Work from home dream or pyramid scheme? 5 ways to spot a pyramid scheme
I’ve been pretty vocal about the fact that my current
life ambition is to be a work from home mum. Being, say, a freelance writer
(hint hint to any passing editors) would give me the freedom to work from the
sofa in my pyjamas, with a box of maltesers. It’s the dream, and a very appealing one since I’d
be able to avoid skyrocketing childcare costs and choose my own working hours.
So imagine my delight when not one, not two but three
lovely people, made me aware of some exciting ‘business opportunities’. They were opportunities to earn thousands of
pounds and work from home, if I wanted more information all I had to do was
ask. It all seemed too good to be true, because it was.
Upon further investigation these multi-level marketing companies seemed suspiciously like pyramid schemes.
Now I’m not going to name names, because the triangular shaped
fat cats will sue my ass, instead I’m going to write a little list:
5 ways to spot a
pyramid scheme:
You have to pay to
join – I’m no expert, but most employers pay you (the employee) to train
and work for them.
With the exception of buying a reasonable amount of stock,
I would question any business which requires large sums of money up front to
join their ranks or one that needs you to buy more stock, regardless of how
much you’ve sold.
They have levels –
Levels aren’t something they chat about on Facebook but a quick click on
some sellers forums and you’ll find it’s
the buzz word.
“I need to sell more to progress to the next level”
“I need to recruit more people to make it to level
(insert a number/colour of your choice.)”
Pyramids have levels...
You become a head
hunter – I would be wary of any ‘business’ which emphasises more on
recruiting others to sell their product than actually making a sale. That’s not
how a business works.
You can get rich
quick – If it was that easy everyone would be doing it. According to this Sunday Times article, multi-level marketing recruits are told to ‘fake it
till you make it,’ so those glitzy posts in your news feed might just be fibs. Successful businesses take time and effort to build.
Believe what you see with your own two eyes not what you read in a post.
You’re suddenly
very popular – I have to be honest, I’ve never had so many ‘wealthy’
friends and they’re all willing to share the secret of their wealth with me. If
only I’d ask…
But all joking aside, around 85% of people involved in
these companies make a loss, 10% are breaking even and the rest are rolling in
it at the top – Pyramid!
If you liked this,
you might also like:
Comments
Post a Comment