| Comment Number: | 522418-04859 |
| Received: | 6/28/2006 4:39:21 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Paul Ricci |
| State: | CO |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
I have been a Quixtar IBO since January 2006. Since then, I have built a team consisting of roughly 40 other active IBOs. I currently make an income from this business, and I am very excited about the future potential, as are many of the IBOs on my team who are also very active building the business. While I have a difficult time imagining an income of $40K or $50K a month (which is possible, but an unlikely result), I see this business as a great opportunity to supplement my regular income by a couple thousand dollars a month - which is a great way for an average guy to become a homeowner, or to pay off some debt, or fund an education for himself or his childern. I feel I received all necessary information when I registered, and I continue to learn more every day. I am VERY impressed with the leadership development that comes with the territory. In fact, the leadership development is one of the areas I promote - as you cannot build a big business without those skills. I emphasize to my prospects and new IBOs that this is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme, and that they are in fact signing up for work. But we have fun with the team activites and in meeting new people. I let ALL my prospects know the available options for registering, but I typically will register them for about $220 including any business support materials I think are necessary to be successful. In fact, I originally registered folks at the minimum $51.50 level, and most of those guys are inactive and essentially wasted their money because they don't have the education to build the business; and they are not doing so because they were not adequately prepared with the useful materials. I am TOTALLY against a 7-day waiting period. I would have been very angry when I joined if someone told me I had to wait 7 days to get started. Besides, with Quixtar, they have a 30-day money back guarantee if you change your mind later - which I think is more than adequate. A 7-day waiting period serves no purpose except to stifle a great opportunity that my family is now able to enjoy. What would happen if real estate agents were required to wait 7 days from signing on with a new broker? With regard to providing references, I am totally against that as well. I am with a group called TeamBuilders. I was the FIRST IBO in TeamBuilders in Colorado, as my sponsor/coach is in Arizona. Frankly, I would have NO local references to supply. Granted, there are other groups besides TeamBuilders that use Quixtar as a supplier in Colorado, but they have a different marketing pitch than we do, and they do not represent our way of doing things. Further, I would have no knowledge of who those people are as I do not associate with them - nor should I. I am against providing a litigation list. We are all INDEPENDENT businesses. If you have a bunch of real estate agents operating under the ReMax umbrella, and one is being sued, should all others have to report this to their clients? I think not. Why would our industry be different? I feel the earnings disclosures I provide are adequate. Again comparing to a real estate office, incomes vary A LOT depending on the success of the particular agent. The same applies here. As for background, I am a software engineer by trade. I have an MBA for a graduate degree. I am totally against further governmental interference in this business. There are people that fail. But they fail because they do NOT put in the effort to succeed. They fail college too (about 50% do not graduate), but the government does not mandate disclosures on success/failure rates there either. 95% of all small businesses fail too, but McDonalds is not required to disclose that fact when they sell a franchise. Why should I? My team is successful because I am committed to them and I work with them nightly. I am excited about our business and its potential, and I do not need or desire government tampering with a model that works great!