The Amway 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 Amway 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. To date, no IBO who posts on this blog as shown evidence that Amway works. And there is no evidence that hard work results in Amway success. Not a single person on this blog, other than an assertion, has ever provided evidence that they have a net profit from the Amway business.
Let me make a disclaimer that some people might be able to make significant money from Amway, but most of those folks are usually 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 is clear that Amway is shrinking as evidenced by their 3 year decline from 11.8 to 8.8 billion in revenues from 2014 to 2016. Also of note, Amway does not release figures that are seperate between Amway North America and the rest of their overseas operations but if you saw their press release, you'd think everything was rosy in Amway land!
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, checking voicemail 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.
Many 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 at 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.
How much time do you spend on this blog anyways?
ReplyDeleteI spend about 10 to 15 minutes daily on this blog. I post articles and respond to comments if needed.
ReplyDeleteHi Joecool,
ReplyDeleteThank you for running this blog. I recently left WWDB/Amway after almost 4 years of being programmed. Finally deprogrammed because for the last year in "the business" something wasn't sitting right. I finally have words for my feelings and things are becoming clearer to me everyday. I was in a really vulnerable position when Amway was presented to me. I was in between jobs and my self image was taking a hit. My friend said he wanted me to "evaluate an opportunity and give him my opinion on it." But I later found out, upline told him to use that as a way to get people to meetings. I should have clued in that it was a hoax at that point, but again, I was vulnerable and I really wanted to believe everything they said about being financially free.
We did everything. Had premier membership, communikate, went to all the functions, were "first minute ticket purchasers", presented the "opportunity" to friends and strangers, and at one point had a ditto of $1200 a month - buying stuff we didn't even need, but buying it for the sake of "investing into our business."
My husband and I believed from what we were constantly told that we just weren't working hard enough and that we just need to keep trying. They kept telling us that there was no other way to become financially free than this opportunity. The last straw was a fight we had during an FED in the car. I realized how much money we'd actually lost and not made and I realized how conditioned we had become to thinking the way WWDB wanted us to think. It took too long to realize and now I want to thank everyone who tries to warn others. I don't believe the people in WWDB are bad, because they truly believe they are saving lives and helping people. But there are many stories like mine and I'm just glad I didn't lose any friends or family members who were truly there for me all along way before WWDB even came along. I realized all the deception that was going on from the recruitment process (prospecting & taking people through the process) to having our critical thinking skills suppressed because we were told not to consult anyone else about "the business" but those who are successful in it. You are literally told there are only pros to being in the business and if people say there are cons, they are quitters, don't get it and will be broke all their lives. It truly is totalitarian. There are articles on the scientific and psychological characteristics of a cult and WWDB has many if not all of them. I know everyone who is still in WWDB/Amway will have so many arguments as to why I will be "broke all my life", but it will all be repetitions and regurgitation of the continuous info they have been fed. Since leaving, we have actually built up a savings whereas before, it was all going to our ditto and we were told to go to functions no matter what which meant we had to put hotels, bus rides/car rental on credit cards. Thank you again for your blog.
You're welcome and maybe some of my articles will help bring you relief and closure.
ReplyDeleteI believe you're right that most rank and file IBOs are good people and are just programmed to do and say certain things. Having said that, I believe the leaders (diamonds) know exactly what the deal is and are lying thieving charlatans.
With Amway revenues dropping like a rock, the functions and venues (from what I've heard) are getting smaller and I presume, bonuses are also shrinking for many.
I don't feel bad for them because they are reaping what they've been sowing.