Comment Number: 522418-06460
Received: 7/6/2006 12:19:51 PM
Organization: Quixtar
Commenter: Kurt Light
State: VA
Subject: Business Opportunity Rule
Title: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
CFR Citation: 16 CFR Part 437
No Attachments

Comments:

I would like to comment on the FTC proposal for changing rules in regards to business opportunities. I have been an IBO supported by Quixtar for almost three years. I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of a thriving group of entrepreneurs who are in the business of educating others about business and business ownership. When I was sponsored I was in a position where I did not like the job I was working and I knew that I did not want to work for someone else for the rest of my life, but I did not feel like I had the ability to just start my own business. What I found in Quixtar was an opportunity to have my own business with a low start up cost, but most importantly there were going to be experienced people teaching me how to put a business together and how to develop myself into the person that could lead a large business. I was most impressed by the fact that I would be able to have face to face interaction with people who had become very successful and financially independent through the same opportunity I was given. I had looked into several other opportunities before Quixtar and had found that they lacked the personal interaction that Quixtar provided. While we appreciate the FTC's sincere approach in proposing guidelines that will protect people from illegitimate opportunities, we also believe that the restrictions being proposed will hurt a Quixtar IBO's growth opportunites. 1. The seven day waiting period for registration. While we understand the need for a prospect to be well informed about the opportunity they are being introduced to, most people require a period of getting to know people in the organization and feeling things out. This is a process that is difficult to put a time period on. Prospects usually do not do the bulk of their research in the first week so this would not necessarily hurt illegitimate opportunities. We feel that a good cancellation policy or money back policy that is thoroughly disclosed is a better option. 2. Giving references for other IBO's in the area. We feel strongly about people getting to know the team they are going to be apart of but do not agree with giving out the names and phone numbers of other IBO's. I live in an area where there are a lot of other Quixtar IBO's and this would result in two issues. The first is that the person that I spent the time educating and prospecting might decide to get in business with another IBO that they knew before or who is maybe more charismatic, but who was not willing to do the work to talk to people about the opportunity. Second, if all of the other IBO's in the area started giving out each other's numbers for people to call we would be spending a great deal of time on the phone with other people's prospects and would not be able to spend our time working on our own businesses. 3. Listing all allegations against Quixtar and its IBO's. I believe that every prospect should have access to allegations against Quixtar if requested. I don't think this needs to be handed to someone upfront. I have never had an employer or a salesperson at a store hand me all of the allegations against there company, but usually that information is available if requested. Also when a corporation is as large as Quixtar and if you include each IBO, disclosing all allegations (warranted and unwarranted) would be an overwhelming amount of information for a person to take in. 4. Disclosing and calculating all income sources. This should be available upon request but going through all of this information would be confusing for most propects and not helpful. 5. Disclosing personal finances. I believe this goes against someone's personal privacy. This is a practice that is not normal in a typical job environment either. I also believe that this would lead to high or low expectations for the prospect depending upon the person that has introduced them to the opportunity.