The business works if you work it! That's what many Amway enthusiasts will claim. I do not believe that is true and I will further explain in this post. Many IBOs who claim that the business works are usually new and are unable to show any evidence that the business works, except perhaps to show a photocopied check from an upline diamond or the like. Or they may have a story of how they know a guy who retired at the age of 29, etc etc.
Let me make a disclaimer that some people do make significant money from Amway, but most of those folks are tenured diamonds who are almost in an exclusive club. There is only a short list of new diamonds that I know of in the US, and I have heard that even these new diamonds may have had legs in other countries. It would seem that Amway is not growing in the US and Canada, as evidenced by the large decline in sales the last couple of years. Also of note, Amway did not release figures that are seperate between Amway North America and the rest of their overseas operations but overall, Amway saw a large decrease in sales in the last two years, dropping from 11.8 down to 9.5 billion.
Ok, so Amway enthusiasts claim that the business works if you work it. Business in its simplest form is selling a product or service for a profit. Yet many many IBOs spend so much of their time doing other things, as advised by their upline "mentors" who sell them training materials that take up much of their valuable time. Listening to tapes/cds, attending functions, reading books, and other training activities not only costs the IBO money, but takes up valuable time in non -income producing activities. Nobody makes sales reading books or attending seminars. Inviting people to see "the plan" may be a way to help generate volume but with Amway's reputation, even this is a hit and (mostly) miss activity.
Yet IBOs spend almost all of their time doing these activities (the work) when they could be better off not getting the training and focusing on selling the Amway products and services. Even that comes with a handicap as Amway products as a whole, costs a lot more than purchasing similar or the same products as a big retailer such as Costco or WalMart. It is why most IBOs eventually get discouraged and quit far before the promoted 2-5 year plan.
Few people will even bother to see the plan once you mention "Amway" and for those who are open minded and motivated to register end up having to deal with a hard to sell opportunity along with high priced common commodities such as soap, vitamins and energy drinks. It's pretty easy to see that the business does not work, even for most of those who actually work it. There are simply too many issues with the business that handicaps those brave enough to try. It seems even the fiercest defenders of Amway are unable to provide a shred of evidence that they have actually made a profit from this opportunity.
That speaks volumes.
There is another fact to consider. When you do sign up in Amway, your up-line will eventually (within a month or two) tell you that you are "wasting your time" trying to sell Amway products to non-Amway members. Instead, you are urged to recruit more down-line IBOs. "That's where the money is," he'll tell you.
ReplyDeleteThere was some jerk at a website recently who was enthusiastically flogging Amway, and he said this: "This isn't a business opportunity about selling! This is a business opportunity about BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES!!!"
In other words, your only goal in Amway is to "sell the Plan," and the selling of Amway products is essentially a useless sideline. So when some jackass in Amway tells you that Amway "works if you work it," all he means is that you might make a profit if you convince a lot of silly people to sign up underneath you.
That's not a business. That's a disguised pyramid scheme.
Herbalife recently got flogged by the FTC although not shut down, had to pay 200 million and overhaul their entire US operation. If they took the same magnifying glass to Amway, I believe they'd be found the same.
ReplyDeleteSuch ignorant posts haha you really think FORBS magazine would put the co-founders of Amway in their magazine if Amway was a scam?? And Robert Kiyosaki who has no financial interest in any network marketing company would endorse the Amway business model?? Think you guys need to educate yourself on the industry of business.. have y'all ever even ran a business before??
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