SMCorp Specialty Merchandise Corp. Ripoff.... Stealing Moneys Fontana California

The Other Side of the Coin

Let me preface my comments up front since any "positive" comments regarding SMC seem to be immediately labeled as bias and originating from SMC or their employees.

I am married to one of the SMC business coaches and have first-hand, and in-depth knowledge of how they are instructed to conduct business. Granted, not all business coaches might display the same professional courtesy or caring attitude when helping their members engage in a new business venture(sales people in all industries vary in their approach). However, reading some of the negative comments published on this site, compelled me to address the "other side of the coin".

As an operations management executive for over (30) years in a variety of industries and having been involved in at least (7) start-up companies, both on a domestic and international level, I feel that I am well qualified to comment on what it takes to get a business off the ground. So I'm writing this from a professional perspective, not with the bias of a husband of an SMC employee.

Being intrically involved in my wife's career (we daily discuss her day's events) and wanting her to be the best that she can be, I am interested in her profession and share with her my business knowledge and vice versa. Thus I have gained some insight into why I'm seeing some of the comments displayed on the Rip Off Report. Let me shed some light on the facts the way I understand them:

1) All telephone conversations with members are recorded and members are so informed during the first (3) minutes of the conversation. This is to monitor any mis representations that may have been made by the coach and avoid potential legal conflict at a later date. I do not believe that a business coach would knowingly misrepresent the facts and put their employment in jeopardy. Any deliberate misrepresentations on part of the employee would result in an immediate reprimand or worse.

2) There seem to be (2) types of members - those that have owned a business before and those that a have not. The former know what it takes to start up a business while the latter may have some misconstrued expectations or posess limited or no business savvy. These "entrepreneural novices" at times mistake the coaching process as just another cheap "upsell trick" when being asked to upgrade their basic membership to one that will meet their expectations or need. It must be noted that, early in the coaching process, the member is asked to share their monthly revenue expectations or requirements with their coach (part of any business plan). Based on these expectations, it is the responsibility of the coach to recommend a package and marketing plan that will meet those goals. Quite often, it involves upgrading to a different package than the one that comes with their original membership. Obviously, a monthly revenue target of $3000/month requires a different approach and strategy than one of $500/month or less.

I am always mystified when I hear of members that have spent their last $300 on a membership, have no bank account, no credit cards or source of income, yet insist on wanting to make $3-5000/month. When told that this would require additional tools and resources to achieve, they claim misrepresentation or worse! What were they thinking? If life was that easy, nobody would have to work a steady job anymore and everyone, regardless of financial solvency, would be a business owner. Let's get real!

Do these people have any idea what it takes to start a successful business venture? It takes hard work and committment. It takes risk, start-up capital, a marketing strategy (or better yet, several), salesmanship, an internet presence and most of all the will to succeed. The days of the door-to-door Fuller Brush Man are gone! Sure, you can still only concentrate of going door-to-door and peddle your wares, but who has the time and money to do that these days and how many customers do you think you can reach and still generate any appreciable amount of income? Hence the need for several different marketing strategies. SMC provides the tools and know-how, you do the rest!

From what I see, the basic membership enables the member to start their business and provides the rudimentary tool to sell product limited to the size of their investment. It does not guarantee success nor any predetermined income level. That comes with the size of the investment and the amount of risk the entrepreneur is willing to assume. Those individuals who have owned prior businesses and understand this concept can appreciate the value of upgraded business packages and the added marketing exposure that it provides, not to mention foregoing the costs associated with normal business operations i.e. purchasing, importing, stocking and inventory control that is being absorbed by SMC.

Compared with the cost of any other business venture, whether it be a franchise or retail store, the cost of an SMC membership seems insignificant if your serious about starting your own business. You can't get into a franchise of any kind for less than $40-50K for starters. Then there are monthly payroll expenses, capital equipment expenditures, inventory costs, lease payments, insurance premiums and a myriad of other expenses that will significantly impact the ROI (Return on Investment) expectations. Even a mobile Hot Dog Stand would cost in excess of $10k including equipment and inventory that needs to be replenished at one's own cost. 

Some of the new SMC members have not even made the attempt to read the money making manual to see what is included in the basic membership. No wonder that they don't know what they signed up for and have unrealistic expectations! When they find out, the business coach is usually the first to experience their ire.

Obviously SMC, like any corporation,  is in the business of making money, but that doesn't mean that it is at the expense of the membership. In order to offer a wide range of products at reduced prices, they must purchase and import product by the container load. One cannot buy minimum quantities from China or elsewhere and compete in today's market. It's all volume driven. That requires a huge warehouse and tremendous inventory carrying costs. Then there are the normal expenses of doing business - import costs, shipping costs, payroll, insurance, marketing and sales. Obviously that needs to be paid for. Selling their  products to members at 1/3 of retail doesn't seem outrageous and the strategy of using gift cards, only redeemable on the members' website, is a great and unique way to advertise the members' business, create a captive customer base and build market share for them. The monthly $29.95 hosting fee doesn't seem out of line either when you consider having to upgrade web catalogs to keep inventory current. Try doing it yourself or getting it done by an independent website consultant!

In closing, let me mention that my wife and I spend considerable personal time discussing how she can best create opportunities for those members who seriously want their financial independence but are not able to come up with the required start up funds to do so. It creates the need for some creativity and pointing them to institutions that will fund such ventures. Much of that information is available on the NET and the business coach can certainly provide a list of who to contact and provide other creative alternatives. It's sad to see my wife unhappy when unable to help members that are motived and eager to succeed, but whose personal situation presents a serious challenge to attaining their dreams. So you see, there are still people out there who care and are willing to help others!

So much for Business 101!  I am not necessarily an advocate of SMC or any other special interest group or business just because a member of the family is employed there, just business professional perturbed when reading so many naive and negative comments from individuals that obviously had no business getting into business in the first place. To all of you who took the risk and succeeded, I applaud you! 

DISCLAIMER

The foregoing is based on personal opinion and years of practical experience and was in no way solicited by SMC, it's staff or affiliates. 

It is jsut as well that you do not get involved with SMC, or any other work at home business. You have to have at least a third grade command of the English language, which apparently you do not. Maybe you should take a class ot two at a community college and then you might be better equiped to get a real job.

One more thing to let every one know is,SMC said,30 days trail,is liar,they count from the day you join in member,is not the day you receive the kit....Remember that
also they never tell you up front,they always hiding something,when you join member,from there they try to withdraw your guy moneys slowly.........slowly
they make us to paid this to paid that,to get business going,but on other hand they say,you can make money right way......Bull....that is Big Fat Liar
I know every one out there,want to work from,so do I.