| Comment Number: | 522418-08159 |
| Received: | 7/12/2006 1:00:02 PM |
| Organization: | Quixtar |
| Commenter: | Jacquelyn Pascucci |
| State: | VA |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
I have been an Independent Business Owner through the Quixtar opportunity for 30 months now, and I have to say, my lifestyle has been affected greatly since that time. The benefits are too numerous to list, including additional income, access to amazing products, association with awesome, like-minded professionals, and it has provided a common goal for my husband and I to work toward together. This proposal has me a little concerned. While I acknowledge and am thankful that the ultimate goal of the FTC is to ensure consumers have all the information they need to make an educated decision about becoming a business owner, I feel that the proposed restrictions to be enforced would be overstepping the boundaries of "quality information" and would actually hinder the growth Independent Business Owners' businesses. Personally, I have made a commitment to ensure that prospects have enough information to make a quality decision about whether they want to become an IBO themselves. We provide each prospect with a literature bundle that goes over the average income for an IBO and describes exactly how the payment plan works. Each time we introduce a prospect to our business, we repeatedly review that the Quixtar business opportunity is not a "get rich quick" plan and that in order to succeed one must put in hard work and dedicated effort. We also inform them of how much money IBOs typically spend to register ($175 including a registration fee and a product pack) and that they can get their money back up to four months after registration. Because we already provide prospects with so much information, I feel like it would be unnecessary to disclose my personal financial records to them. Not only is that an invasion of my privacy, it would negatively impact people who are in the process of building their business to achieve a significant income. Disclosing the average income of an IBO should be enough information about this subject. In regard to the proposed requirement to provide references, I also believe this to be completely unneccesary. Every time we introduce the business opportunity to a prospect, they will inevitably meet other people on our team and on other people's teams. We bring prospects to business workshops where the business opportunity is presented by someone who has had some success so far and the prospect is in a room of about 50 - 200 other business owners. This not only brings credibility to the business opportunity, it also allows prospects to converse with anyone there about any questions they may have. A "litigation list" would also be overstepping the boundaries of appropriate information to give to a prospect. The proposal is a little vague on what exactly would have to be listed, but disclosing all litegation involving Quixtar and every IBO seems superfluous. Law suits with no merit are filed every day against companies across the country, and just because a suit was filed does not mean the company was guilty of doing anything illegal. And every other IBO's business practices does not accurately reflect my business practices. I should not be judged based on what someone else may have done incorrectly or not done at all. A seven-day waiting period for someone to register and then to register other people would significantly slow down our business and the business of the new business owner. We should not hinder someone from making as much of this opportunity as possible. I know on several occassions mulitiple people will register at one time, increasing the new business owner's opportunity to achieve a significant income through this business. Of course, we don't pressure people to get registered that quickly, but if they want to get rolling right wawy, there is no reason we should hold them back. Like I said, I am all for the FTC helping people make quality decisions and shutting down illegal schemes. I just don't want other illegal schemes to negatively affect my business.