1. The party plan/multilevel marketing/pyramid scheme business model is flawed. In order for a person to make big money they must have a huge and ever-increasing downline. I recommend this article for an explanation of the methematics behind the model. It was an article that helped me after an extremely unplesant pyramid scheme experience.
2. It is impossible to earn any sort of big income without investing enormous amounts of time, energy and money. As a consultant for XYZ Company, you are basically running a small business single handed. Do you know any small business owner who *doesn't* work really hard and really long hours? As a demonstrator you don't even have the security of a shop front or regular work, and are even more exposed to financial crises. If there is a sudden decrease in wealth in your area due to sackings/redundancies whatever, then your business will be amongst the first to suffer as almost without exception, party plan products are luxury items, or things that can be purchased elsewhere for less money.
3. You cannot run a successful business without spending a lot of time on it. I was doing one demonstration every two weeks or thereabouts. Every demonstration had to be planned for. Every demostration resulted in delivered orders which had to be unpacked and given to the hostess. Every demonstration involved multiple phone calls and time on the internet on "business" matters. All of this required spending time away from my husband and children. All my demonstrations were at night or on the weekend resulting in more time away from my husband and children. It put our marriage under strain.
4. Your friends will help you out by holding parties for you when you first start the business. But that is a well that can only be drained a few times, at the risk of destroying friendships.
5. You stop seeing your friends and acquaintances as friends and acquaintances - they become potential customers or worse still, potential recruits.
6. Your kit will constantly need updating. The intial investment may only be small, but it won't stay small.
7. You may find it impossible to insure your kit. No insurance company would give me insurance for all the stuff I had as it was not a real business. Read the last five words again carefully.
8. You may well find yourself seeling product to people who cannot afford it. There is a moral dimension to selling in a high-pressure, limited choice environment.
9. There will be people (a lot of them) who are NOT interested in your product and will NOT attend or hold parties. Ever.
10. You will have: orders that are not paid for, special requests from customers that you demonstrate a particular product which you buy specially and then they don't buy it, parties as which no one buys anything much, parties that are cancelled despite all the time and money you have spent in preparation and parties that are disastrous due to matters out of your control.
If you would never consider selling used cars or real estate, a sales job is probably not for you and as a consultant that's what you are: a salesperson.
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