Happy Friday!! Fridays are Fun Day around here, so enjoy the video and laugh out loud. It’s good for you.
One of the universal rules for owning your own business is "build your business around your passion". Well for many people, myself included, their passion is food. For many people they are passionate about eating the food but many it’s the prepartion of the food that gets them exicted. There are a number of ways to turn this passion into profit. Chefs and resturant owners are two from off the top of my head but there are plenty more. The subject of latest review, Pampered Chef, offers you the opportunity to build a great business centered around helping people to make good food.
WHAT THEY SAY
The Pitch
As the premier direct seller of essential kitchen tools and part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of businesses, The Pampered Chef® and its sales force of Independent Pampered Chef® Consultants have been helping families prepare quick, delicious meals since 1980.
What do they offer
Pampered Chefs offers a full line of kitchen and cooking related products. The business opportunity that they offer is for you to join their company’s sale force and to sell their products primarily through cooking shows which are in home demonstration parties. These shows are similar to ones that are employed by Shure Pets pet consultants.
Compensation and Rewards:
Training and Support
Cost
To get started with Pampered Chefs you will need to purchase a starter kit. Starter kits come in two varieties, a min kit for $65 and a full kit for $155. Based on the pictures of the kits on the website you get about three times as much stuff with the full ($570 value) than you do with the mini ($200 value).
Franchise or Independent?
This is an independent business opportunity. When joining Pampered Chefs you become an Independent Consultant. It’s the same as with Avon or Amway.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
I invested 15 years in the Pampered Chef and now the sales organization I built belongs to my Director because I was unable to meet monthly sales quotas. All my years with Pampered Chef mean nothing on a resume because no corporation will look at that experience and take it seriously. I had to go back to school so I could find a job. Don’t let anyone tell you this is a great opportunity. If you are looking for reliable income, get a real job.
You are paid a percentage of the Pampered Chef sales that are created at each party. You are also paid a percentage of what the people you are able to recruit into the business sell. The difference here is that the higher you move up in the company, the less money you make off the people you have placed under you. So really the best way to make the most money is to sell, sell, sell!
Pampered Chef could be a great opportunity for those who love sales, talking, meeting new people and cooking. However, this type of direct sales opportunity may not suit someone looking to build a business beneath them and make residual income from their downline or from leveraging the internet.
My wife wanted to earn a little extra money, so she got talked into purchasing $300 worth of Pampered Chef product in order to become a consultant. She then got talked into signing up for their personal websites. She tried selling the product and using the website for a few months, but couldn’t make enough contacts, so she chauked it up as a loss and at least she got a lot of Pampered Chef products to walk away with. A few months later, they auto recharged her bank account for renewing the website (which she did not authorize and which she hadn’t used in months). She called them and they told her that they were authorized to recharge her bank account because that was their standard business practice. She told them that they had agreed when she first set it up that they wouldn’t do that and wanted it cancelled and refunded. They told her that she didn’t have it in writing and that they would cancel the website but only give her back a few dollars (nowhere close to what they charged her). We filed a unauthorized charge claim with her bank and have been now fighting this for nearly 3 months. Pampered Chef is a rip off and couldn’t treat people fairly if they tried!
YouTube
Only the first half of this video is relevant to Pampered Chef. You can stop the video after the 3:56 mark.
BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU
Pampered Chefs have an A+ rating with the BBB. The BBB has 51 complaints filed against them in the last 36 months. All complaints have been resolved according to the report. You can read the full report here.
MY TWO CENTS
Happy Friday!! Fridays are Fun Day around here, so enjoy the video and laugh out loud. It’s good for you.
(My apologies for being late with this week’s edition, I was under the weather.)
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Do you have a business opportunity that you are interested in but not sure if it’s right for you or if it’s legitimate? Let me help you find out. Drop me a line with the name of the company and make it the focus of an upcoming review. What’s the benefit to you?
A few weeks back I posted a review of Avon that gave a good overview of the company, today I want to dig a little deeper into what it means to work with Avon. Last week I connected with an Avon sales rep who blogs about her Avon business. My Avon Selling Journey chronicles the trials and tribulations of Maria, an Avon entrepreneur that turned her love for the products into a business. When visit her blog it’s immediately plain to see how passionate she is about her business. But as I read her posts I was impressed by her ability to make the reader feel as though they are a part of her journey. This lady can write! I’m so pleased that Maria agreed to share her insights and experiences with Avon. Hopefully, this insight will help you to determine if Avon is the right business opportunity for you. I would also suggest that read Maria’s blog for further perspective.
What do you like most about working with Avon? Least?
I like the fact that I am my own boss. I can set my own hours and dedicate as much, or as little, time to the success of my business. There really isn’t anything that I like least about Avon because I am impressed with every facet of the business.
What was your initial investment? How long did it take you to become profitable?
My initial investment was only 10 dollars. I received a start-up kit which included campaign brochures for two campaigns, an Avon tote bag, some product samples, and basically everything that I needed to jump-start my business. My Avon business started to become profitable when I started to dedicate time to advertising and getting the word out about it.
How did you discover your passion {What led you to Avon}?
I have used and loved Avon products for years. I started selling just to have access to their products and to be able to purchase them at a discount.
What skills do you believe someone would need to be successful with this product?
You definitely have to have people skills to be successful at selling Avon. It is important to provide personal service to your customers and to show them that you appreciate their business.
How do you maintain your drive/motivation?
I maintain my drive/motivation by attending monthly sales meetings at my District office and engaging in networking with my fellow Representatives as well as sharing ideas of best practices.
What advice would you give others who want to start their own business?
Don’t be discouraged by others or by your own lack of confidence. You have to believe in your own ability to be successful. Also, if you want to become an independent Avon Representative, contact me and I can point you in the right direction.
What’s a typical day like? If there is such a thing.
It is important to maintain contact with your customers to keep them up to date on current product offers and promotions. Additionally, the goal of every single day is to share Avon with at least three other people.
What steps do you recommend someone who is currently working for a company but wants to start their own business take before leaving their job?
I wouldn’t recommend that anyone leave their job unless their business is established and turning enough of a profit to address all of their financial needs. This kind of financial freedom requires a lot of time, work, and dedication.
What has surprised you the most about working for yourself? What’s the biggest challenge? How did you overcome the challenge?
The thing that has surprised me the most about working for myself is that I am really good at it. I think we can be our own worst critics sometimes and tend to stand in our own way of being successful. The biggest challenge is managing having a career and dedicating enough time to running your business. The way that I have overcome that challenge is by scheduling time to devote to my business daily.
If you could go back in time, what would you do differently to prepare for being an entrepreneur?
I would have started sooner.
Who or what inspires you?
My children inspire me to be the very best that I could be at everything that I do in my life. They also encourage me to be successful so that I may provide them with the best possible life.
Do you have a business opportunity that you are interested in but not sure if it’s right for you or if it’s legitimate? Let me help you find out. Drop me a line with the name of the company and make it the focus of an upcoming review. What’s the benefit to you?
My name is Dakim, I am the creator of the Home Business Private-Eye.com. I want to help you discover your true passion and then, help you to turn that passion into profit! Learn How.
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