| Comment Number: | 522418-12612 |
| Received: | 7/17/2006 11:09:40 PM |
| Organization: | |
| Commenter: | Shannon Kosal |
| State: | MI |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
The past two and a half years I worked as an IBO with the Quixtar industry. This business enabled me to meet many goals both within my business and my personal life. It led me to be a better person and wife, by gaining an understanding of others that I was not offered thru formal education. I was able to better understand time and money management, personality comprehension, as well as identify within myself my true strengths and weaknesses. My next goal is to use what I have learned to help others, although they may not be interested in becoming a personal IBO I would like to minimally share what I have learned so they may excel within their personal life. I registered with little knowledge other than the BBB and all 50 state governments approved it. After looking thru the site, I was able to become very educated and join with my own opinions on what I wanted to gain from this business. The fact that I could do this on top of my 9-5 job was a major perk. I love that I have the ability to travel back and forth between Eastern Ohio and Mid-Michigan to see my family as well as attend business seminars at an extremely reasonable cost. My company has sent me to seminars, which were not nearly as helpful that cost several times that amount-and only lasted the day or afternoon. I like to share this with people when they register. Most importantly, I like that they can access the site and familiarize themselves before making any decisions. By doing so, I believe prospects are able to gain an understanding that this is not simply sign up and make money. This helps them to realize that they must put fourth effort to gain success. It also helps them to learn about the products so they may register with a product pack that is customized to their needs. Sometimes it may cost a new IBO $65 to sign up while others two or three times that. It all depends on what they are in the market for. In fact, to sign up, you must read (or have the ability to) the business ownership plan and business support information. If you just want to get your feet wet, you can join for $45. Refunds are made on product purchases within 180 days of purchase. This includes return shipping and a refund on the original shipping costs. I believe a seven-day waiting period is harmful to my business as there is no sure way to tell when a prospect first was told of the opportunity. Not to mention, it is best to sign someone up after working together so they do not confuse information or forget. This would dramatically hurt my business by eliminating the ability for me to sign someone up after looking thru the site. In return, it would also hurt the prospect if they were required to wait seven days before enrolling their family/friends, as it is often great to work together in this business-and who better to work with than someone with your trust. By making someone wait seven days to register an IBO they are allowing the individual and IBO to lose interest in the business, hurting everyone involved. I do not believe that by waiting seven days a prospect would be able to gain any information to better their perspective. The best information can be found directly on the site as they register, and best of all, if they find something they do not like it is very easy to turn back. As for the ten references idea, I do think that it is a good idea to be able to provide references. However, I do not think that it should be required and only something offered upon request. You do not put references on a resume and therefore it should not be attached to a business card. Also, I do not think allegations should be offered unless requested-and only those that went to trial with a written opinion should be given. Lawsuits are brought daily against all companies and are often of no validity-Pepsi does not have a list of their allegations printed on their products and therefore I do not feel I should singled out because I do not choose to spend millions on marketing.