| Comment Number: | 522418-05423 |
| Received: | 7/1/2006 2:33:37 AM |
| Organization: | Quixtar |
| Commenter: | Patrick Davis |
| State: | CO |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
FTC Officials, I strongly disagree with the proposed rule changes that would affect my business. Business is not a job, it is business. Risks and rewards exist in the land of private business ownership but guarantees are the illusions of the employment world. These are different paradigms with different expectations. Imagine that you required the same ruls for college recruiters. If you want business to disclose a full and fair picture of success I think that you should do the same in the scholastic arena. Of all the first term freshmen to ever enroll in any college anywhere, how many graduated successfully? How many did not? How many were able to find work in their field of training? Exactly how much would it cost to receive a degree? Do we add in the costs of even higher education? Masters and PhD expenses? How long did it take for them to earn the compensation that would cover the cost of their education? How long did it take the graduates to pay back their student loans? How many financial defaults did the lenders experience? Just how good of an investment is 4 to 5 or even more years of college when balanced against income deferred while going to school? Should the new freshmen be given a balance of references that include successful graduates balanced against the dropouts and scholastic failures? What disclosure should a student receive to realistically assess their "investment" in this main stream, acceptable career building plan? What are the guarantees that should be made to these wide eyed teenagers? Against these disclosures, would any college remain viable? Would there be a decline in enrollment? No, we would never require this of our institutions. Success in any area is not easy and should not be painted that way. But, success is possible. With or without your proposed rules, success remains a legitimate possibility. If we focus on failures, we learn that failure is acceptable. It is not so for us. We present an opportunity to own a business that will reward our individual and team efforts. Do the work and earn the reward. It is in their hands, but we will help them. No guarantees, just our promise to meet them in a good faith effort to become a better stronger business owner. We benefit from their success and so will they. We try to meet them at their level of commitment. We tell new people that success is for the few. It is. Only the few rise to distinction. Consider sports, scholastics, business or even relationships. A price must be paid in effort and experience. We need to celebrate success wherever we find it. We must model it by example and share the wisdom of lessons learned in advancing the cause of financial freedom. Your proposed rules are well intentioned but do little to guarantee the success of anyone that will not pay the price to win. There are no such guarantees in the world of business. There are risks and rewards. Personal growth is not optional. We have a chance to move into a new financial reality for our families and for ourselves. If we gage our expectations on dropouts we set ourselves to fail from the start. We get through our "boot camp" by following those who have already made it through. Making a study of those who wash out will not prepare us for success. What we reward we magnify. What we magnify, we can celebrate. What we celebrate, we can use to motivate others to grow and embrace as their own possible future. Can we guarantee success? Of course not. Is success possible? Of course it is. Is hope to succeed worth the risk of disappointment. We believe it is. So do those who join us in business. If they do not enter through the doors of hope, they will never dwell in the land of possibilities. The cliche of the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat can become a lifestyle of choice. We choose it for ourselves and invite others to pick up the rope of hope and pull with us. Success is possible. Thank you, Pat Davis Quixtar IBO