Cobra, Innovage, DS Max Red Square Direct, Jessie Young, Larry Tennenbaum Companies that make money off the "employee" London, Nationwide

Where do I begin? I worked for a company called Red Square Direct in London for four months.....and it felt like the longest four months of my life. I never thought I would be brainwashed by a company, but I was broken down and moulded into a sheep. The company worked on the basis of being one big family, that are close and united.

I won't go into details of the interview and observation day because enough people know about it. For the first 2 weeks I was selling quite well, I was meeting all the people and I was generally having a lot of fun. I'm ashamed to say it was around this time they hooked me in, which obviously was their intention. The comapny offer a token promotion to everyone after around 2-4 weeks. I was so determined to get that promotion because it meant I was taking my first steps into owning my own business. When I got my promotion, I told myslef this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and my team were like my second family......partly due to the fact I rarely saw my actual family while in the business. We would go out every Thursday evening and talk about the future, we would stay round each others houses....anything so that your every minute is spent thinking and talking about the business.

So as I got promoted, the first thing that I found myself doing was working an extra 2-3 hours a day, with no extra money and I didn't even care. I lived about an hour and a half away from the office, so I would need to get up at 5am and I normally wouldn't get home till around 10-11pm. In between these times I would spend sleeping, which I would then do again the next day...and the next day. After about 3 months being a "trainee manager", the long hours and the fact I was walking the streets selling make up started taking its toll and my sales went down hill. I was around 600 overdrawn in my account because of travelling to work (90 a week) and travelling to territories, my mind was shattered to the point of breaking down because of being awake for 19 hours a day and I had to think about how much more I could take. I was barely making 150 a week and so when it came to recruiting people and showing them how to do the business, I found myself sending them home because I was so depressed and was desperate to make some sales.

At this point I had to speak to the manager about my future. We worked out a money plan where whatever I made, I would keep 10% and put it into a safe. He also told me that my team manager would be promoted in 1 month and he would open an office in Ipswich, taking me and 3 other people in the team. I felt good and positive. We were moving to Ipswich and all live together and we would help establish an office....this never happened. By this time my finances had suffered so much they were beyond repair. I spoke to managers, I spoke to the people that were selling the most, but nothing was happening.....my sanity was gone, my body had shut down because I couldn't afford food, my rent wasn't paid and I just couldn't take anymore. There were so many promises made about helping me with my sales, about moving to Ipswich to help establish a new office, about how everyone can live comfortably on commission.......all turned out to be lies.

I had to make a decision, so in my head I would plan out my last day. When I got onto the field, the first thing I did was go to the bank and sort out my money. Luckily they gave me an increase in my overdraft and I was able to pay my rent. The next thing was to eat! The rest of the day was spent looking for a job. When I got back to the office, I had to tell them that I couldn't cope and that I wasn't coming back. They just told me this business isn't for everyone and that they only want the people that know they can do it (a backhanded comment). When I walked out those doors.....it felt like I had just come out of prison, it was great!. I had no money, I had no food, I manages 5 hours sleep for four months, but I felt brilliant when I realised I was free!

I managed to find a job as a duty manager for a supermarket a few days later. The pay was rubbish (8 an hour, but I worked out I was making on average 2.30 an hour working for Red Square), but they let me work as many hours as I wanted. I didn't care that I was working in a supermarket, because for the first time in four months, I knew I was guarunteed money. I had to work out a budget in order for me to balance my account. Luckily I could walk to work, so no money on petrol. I had to pay rent and bills and I worked out a food bugdet of 1 a day! It took me around 4 months to come out of my overdraft and have a few hundred pounds left over (just in time for Christmas). During this time I saw my team manager still selling makeup, 6 months after I was told he was opening a new office. I felt sorry for him, but he firmly believed he would do this....and he might, but I wouldn't bet on it.

This experience was one of a kind and I'll never forget it. I enjoyed the social interaction while I was there, but a company with staff turn over as astronomical as them, I was just nothing. Since then, I have gone back to university and am now a teacher.....it's bloody hard, the money isn't great, but hopefully I'll be ok. It's been a couple of years now and I now realise that the business is achievable, but it is not for everyone....but the people in the business make you believe everyone can do it.