by force, we are not
PM-International aims at reaching an
annual turnover of 1 billion in the
next two years, but no later than
three years. However, it goes without
saying that my vision goes far
beyond that. I always think in increments
of ten, that’s why “Next Dimension”
is our motto for this year.
A visionary always sees the bigger
picture. Now that we are so close to
1 billion, I expect us to reach an anthere
yet. But every
goal starts with a big vision.
That’s why I also see
us having 1,000 Champions
League members when others
can’t even imagine 100, because right
now we just have 7 or 8. I always
need a central goal, no matter if it’s
realistic or not.
Back in the days, I also said we wanted
10,000 sponsored children on
all continents. Right now, we have
1,300 and people are already seeing
2,000 on the horizon. Our clear ambition
is to commit ourselves to
10,000 World Vision sponsorships.
I see it as my responsibility
towards our
distribution partners and
employees all over the
world to face the future.
An enormous growth
like this needs to be
planned in advance.
We’ll build two new
Headquarters in America
and Asia and a fourth warehouse
in Speyer. We’ll also
expand our Luxemburg Headquarter
with a second building and
gistics Center in Speyer would burn
down? In this case, we need to be
able to deliver anyway. We always
train scenarios like this with an external
partner under realistic circumstances
to have our logistics prepared
too.
However, in a real emergency, I
would prefer an in-house solution.
We have a distribution logistics center
in Switzerland, in the free trade
zone directly at the Swiss-German
border, with tried and tested people
that are ready on call. We have
bought additional property next to
it, which is currently rented out to
the city and used as a parking area.
Until the end of the year, we will reach
our limits with the existing building.
International growth needs space
and back-up resources. And a plan
B that is completely independent of
external partners is in reach.”
www.pm-international.de
25 Years PM-International: The Book:
Rolf Sorg: “If I can do it, you can do it!”
The life of a business man
and big visionary is not all
about new heights and records.
There are also un foreseen
obstacles, disappointments
and unexpected factors
that need to be coped
with. In a 200 page-book
which will be published after
the 25th Anniversary celebrations,
Rolf Sorg speaks
openly about the network
marketing business and his
life so far: “If I can do it, you
can do it!” Looking back on
his childhood, his years as an
apprentice and student, and
25 years PM-International, he
wants to encourage his readers to take their fate into their own hands.
It may not always be easy, but it is always worth it.

4
BRANCHE
SHOULD YOU, OR SHOULD YOU NOT?
25th Anniversary
In the past 15 years, from the first
issue until today, Network-Karriere
has deliberately refused to
feature an entrepreneur, manager,
or top-leader from the field
of network marketing on the
front page. The editor’s decision
was based on avoiding allegations
of favoring particular people
or companies.
This was not an easy decision
to make, by no means. After
all, Network-Karriere is a commercial
enterprise like any other network
marketing company. Every
business needs to generate revenues
and profits. If it doesn’t, jobs
and even the whole business is at
risk, in the long run.
We’ve witnessed enough network
marketing companies fail during the
past years. Like many of their sales
partners, this has also caused us financial
damage. One such instance
is still very much in our minds. Well
informed as always, we warned our
readers about the looming crash of
a particular network marketing company
for jeans. The jeans network
strongly contested this claim. We
were fined, and the company re-
quested a
cease-and-desist-declaration.
In disputes
of press law, our publisher
usually doesn’t agree to ceaseand-desist-declarations.
Instead, he
insists on a court ruling. However,
by the time of the oral hearing, the
jeans network had already filed for
bankruptcy – just as Network-Kar riere
had rightly predicted. The network
company was completely stripped,
financially. Although we were clearly
in the right, we ended up covering
the costs of the district court, simply
because the opposing party was
unable
to pay up.
Numerous
“great and mighty” of
the MLM business would love to be
in the same ranks with leading politicians
who have been featured as
title-interviews on the Network-Karriere
front page in the past. These
include: Angela Merkel, Gerhard
Schröder, Frank-Walter Steinmeier,
Wolfgang Schäuble, Christian Lindner,
Heiko Maas, Sigmar Gabriel,
Martin Schulz, Cem Özdemir, Horst
Seehofer, Sahra Wagenknecht, Ursula
von der Leyen, Gregor Gysi, and
many other celebrities and opinion
leaders. However, editorial regulations
are decidedly against that.
Still, several have attempted to
solve this so-called “Network-
Karriere front page problem,”
with bribes. Offers ranging up to
50,000 Euros (Dollars) weren’t
uncommon. Many hoped to get
their face on the covers, by promising
to pay up immediately. And
this despite the fact that network
marketing companies are incredibly
frugal, at most, when it comes to
advertisings: “Reports? Yes please,
and make them long and very positive,
pretty please! Advertising? We
don’t need ads!” It’s a whole different
story when it comes to editorial
reports! The 180 title pages of the
last 15 years are a testament to our
integrity.
How Did Rolf Sorg Make it on the
Cover of Network-Karriere?
First of all, Rolf Sorg didn’t even
know that we were making him the
face of our title page, on the occasion
of PM-International’s 25th Anniversary.
He didn’t ask us to do it, let
alone paid for it. Rolf Sorg was born
in the Palatinate. He perfections an
economy that even the Swabians
could learn from. He is incredibly
generous however with regards to
sales partners who continuously
deliver performances that benefit
the business. Dream vacations to the
most beautiful places in the world,
and the grand PM-events are the
best examples. You can also count
on him when it comes to matters of
the PM-charity program., either by
bringing joy to 1,300 sponsored
children or just by helping out the
kids directly whenever it’s critically
needed.
We put Rolf Sorg on the front page
of this issue because he has worked
his way up from the humblest of beginnings
to a character who’s exemplary
for the direct selling business.
He also made it to the front page
be cause he leads a successful busi
ness, on which his sales partners,
customers and suppliers can safely
rely on. Despite the tremendous business
growth, he has always stayed
down to earth. That’s why we have
decided to bypass the editorial regulations
for the first time. Rolf Sorg’s
work is of great merit for the national
and international network marketing
business.
Bernd Seitz
06.2018