| Comment Number: | 522418-10463 |
| Received: | 7/16/2006 2:36:20 PM |
| Organization: | Quixtar |
| Commenter: | Benjamin Kuhn |
| State: | MI |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
I have been an IBO for 3 1/2 yrs and my life is better for it. I have gained resposibility and a direrction for my life. I am using this opportunity so that i will be a full time parent when I have kids. When I was registered I was given more than enough information. When I register someone they get the same treatment that I got when I was a new prospect. We never claim that this is something for nothing. In fact we tell people that it takes HARD WORK to succeed at a high level and if that scares them away, good. I dont't waste my time with people like that anyway. It costs approximately $175 to register with Quixtar and if an IBO's business doesn't grow like they would like, Quixtar will give them money back. Exactly how much I don't know, because of the people that I have had quit my business none asked for money back. As far as this 7 day waiting period to register goes I see no real benefit. I do see it hurting many people in their early days of business and also slowing down business for IBO's at all levels. Excitement and belief are what builds this business. A 7 day wait will definitely hinder these things, especially with people that are brand new IBO's. Many new people that get started begin with low self images and a want for instant gratification. Making an immediate impact and showing physical results to new folks to any degree is powerful. Ultimately this could harm people from building very large businesses or at least slow them down considerably when driving to reach certain goals in their business. Providing references for prospects is fine. That is why we hold open opportunity meetings free of charge. That is why we meet with the prospect at least 3 times before we decide to work with them. However, providing people with contact information of other IBO's is totally unnecessary. This takes away privacy rights from people who are trying to actually make a positive impact in other's lives. This is not going to allow a prospect to make a more well informed decision any way, interacting with people will. Providing the prospect with all of the past litigation will not help future IBO's either. The dishonest co.s will just ignore this requirement and the honest ones will comply. This opens up room for people to buy into false accusations and start looking for all of the imperections of the company. An example that I can think of is the debate over the right to bear arms. The law obiding citizens will comply and the criminals will not. Think about it. If the prospect really wants all of that information, they can research all they want. I don't have a problem with that at. That is also why Quixtar has developed www.thisbiznow.com. Prospects again can here from IBO's all over the nation and also from ceo's and presidents of major companies on what Quixtar has done for them. If we must disclose information on every income claim in the plan, let's not. We could just as affectively do something standard and more easily duplicated. The easiet way to achieve this is something like the monthly average of an IBO who is actively building this business. Also the average income of IBO's who have hit certain levels on the bonus scale. Now having to disclose my own personal information regarding my finances to a prospect is not going to benefit the prospect in terms of keeping him safe from a scam. What my bank accoount looks like should not and does not have any bearing on the outcome of a prospect's career in Quixtar. However, I do think it is right for an IBO to be able to provide this information to state agencies and the FTC if they were ever asked to do so. Lastly, I want to mention that the FTC wanting to help is a good thing. I appreciate the efforts and the concern of the FTC for the protection of the public. I think that there are other less burdensome and restricting steps of action. I am sure that the FTC will make fair decisions that will help the Direct Selling Industry.