| Comment Number: | 522418-03525 |
| Received: | 6/20/2006 3:43:05 PM |
| Organization: | Market America The Un-Franchise |
| Commenter: | Christopher Sterling |
| State: | PA |
| Subject: | Business Opportunity Rule |
| Title: | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| CFR Citation: | 16 CFR Part 437 |
| No Attachments |
Comments:
The proposed legislation for providing the names and contact information of the closest 10 people in a person's direct sales organization has pros and cons, some of which I disagree with. Initially, I see the government putting its hands too deep into our business (direct sales), but something good can come from this. Most likely, prospects will want to know the good and bad points of any business. Should they contact the current positive thinking distributors, they will most likely hear good results. Should the prospect contact outdated, non-current distributors who have quit, or did not pursue the business as they originally set out to do, the comments may be negative. My concern is that a negative distributor will tarnish a company's image and reputation because the distributor did not keep their promise, or do as was expected. It is easy to say the company did something wrong without having the company back it up. If you go through with this legislation, the FTC should also make it mandatory for brick and mortar franchises to post information about the people who bought a franchise and failed. A Dairy Queen or Burger King is often under new management, but no one gets to find out why. When I ask an employer that's wishing to fill a vacant position, why the previous employee left the company, I never get a true, solid answer. To maintain some integrity, this proposal, if passed, should provide the same info for past employees of corporations, banks, small businesses, franchise owners, and direct sales business owners. Since you want to protect the consumer and/or business owner from potential fraud, be absolute about it and show your integrity. My business has had people quit because they did not keep their word and follow through with their goals. Their comments should not be allowed to sway the opinions of potential business prospects because of their experience. If they quit because of their fault, then it needs to be known. This legislation will allow those quitters to have an opportunity to speak negatively about their involvement and failures with our business. Some of the quitters in my organization were not even known to me, and could thus negatively affect my future growth with negative talk. Your legislation should require, that all those people who are no longer involved with their direct sales business, to write a detailed explanation of why they quit, at the time they discontinued distributorship. This should then be presented to the direct sales company headquarters for their review. This should be maintained at the company and FTC before made a public record. The real truth should be on paper, and not in someones head where it can be expressed verbally, possibly incorrect. Just like the Unemployment Benefits employees who call fired employees for their explanation of leaving a company, the FTC's legislation should be just as thorough if they should proceed further with this proposal. There are some fraudulent MLM's that should be closed down. The good ones should be allowed to stay in business. The SEC monitors its licensed brokers closely and makes that information public, but it also frowns upon those brokers becoming entrepreneurs. This is very unfair and shows how careless the government's influence is. I've been turned down for licensing renewal because I was an entrepreneur, doing my best to live the American Dream -earning more income to live prosperously. If the FTC is involved, tread lightly and be careful of its direction. It's really the people, and not always the company, that commit fraud and create negativity. Find the bad people, and don't criticize the company because of one individual's greed. If you go through with this legislation, it has to be fair, and not allow ambiguity. I'd like to know how many people failed at Amway or NuSkin too, but I would like to know exactly why. Publish that info and don't allow any anonymous replies. Chris Sterling 6-20-06