An illegal “pyramid scheme” is by definition “a business model that recruits people on the promise of payments for enrolling others into that scheme”. Where people become confused is that pyramid schemes do no offer any goods or services. This is why they have become illegal.
Doterra is a Multi-level marketing company. Multi-level marketing is a legitimate and legal business model. People have become scared of MLM because of those illegal pyramid schemes we saw popular in the 80’s. In short, you handed over a sum of money in order to move your way to the top of the pyramid to get an even larger sum of money. To get to the top you needed to constantly recruit people to do the same thing.
So when I hear people say to me “Oh Doterra is a Pyramid scheme”, what immediately comes to my mind is that this person is just not educated on this topic. I also find that some of these people are scared they are going to be dragged into “selling something”. Aaahhhh!! Now that would be terrible right? So many people are petrified of asking people for money. If you have a great product to sell, doesn’t it sell itself? When you think of the crap people spend their money on, sharing an amazing product should be easy. I mean, if their tv broke today, they would surely find the money to go out and buy a new one pretty quickly. So why can’t we show our friends and family how to spend their money wisely on something that has benefited you? I have heard people say “I don’t want to make money from my friends and family”. If you find a great recipe, do you share it with your mates? What about if you ate at a really awesome restaurant? We are happy to send people there so the restaurant can make money from them. Shouldn’t our friends and family want to support our new business venture? Our personal experiences can mean so much to someone else. Don’t we want the best for people? In my experience, most MLM companies have the best quality products in their field.
Why don’t these companies sell their products in shops then you ask? How many workers on minimum wage at Kmart or Target are going to know the great features and benefits of the product? Do they even give a shit? Of course not. They aren’t getting a commission to sell anything on those shelves. Gee, you’re lucky if they can even locate some of the products in the store. Can these store assistants grow their income? Maybe 2% can move up the chain if they get noticed by their leaders, but how much of a pay rise are they going to get? Essentially, they will be on the same minimum hourly rate as along as they are employed there. So who earns all the profits in these big chain stores? Share holders. What does a share holder do? They hand over money in order to get more money back and offer no goods or services. Hang on. That’s a pyramid scheme right?
What I have always wondered is, why does it matter how any company sells a product? As long as it is legal and ethical. Would you consider your local supermarket chain to be ethical? My answer personally is no. They push prices up to put their smaller competition out of business, often sell inferior quality products, use tricky advertising to lure us to their store or to sell a product, companies pay to have the products on their shelves and pay a higher price for the best location in the store. Do they offer incentives to their staff, like a trip to Fiji for the best workers? Ha. Doubt it. Can workers choose their own hours. Not likely. Yet we don’t even bat an eyelid at walking into these stores and spending our money.
I believe the benefits of running your own MLM far outweigh the benefits of working  for someone else or starting up your own business:
- You can choose your own hours.
- Grow a residual income.
- Earn great incentives.
- Free products or wholesale prices.
- You can grow an international business.
- Work with family and friends.
- Choose where you work. Minimal over heads – rent, staff costs, marketing, uniforms, utilities.
- No need to store goods as MLM companies usually deliver direct for you.
- Sell a product that you love. I don’t know any people who run an MLM business that don’t love the product. Most are in it to help people first and foremost. The income second.
- Being part of huge community that shares the same passion as you.
- You can earn money immediately unlike the estimated 2 years for any other business.
- Very low start up cost for a business.
- You can use your products in your own home or personal life.
I know there are people who may read this and go “yeah well it’s still a pyramid scheme”. That’s ok. Spend your money where you like. Maybe be mindful of who is profiting and where it is made. You get what you pay for.
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