Thinking of starting a Herbalife business? Is someone trying to convince you that if you're willing to work you can be rich beyond your wildest dreams? Read this first.
You have probably filled in contact information on a web page telling you about an incredible home-based business, which can make you financially independent. You have been contacted by a mentor/coach who spent a great deal of money to get your name and contact information. This person will be your “upline” should you choose to become a part of Herbalife. This person has a huge, financial interest in your signing up under him/her because in Herbalife, you only begin to make serious money when you get people to sign up under you (your “downline”.) Herbalife is MLM (multi-level marketing) or a pyramid scheme. Your mentor will dangle the possibility of making huge money under your nose and try to get you to sign on as a “Supervisor” because this is where you can begin to make serious money.
BUT WAIT!!!!!!
This is what you aren't being told:
It will cost you a lot of money to “run” your home-based business, and there is absolutely no guarantee that you will succeed, which they are quick to point out while at the same time telling you how rich you can become. There is about a 95% failure rate within Herbalife. To start, when you agree to sign up as a supervisor, you will be shipped a starter kit. This costs about $200.00 Then comes the “Supervisor order”, which will cost you approximately $4000. You will be overwhelmed by the stuff you'll unpack and wonder how the heck you'll ever get rid of it all! You will be told about people who have “moved” their supervisor order within four to six weeks, earning all their money back, and how they were on their way to a lucrative business. The truth is that most people won't be able to do this.
If you aren't willing to humiliate yourself by “wearing the button,” or spending countless hours putting fliers under the windshield wipers of every vehicle you see, or giving up every evening and weekend to be on the phone making cold calls to overweight, depressed and poor people, don't get started in Herbalife. You're going to spend most of your days and evenings on the phone, trying to talk people into buying the products (which are actually fantastic) and into signing up under you as your downline. The top of the hour will be follow up calls, the bottom of the hour will be calling leads or “dial sessions.” Even if you are willing to do this, there is still no guarantee of success, which Herbalife will also tell you (their constant legal disclaimer), but having said that, they will continue to try to whip you into a frenzy of greed to keep your hopes alive that you will become hopelessly and unbelievably wealthy. Remember the 95% failure rate?
BUT WAIT!!!!!
There's more!
Early on in the training, you will be instructed to sign up for the iOffice, which will cost you about $33 per month. You will be instructed to get a toll-free number, unlimited long distance and three way calling, all of which will cost you more on your phone bill. The toll free number is the least of it, but unlimited long distance (maybe you have it anyway) will cost you upwards of $15 per month, and having the rest of the phone stuff you'll need will cost you an additional $15 or so per month, depending on your phone provider. You will be instructed to register for two websites to start (later there will be three). Initially, these websites don't cost that much, but a year later they get expensive. These websites are where people can order sample packs (in eight months, nobody accessed mine) and another one where people can order products (in eight months, nobody accessed that one either.) In order to have these websites, you have to get yourself a merchant account. It costs about $150 to set this thing up, and then you get charged $25-35 per month for upkeep, whether you use it or not. If you cancel part way through the year, you have to pay the balance of that $25 – 30 per month for the months not used because it's an annual contract, plus there is a cancellation fee of $200 for the VISA and $175 for Mastercard. Then you will be told to sign up for “Connecting Point,” which you will need to use “Lead Blazer.” Connecting Point will cost about $40 per month, plus Lead Blazer has a huge fee also. I never signed up for Lead Blazer, so I can't remember how much that is, but I think it's more than $100 per month. You can purchase “leads” to make your cold calls. They cost just over $5 apiece, and you can expect about 30% of them to order sample packs, and about 30% of those will become customers (if your sales pitch works well). Your customers won't be enough to make you rich, so now you will have to purchase “media shares.” I never got that far either, so I have no first-hand knowledge of the cost, but my upline told me it was not uncommon to spend upwards of $2000 a month on “advertising.” I would assume these would be the media shares. You will be required to purchase business cards and other products from their affliliated company eTeamLeads. There are business cards, fliers, hot pockets, envelopes, address labels. They are ordered in quantities ranging from 50 for some items up to 3000 for others. The costs range from $50 to $185 depending on how many you order, plus exorbitant shipping and handling. There is no end to the money you can spend in hopes of succeeding in this business.
The training you won't receive is about the products. You will sell products you have no clue about. They are nutritional supplements, vitamins, protein bars, etc. You will not know or be taught what product is for what, and you will be expected to figure this out on your own. Can you imagine a doctor prescribing something and not knowing if it'll help you or not? Well, that's what you'll be doing to start with until you learn. Basically, you won't know what you're talking about and it will show. Your upline will be too impatient and pressed for time to train you properly or answer your questions, because for them, just like you, time is money. It will take you a year or two (in most likelihood) if you're diligent and persistent to start to make money selling Herbalife.
You can see that the outlay of cash to be in this business for yourself is phenomenal. Until you persuade people to also sign up under you (your downline), you don't have a hope of making any kind of serious money. (Do the math from what I wrote above). Finding a “downline” is difficult and expensive. You will have to pay for those leads (unless you're fortunate enough to find people in personal contact, such as friends and family, who are eager to sign up – unlikely to happen) and then whip them into a frenzy of greed and not tell them about all the costs involved, just as it happened with you. Everything in running this business is expensive. If you're not prepared to give up your life, your cash and your self-esteem to make this business work, leave your hard-earned money where it is – in your wallet. There are businesses out there that cost far less to run and administer with a greater success rate and payback.
My advice? The products are great. Buy them. Use them. You won't regret that. Sign up as a Distributor (you will still be profiting your upline – hope you like him/her!) to get a discount. That will cost you about $35 per year and then you will be entitled to a 30% discount on anything you order. As a Distributor, there are no other costs. If you can find others to start using the products and ordering from you, you will begin to earn a small amount of money – enough to pay for your own products. The downside to being a distributor is that if anyone signs up under you, you will not make a residual income from them – only your upline will profit from your downline. You will need many people as your downline before you should seriously consider moving up to Supervisor. Don't let your greed get the best of you, and trust me, your upline will try to manipulate you on that. Just remember that you're looking at many hundreds of dollars in operating costs every month, so becoming a Supervisor should only be done when you know you can earn far more than you will spend.
Don't quit your day job. Anything that sounds too good to be true generally is, and Herbalife is no exception.
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