Monday, August 16, 2010

Amway - Amway Tools, False Hope?

Many IBOs who participate in the teaching systems sold by groups such as BWW, N21, or WWDB are often "hopeful" of getting wealthy through the Anway opportunity and they are hopeful that they can eventually walk away from their business and collect willable and residual income. That they will one day enjoy fabulous vacations and luxuries, all from selling soap via the Amway opportunity. They feel that 2-5 years of work and learning and changing their buying habits will create this wealth.

It appears that much of the training systems emphasis is not on instruction, but on how they can have hope. There are countless touching stories of couples or individuals who were downtrodden, but were offered the Amway opportunity. While they struggled and doubted, they never gave up and eventually endured. Many, possibly most of the standing orders are stories of how people struggled but kept on going until they finally reached diamond, the apparent crowning achievement of the Amway business.

Nobody denies that hopes and dreams are important in someone's life. It gives you the perseverance you need to keep working, knowing that there is something better waiting for you in the future. Many people dream of wealth and being able to enjoy the finer things in life. But I find it very unethical and somewhat cruel when upline leaders imply that everyone can achieve these lofty goals and dreams. It seems cruel to fill someone's mind with false hopes and dreams. Imagine promising your kids a trip to Disneyland for example, knowing that you will never takem them there. That's a pretty good comparison to standing on stage and saying everyone can go diamond if they will only follow the system.

Then when an IBO is convinced that they are a surefire future millionaire, filled with hope, then they need to go and peddle their soap. Sadly, even with all of the hope, most IBOs find that they can't sell soap. Many of Amway's products are not competitive with similar products that can be purchased at big box retailers. It makes a tough sell, thus many IBOs are told to simply buy their own goods without an emphasis on selling to others, thus producing an unsustainable business. In this environment, only those who profit from the tools can endure, because the tools system has many customers - the downline IBOs. However, the downline IBOs, lacking Amway product customers, end up losing money, often directly related to tool purchases.

In many cases, an IBO does not realize that his own upline or sponsor is really his or her dream stealer. The downline's money is slowly drained and channeled upline in the form of tool purchases. Many IBOs realize later that at least some of their dreams could have been financed simply by not purchasing tools from their upline, or by avoiding the Amway opportunity altogether! While some people do make some money in Amway, their numbers are insignificant. Are you a victim of false hope?

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