Need some of your advice...
Need some of your advice... :-\
I need to make a decision before Wednesday December 29th this year. I'm really in two minds about it all and thought I would put this "out there" to see if anyone could possibly help me make my mind up. :-\
It isn't a problem so much as just that I require other peoples' opinions and perspectives on this situation.....
This is not in relation to Network Marketing. This is in relation to a real business venture.
I have passed the inital interview process for this business opportunity and therefore am invited to put the first initial deposit (and first month's payment) down as well as attend the one day intensive training next year (january).
This business venture will put me in debt for the next 14 months @ $2200 per month. On top of that, I will be paying the "main office" (as such) a fee of approx. $480 per month so I can have access to all the support and anything else I require each month - this one comes with a 12 month contract.
The business itself is a consultancy (as such since I'll be called a consultant). I am not allowed to specify at this stage as to what market I will be consulting due to legal reasons. Regardless, the fact is that the market that I shall be "consulting" to is virtually un-tapped. I have the possibily of making $2000 (min.) after each "sale". There are other ways I can earn income as a consultant however the main source will be from the "sale" of one particular item... and I can earn up to $2000 per "sale" of this one particular item. Therefore, all I require is two sales of this one particular item to cover the debt, the monthly membership fee and a few other associated costs.
Since the market is virtually un-tapped and the infrustructure/systems of this business are very sound and easy to use... I do very much have the possibility of making more than those two "sales" per month.
My dilema (sp?) is that if I don't sell two of the primary item each month.. I can't totally afford the debt (approx. $2500 per month) after all my living expenses. Then there is the cost of the one day training which will cost me $500 on top of the first month's expense ($2200 plus $480) for this first month. It is sending me nearly broke for the first month.
Should I go ahead with this business venture since it seems (I've done my due diligence and it is sound) to be a high-growth business therefore I'll be able to easily afford the "debt" each month or should I just put the money I would've invested into starting this business elsewhere?
Thank you for taking the time to "listen". I hope you can help me out. ;D
Re: Need some of your advice...
I'm going to approach the right people as I basically need to know when "payment" is due each month. If I can have the option of setting my own date up for payment... then that is okay. If I don't.. and they require it say on the 20th of every month including next month (jan)... then that might be a problem.
In the end.. I'm going to go ask my questions of the appropriate people. Please forgive me for bothering you.... I only realised now that my questions can only be answered by the "head office".
I'll keep everyone updated.
Re: Need some of your advice...
In some ways, your business opportunity doesn't sound much different than a dancer paying a $300 a shift stage fee to work at Scores in Manhattan. Some girls who have the 'magic' necessary to connect with customers earn that amount back and much much more. But other girls who don't have the 'magic' wind up losing their ass financially speaking.
But where girls wanting to try Scores only have to commit to one shift fee at a time, your business venture requires a one year contract !!! The fiscal conservative in me really balks at a high risk speculative business venture of this magnitude.
Re: Need some of your advice...
I'm sorry, but unless you are a partner in a business venture, no legitimate business makes an employee pay for the privilage to get trained and sell its products. If you are a business partner, then your name should appear on the articles of incorporation, and your investment will have a specific precentage of profits assigned to it. Anything else is just a pyramid.
Re: Need some of your advice...
Damn, but I have to agree with Scorp-man for the second time in a week. I hate it when that happens. LOL
I too am concerned that you may have been caught up in the hype of this product and a damn good sales person. Damn few legit businesses really selling a product will take the sales route you specify. They will normally do what every other business does--set up a sales force and pay them a commission and make all the money themselves. Why are these folks different? They may want to pretend they are sharing the wealth and all that BS, but then why is their front end guaranteed by contract?
With no evidence to prove it, this sounds too much like a con game. After all for a product/service to justify a payoff to the seller that high you have to be talking a $20K product which means it is not something someone sells like soap.
I, for one, would be damn sceptical before I signed. What are they providing for all this money?
Re: Need some of your advice...
Occassionally, very occassionally, I do make a wee bit of sense.
psst...Don't tell anyone!
Re: Need some of your advice...
Okay... I'll fess up a bit more information about it all. BTW.. I'm talking in AUD unless I specifically say so (refer to my signature... I state this at all times via my signature).
With this business... I shall be referred to as an "Asset Protection Specialist Consultant". I won't be paying a franchise fee.. just paying the business off each month. If I sell the main asset protection item (there are other ways to earn income/money however this is the main item)... all I would need is to sell 12 of them ($2000 x 12) to re-coup the initial investment.
Considering that some people might by 2 or 3 of this one item.. that means I might not even have to sell this one item to that many people. Therefore... I only require 2 $2000 sales per month to cover the basic costs. I'll have virtually no competition. I'm on the "ground floor" in regards to this opportunity. This is certain. I've done my research here.
I'll be given all the selling tools I could ever possibly need to be a success.
That "fee" I pay per month ($480) allows me to have unlimited access to the business' team of experts, whenever I need a legal or administrative question answered. I will have access to teleconferences which can have the high possibility of closing the sale for me. I can make $2000 -$4500 per sale.
Now... just to give a brief idea...
Do you remember when mobile home lenders started out? The Bank's scoffed at the idea and said it would never work.
Well, as you know, mobile home lenders are the norm now. You don't go to the bank to get a loan now, do you? You phone them and do it over the phone or aks a mobile lender to come and see you.
Can you see the similarities between this and the opportunity you have in your hands?
I predict asset protection will grow in the same way. Instead of seeing a solicitor about protecting your assets, you'll be seeing an Asset Protection Consultant.
Gone are the days when people won't know where to turn to protect their assets in this ever increasing litigious society.
At the one-day training next month.. I'll be given all the tecnical orentation I'll need to make this a success. Plus unlike other businesses out there, I'll have all the marketing tools I'll need to make this succeed. The 3 step "free report", the telephone scripts, the display ads, the referral system, the seminar power points (as I can have the option of doing seminars), the teleconference, the yellow pages ad, the appointment setting company (qualified "leads").
It is referred to as a ground floor, low risk, high income investment.
The guy behind all of this (Ed Burton - look him up to see who I'm referring to.. very well respected individual here in Australia) has applied for a provisional patent ont eh whole process and copyrighted everything so that if someone tried to copy this business system they had better have good asset protection themselves! :laughing:
Anyway.. I hope I don't get into trouble for typing any of the above. Well.. I shouldn't.. I havn't technically signed anything (specially the Confidentiality and Non Complete Agreement and the Distributorship Agreement)... plus I'm only using information that he has already sent me and thousands of other people across Australia.. so it is public domain (in a way).
The italics means I am quoting from the literature I've received.
Re: Need some of your advice...
Sorry for the typos in the previous post!
In four points:
1. The Industry this business will be operating in is exploding here in Australia. It is worth $1.5 billion doallar in the US (and still growing)
2. From my research (not just the literature I've received) I've found that there is actually virtually no competition... welll nobody that will be selling the products I'll be selling at the price I'll be selling them (making it affordable to alot more people... the only other competition right now is the solicitors and such who cost a sh**load more than what I will charge and don't really know what they're doing.. only a real few do and they charge the earth for that privelage)
3. I'll be leveraging the expertise and credability of a Best Selling Author and Leading Expert in this Area in Australia (Ed Burton).
4. The company ("head office" as I like to refer to it) has done all the work: sales, marketing, procedures, ongoing training and support. (This is what the $480 helps cover... keeps me updated as such).
As for competition from other Asset Protection Consultants who also work with the same company I am working with.... no worries. I had to go through an interview before actually being given anything more (like the agreements). The interview made sure I was well aware of what I was "getting myself into" (my words) as well as to see if I could indeed run a business and such. They didn't want just anybody basically. I basically had to convince them in a way. Therefore, they are only allowing a specific no. of people to actually be trained.
The interview is the first step in weeding out people.. and therefore lowering the no. of people who can actually qualify.. the second step is the one I'm currently facing.. whether I really really truely want to go ahead with this or not.. alot of people might get the agreements and everything.. then realise.. nah.. not for me.. or might miss the payment deadline... more people who are now no longer qualified...
There is no territories. There is no hard selling.. it's regarded as a passive selling system.. they (the "head office") actually frown upon hard selling.
So.. now.. what do you think?
I'm going to go ahead with this. I've been working hard this past week and will be working hard in the next week and am confident that I will make enough money (dancing) to afford all of this.... even my worst nights (recently) havn't been under $400 (after fees).
PS Considering my own accountant can cost more than $480 per month sometimes... I feel it is a bargain that I'll get unlimited access to that team of experts. Besides, I have met Ed Burton (link 1, link 2) in person. I attended his seminar earlier this year and he is all about the facts not about the hype. He isn't there to make you "feel good" ... he is there to present you with the facts. Some of what he presented went over my head and wasn't applicable to me (and still isn't) however... oh boy! I got my money's worth and then some from that one seminar. No BS from him. I'm also part of his "gold club" mentor group and he is still the same... no BS. (Oh yeah.. my gold club mentor program membership is included in the fee I pay per month to the "head office" so I not only get unlimited access to the "team of experts" I'm also a member of his gold club so I can actually do something with my money - if and when I plan to..)
Re: Need some of your advice...
Vee.
I obviously do not know Aus laws, but in the US what they are talking about would fall perilously close to practicing law without a license. A major no-no. Those guys did not go to law school for 3 years to let anybody do what they do. I, for one, would want to see a certified letter from the bar association stating it was legal to do the things the program did.
I have heard the commercials for this service and it runs of fear. Not rational thought or risk but raw fear that people are gonna get their asses sued off and should hide their assets.
Re: Need some of your advice...
I didn't really want to post it here, but if you want to make 2-4K comission per sale-and much more with NO INVESTMENT OF ANY KIND, I am looking for independant sales reps. I am a sales manager for a cutting edge virtual technology product. A friend just patented a new VT technology that is absolutely amazing, and has signed up Mariott Hotels and other institutions. Museums, auction houses, real estate, hotels, clubs, the market is endless. We don't have anyone in Australia at the moment. If interested in more info, PM me.
Re: Need some of your advice...
Quote:
Originally Posted by montythegeek
Vee.
I obviously do not know Aus laws, but in the US what they are talking about would fall perilously close to practicing law without a license. A major no-no. Those guys did not go to law school for 3 years to let anybody do what they do. I, for one, would want to see a certified letter from the bar association stating it was legal to do the things the program did.
I have heard the commercials for this service and it runs of fear. Not rational thought or risk but raw fear that people are gonna get their asses sued off and should hide their assets.
I'm just a consultant.... just like a Mortgage Broker is a consultant too. I don't dispense the legal advice or anything like that... I will be provided with the computer software and so forth so I can be consulted... give the people advice... I'm like the "middle man" between the customer and the solicitors (as such). I'm the one that will help the person sort out which type of legal asset protection structure will suit them...
As for the commercials... yes a bit of fear runs in them however it isn't fear that isn't based on facts... the fact is that Queensland and New South Wales.. are pretty litigious (I'm tired so my spelling might be off) states.
Like I said, Ed Burton deals with facts not hype. He only ever quotes facts.
I wouldn't consider this as a legitmate biz op if I didn't have all the facts in front of me. I can see thru hype easily now.
Regardless, I've submitted the paperwork and the initial deposit ($2,200).
I'll just keep everyone updated as to how I go with this....
Since I've been working pretty hard since Dec 19th (only had a total of 3 days/nights off)... I've realised that I do want out... I want to do something else that pays as well and I can do easily.
PS I've read the agreements I signed and I am able to get out of it easily enough if it doesn't work out.