I am not with ACN but am looking into it. Frankly, with any business opportunity or traditional business, an individual's failure to perform or obtain the results advertised, in my opinion, is the individual's responsibility. If you pay money and things don't work out it's pretty much like getting a job and getting fired days or weeks later for non-performance. I see no difference, except that in MLM type companies, one's ego can be preserved by quitting on their own.
I'm now studying MLM's and for what I see, everything out there is some sort of 'pyramid', corporations, churches, sales organizations, etc. I am also seeing a common pattern: people who don't succeed tend to come back and bash the companies they joined. You say they do not care about their 'employees' well, you're not an employee and no company has to 'care' about you. Companies are in business to make money. It's all about business. Of course people at top make most of the money. They earned the right to be there and to earn more. Just like a CEO makes more money than the guy working in the mail room. The idea is to ascend to the top. Even in traditional businesses, anyone at the bottom doesn't make as much as those at the top. That's just common sense. When I sold real estate, those with the most contacts and the the most transactions made this most money. How is that any different? We still had to pay dues, membership feeds, monthly MLS fees and promote, promote and promote.
Initially, I wanted to be biased against MLM companies but the more I look into it, the more I see that the pattern of complaints generally come from those who fail rather than those who succeed. I also see that people don't do their due diligence and homework before joining. The Internet is filled with information and resources to help people make wise decisions before joining ANY business or business opportunity.
That is not to say that ALL MLM companies are legitimate and that some do not take advantage of people. Regular business also take advantage of people and that's why we have the FTC to shut them down when they do, lawyers and the court system. But, we all have brains to reason with and if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. That's when you either negotiate a waiver of sign up fees, sign up ONLY if you know you can risk gambling away that money or you're convinced on your own that the opportunity is legitimate. Nobody can sell you anything unless you allow yourself to be sold.
Donald Trump's bankruptcies are irrelevant unless you compare his to other non-MLM CEOs as well. Even then, strategic bankruptcies aren't uncommon in business and very large companies have taken advantage of chapter 11 in order to re-structure.
MLM, like all sales modules, seems to be a numbers game but I can clearly see that it's not something for everyone despite the fact that it tries to recruit everyone. These MLM companies should and some probably do, disclose that while their pitch is aimed at anyone who will listen and is willing to sign up (pay a fee of some kind) that NOT everyone will succeed in the business anymore that everyone who gets a job will never be fired from it, or quit.
I have attended a few ACN meetings and from what I see, the company has good products and services and you have to use your head and look at the numbers, the savings and benefits and then make a judgment BEFORE you sign up. I see a lot of motivational speeches, excitement and the typical "we can do it" mentality that's prevalent on most organizations that require people to be highly motivated to succeed. Frankly, if I joined any other sales organization (non-MLM) and became in charge of "selling" whatever, I couldn't do it without motivation and excitement.
That's how it works.
So I can see why these MLM companies put so much emphasis on being self-motivated. When I search for jobs on Craigslist, for example, a large portion of B2B and commission jobs require self-motivation, self-discipline, cold calling, recruiting new customers and even door-to-door knocking. I see no difference between their requirements for self-motivation an that of an MLM company. I would use the same level of scrutiny with traditional businesses as I would with MLM ones.
In summary, our fail to launch does not always constitute and MLM company's fault unless the company blatantly takes your money, without your consent and does not deliver the products or services promised or if it engages in false or misleading advertising practices. I also think that if people cannot afford to get involved, why not sit back and see how their friends do? Follow the company around for 3-6 months and watch what happens to the people that work the business and follow the program. If they succeed, then it's a good indication that the MLM company might be worth joining. I am doing that right now. People I know who are involved are my main source of information about whether the company is going to be good for me, all that without investing a dime out of my own pocket.
