Some MLM 'Business Opportunity' Facts To Keep In Mind   Yes, a small percent of the people recruited into the MLM industry achieve a modest, 'satisfactory' income stream after costs, and a scant few even make 'big money'...but the overall facts are bleak: there is an industry average 99% dropout rate of those who sign up with MLM companies either as 'retail customers' or as 'business builders.'  So, if anyone comes on to you talking about 'six-figure incomes' or chatters about how "I did it, so can you!", or deluges you with a dozen other reasons you need to "sign right up now and get started!"...take my advice and run, don't walk.  If an MLM pitch primarily promotes the 'business opportunity' and mentions the products in a secondary fashion...that's another huge red flag.  Unless an MLM product line is the *dominant part* of the pitch, and is backed up with plenty of clinical data and consumer satisfaction, we suggest you stay far, far away.    Regarding the excellent company which sells the nutritional supplements I recommend, for the record, only 4.8% of the company's 330,000 active associates earn $1500 a YEAR or more.  And it took most of those 4.8% YEARS to get there.  Also, that is not a NET profit figure as it does NOT include their time and expenses.  Granted not all of the 330,000 signed up with the intent to work the 'business' but the majority certainly did.  The appeal of 'easy money' is just too strong.  Most MLMs also rave about all the 'tax advantages' the IRS will shower upon their associates if they just sign up and 'make an effort' to do the business.  My recommendation is to speak to a CPA or other tax expert before taking any such deductions as an MLM 'sales associate.'  Being audited is not fun.    However, if you sincerely feel you are that rare individual with the *extreme* discipline and unfailing drive to fight your way to that tiny percent of MLM sales recruits who 'make it' - and like having such exceptional supplements to sell and to help your fellow man/woman to honestly better health - you may want to explore the business side of this company.  You might even earn enough to get your own products free each month.  (In fact, only about 15% of this company's 330,000 active associates earn enough to cover the monthly costs of their own supplements.)  Bottom line - if you aren't willing to work extremely hard, often for years, before even modest returns *after your costs* come your way, forget it and do yourself a favor and purchase the four primary supplements above as a retail customer.  You can find out all about this excellent company Here     Oh, and for the record, here's how MLM slicksters gratuitously rationalize and dismiss the astonishingly high MLM industry 'casualty' or drop-out rate...     Blaming The Losers   How upline recruiters 'morally' justify pulling new people into MLM schemes...and profiting by it...   Even as millions of consumers are solicited into MLM and then quit after losing money, most do not understand WHY they lost. They are shown the luxurious lifestyles of the top promoters - less that 1% of the entire sales organization - and are told "you can do it, too!"    When the recruit doesn't succeed...which occurs over 99% of the time...the upline promoters convince them (or con themselves into believing) that the recruits personally "failed"  and that it was "their own fault." Most recruits have no idea of the sheer scale of people joining, losing and then quitting.  They are led to believe that they are unusual in their "failure."  Many take it personally and become depressed.  Individual lives can be harmed and families damaged.  Upline people dismiss them as 'losers' or those who simply couldn't 'discipline' themselves or run the MLM scheme 'like a business.'     Consequently, dropouts not only do not complain to the authorities but they do not even warn friends or  relatives to stay out of MLM.  Their SHAME and disappointment are covered up with silence. The  recruitment program continues largely unabated. And the dropouts will never know how the deck was stacked against them from the beginning.    As has been previously illustrated, the massive failure rates among those who invest in MLMs  have almost NOTHING to do with the individual recruit. These multi-billion-dollar consumer losses are due to the pyramid business MODEL.  Retailing is unfeasible on the scale needed to even meet basic expenses for 99% of recruits, and the RECRUITMENT-based income plan is DESIGNED so that MOST will lose. It cannot be otherwise.  For a few to win big, basic mathematics requires the overwhelming majority to lose.  "Anyone" can NOT do it.    Dropouts thwart the recruitment process at the lower levels. The people trying to build the downline are always dependent on others below to "duplicate" the process.  When their new recruits become discouraged and drop out, the rebuilding process must start yet again. And while  the hopefuls engage in this constant rebuilding effort, they are also continuously paying money to the scheme and its organizers ­ in product purchases, training fees and marketing costs ­ as well as incurring other normal business expenses.     With its ongoing operation, continuous enrollment of excited new recruits and public displays of WEALTH and success by the organizers, the organization appears to the uninformed as viable,  stable, and successful. Most schemes can go on for many years by successfully recruiting new people to refill the bottom ranks, which become open as past recruits quit the business in "failure." Eventually, they must move to new markets, usually in other countries and some also use the ploy of changing their names in order to continue deceptive recruiting.12     12 For examble, a 'new' company called  Quixtar is just a new name for the largest and oldest of MLMs...Amway.      Back to the main page