Comment Number: 522418-05394
Received: 6/30/2006 10:48:11 PM
Organization: Quixtar
Commenter: Charles Grubb
State: WV
Subject: Business Opportunity Rule
Title: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
CFR Citation: 16 CFR Part 437
No Attachments

Comments:

I agree that a prospect should be given as much information as he needs to make an informed decision. I think that many areas of the proposed rule are flawed. When I signed up in the Quixtar business, I felt like I had received enough information that I needed to make an informed decision. And the fact that the business I signed up with had a guarantee that if I felt I had made a wrong decision, I would get my money back. For legitimate businesses, the proposed rules are too stringent and I feel would severely harm our business. Although I'm currently not actively building a business, I feel that if these rules had been in effect, I wouldn't have gotten started. It's very important when you start that you have some sort of success as soon as posible and if a 7 day waiting period is imposed, many, if not most, people will probably not want the bother. Then the affected businesses growth will slow to a crawl if not die completely. I also feel it is inappropriate to provide references for other business owners for the prospect to contact. I would not be comfortable with other people giving out my personal information which, in any other field including HIPPA, would otherwise be considered private information and would not be given out. And I would not be comfortable giving out other people's information. In addition to privacy, it also would endanger my business. It could be posible one of the other people might register the prospect after I have put forth all the work, time, effort, and money. When I used to talk to prospects, I would encourage them to go to a meeting where several people who were business owners themselves would be present and the prospect is free to ask any questions they have and more information can be provided to those who want more information. I also feel providing a litigation list is also unwise. It would be difficult provide a list of information that would be required to be disclosed. Also, it's not fair that all actions be disclosed even when they are without merit and untrue. I also don't feel that the requirement for financial substantiation is appropriate. Everybody's experience and profit will differ greatly from person to person depending on how much work and effort they put into it. Why should a prospect base their success on what might be my failure's? When I used to present the opportunity, I would always be sure to provide example situations and how much money could be made if a person had a business set up in that fashion. I would also provide them with the average amount earned by each business owner. I feel that legitimate companies do a good job of covering these bases and just requiring a disclosure of the average monthly income of all business owners is sufficient. I hope you reconsider this rule and take into consideration those businesses that are legitimate businesses and are already doing a good job at providing the necessary information. I feel that if this rule, as is, is passed, it will severely hamper, cripple, or wipe out legitimate businesses. I support the fact that sufficient information needs to be presented to a prospect, and I feel that legitimate businesses like ours are already doing a good job at providing the necessary information for a decision to be made by a prospect. And if the prospect later changes their mind, there is a money back guarantee to back it up.