Quote
jumpmaster
... Mcdonalds got sued over hot coffee. Another example of stupidity on the CLIENTS not the Corp. But people still buy McDonald Franchises...

Actually, there were other issues involved in that lawsuit.

:arrow: For years, McDonald's had known they had a problem with the way they make their coffee - that their coffee was served much hotter (at least 20 degrees more so) than at other restaurants.

:arrow: McDonald's knew its coffee sometimes caused serious injuries - more than 700 incidents of scalding coffee burns in the past decade have been settled by the Corporation - and yet they never so much as consulted a burn expert regarding the issue.

:arrow: The woman involved in this infamous case suffered very serious injuries - third degree burns on her groin, thighs and buttocks that required skin grafts and a seven-day hospital stay.

:arrow: The woman, an 81-year old former department store clerk who had never before filed suit against anyone, said she wouldn't have brought the lawsuit against McDonald's had the Corporation not dismissed her request for compensation for medical bills.

:arrow: A McDonald's quality assurance manager testified in the case that the Corporation was aware of the risk of serving dangerously hot coffee and had no plans to either turn down the heat or to post warning about the possibility of severe burns, even though most customers wouldn't think it was possible.

:arrow: Corporate specifications state that coffee be served between 180 and 190 degrees Fahrenheit. Third degree burns occur at this temperature in 3-15 seconds (depending on how close it is to 190F). At 160 degrees Fahrenheit, it takes 20+ seconds.

So yes, of course it is the stupid old woman's fault. Would you think that a cup of coffee spilled on you would be serious enough to warrant skin grafts? That was the issue. Consumers had no clue that the coffee would cause third degree burns that quickly. McDonald's, however, did. Yet they chose not to do anything about it.

Nice try though, Amwayman.

[www.vanfirm.com]

Alriiiiiiiiighty then, let's examine the implied message shall we?

Quote#1 <<Lets examine the numbers.

0.000023 people make it in MLMs.

But people buy lottery tickets. Why? Because it's easy and they can blame the system if it doesn't work.>>CloseQuote

Jumpmaster's first statements try to make it seem as though MLM's having the same degree of transparency as official lottery systems is an established fact.

It isn't, but if you buy into that "fact," only then do the rest of his statements have any power to manipulate.

In lotteries everyone has an equal and legitimate chance based on random chance, but the lottery's astronomical odds are made known to everyone so that participants can make an informed choice as to how best spend their resources on them. I've never heard an MLM promote its remote chances of an individual's success.

And in any event, it's possible to do everything right and still fail. It may not seem fair, but that's simply the way life is. JM's assertions fly in the face of this by inflicting unwarranted guilt on MLM failures no matter what.

Quote#2<<In my town there are 3000 real estate agents. Only about 200 make the money. Good money that is. Why? THEY ARE WILLING TO DO THE WORK. >>CloseQuote

So the implied message is, "your work is your worth;" if you already have lots of money then that proves that you were worthy of it all along, but if you don't have the means to conspicuous consumption then you're a merely an undeserving bum with an unwarranted entitlement attitude that is really just insubordination.

Back! BACK! to your minimum-wage jobs, you unwashed masses you, and while you're at it, you missed a spot detailing my Hummer!

Such is called circular logic.

It's sort of a convenient self-fulfilling prophecy that's always "right" no matter what the MLM participant's outcome.

But there's a much bigger context here. What of those people who are too elderly, too sickly or too disabled to work. This is where the truly vile nature of this sterile and materialistic "your work is your worth" philosophy is revealed and bites its advocates in the backside sooner or later...

Are the aforementioned individuals who cannot work therefore suddenly "worthless?"

From that perspective it's not so easy to be so glib, smug and condescending.

Why should human "worth" be tied to an arbitrarily conceived monetary system that has no meaning or relevance beyond its own make-believe relative context. If it didn't ten thousand years ago when there was no such thing as money or even society as we would recognize it, or 100 years from now when nanotechnology may very well make all monetary systems and monies archaic, obsolete and irrelevant, then chances are such a "philosophy" doesn't NOW either.

Unless such a premise is true all of the time, it's not TRUE at all.

And finally:

Quote#3<<Grow up. Statitics are excuses for folks not willing to work.>>CloseQuote

So that would literally mean that anyone, anywhere, at any time who relies on statistics "is not willing to work" *AND* immature? :shock:

I guess I'd better get rid of my statistics software before I'm caught red handed. :oops:

Hmmmmmmm.

CNFT

CNFT. Brilliant.

The best way to make in MLM, start one yourself or don't get into one. They are real, they do work BUT if you got two people to enter and they each got two to enter after 60 days you would have over 2 million people.

If the first 40 people in MLM did the same in one year the (everyone gets 2 people) after the first year the MLM company would be waiting for women to give birth so they could sign up the new born child because all 6.5 billion people on the planet would be a distributor for the MLM company. :oops:

That math was insane. I can't even fathom it.

My biggest problem with MLM is that there seems to be something fundamentally dishonest in their recruitment tactics. I have been approached several times by people wishing to recruit me into different MLM's and I have noticed a similarity in their approach.

One is, unlike a conventional business, you are not told anything about the business until you sign up. Questions are usually given evasive answers. If you persist in questioning, the recruiter will tell you that maybe this isn't for you. I doubt very much that McDonalds or other franchises work this way. It is my understanding that legitimate businesses will not withhold information from prospective investors/buyers. If you are not allowed to see "the books", beware!

Secondly, MLM's tend to focus more on recruitment than actually selling a product or service. If Pizza Hut operated like a MLM, this is how it would work. Instead of taking your order, the server would try to get you to buy a Pizza Hut franchise. Selling you a pizza would be the last thing on his or her mind. I doubt that Pizza Hut would stay in business long if they did that. Wisely, they focus on product first. Those who are interested in opening their own franchise can always ask for information.

That said, there are a few MLM's that I do respect, such as Avon and Tupperware, because even though the sales pitch is part of the routine, they do focus on product and are not pushy.

For Australian Residents:

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is an Australian Federal Government agency.

From the home page:

The ACCC promotes competition and fair trade in markets to benefit consumers, businesses, and the community. We also regulate national infrastructure services. Our primary responsibility is to ensure that individuals and businesses comply with Australian competition, fair trading, and consumer protection laws - in particular the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

From the ACCC Web Site:

False or Misleading Claims:

[www.accc.gov.au]

"A company misrepresents the possible profits of a work-at-home scheme, or other business opportunity."

Misleading business conduct is a criminal offence under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 Legislation.

Anyone contemplating starting a business, researches business potential including competition, bank loans and profit and loss. There are also specialised business classes conducted by Australian Federal Government funded colleges.

Multi-Level Marketing is a legal business model. You are self employed with no income until you make a sale. Therefore; you are legally entitled to ask for documented business potential and profit and loss statements.

The ACCC have researched business ethical conduct throughly. I would advice any Non-Australian Resident to read through the ACCC web site. The information contained in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 Legislation may not be applicable where you reside. The legislation however contains very good common sense advice.

Australian Business Operating Costs:

Example:

The Trades and Servicing Industry charges $150 per hour.

One third of the cost is allocated to the infrastructure required to operate the business. ie renting commercial premises, secretarial, book keeping, accountants, utilities cost.

One third of the cost is allocated to the serviceman's wages.

One third of the cost is allocated to the serviceman's time to order and pick up the materials required to carry out the job.

A person working from home could reduce their charge out rate to $100 per hour. They would also be carrying out two jobs. Servicing equipment and after hours secretarial and book keeping.

When business overheads and hours worked are factored in, the majority of self employed Trades and Servicing personnel are working for similar wages they would earn if working for an employer.

The corporate MLM environment is managed like a normal business. Management, secretarial and stores staff are paid wages for their services.

People working in an MLM environment do not factor in business overheads into their MLM activities, ie, clothing expenses, travel time, ordering time, fuel and vehicle wear and servicing costs, secretarial, book keeping, utilities cost, etc.

The reality is that MLM's save two thirds of a normal business operating costs because people are prepared to pay for the business sales operating costs. That two thirds operating costs represents business profit and makes the product competitive.

Dream; but live in the real world. Ask the hard financial questions before investing your time and money into a MLM business model.

Multilevel marketing companies sell women on the dream of being their own boss, yet as many as 99% may end up losing money: [www.huffpost.com]

100 % agree
do these companies really need their customers as zombies

current catalogues from my fav store - Big W - [www.rabato.com]