Comment Number: 522418-07901
Received: 7/11/2006 11:34:29 PM
Organization:
Commenter: Tamara Bigelow
State: MN
Subject: Business Opportunity Rule
Title: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
CFR Citation: 16 CFR Part 437
No Attachments

Comments:

My husband and I have been involved with the Quixtar network business opportunity for about five years. It has been one of the best experiences of our lives. We have reached the Gold producer level with Quixtar and are currently making on average $1,300 a month. This amount will double by the end of the year. Quixtar has been an extremely positive experience for us and we are so thankful that there is a business opportunity out there like this that we can participate in. We have personally and professionally grown because of Quixtar. Because of the extra income we are making in this business, I will be able to be a stay-at-home mom. We were given sufficient information to make the decision to get involved with Quixtar. When we start new people, we give them as much information as possible. We give them reports from the Better Business Bureau and the FTC. We tell prospects that we want them to make an educated decision. We have nothing to hide and want to answer all their questions before they get going. I have concerns with the FTC proposal because of the negative impact it will have on our business. I think there should be no waiting period for businesses like ours that offers a money back guarantee. We tell prospects this and we let them know it is not a "get rich quick" business. A waiting period would affect how quickly our business would grow. Recently we had someone in our business register someone who registered someone within a few days. This person registered someone within a few days. If there was a waiting period, our business would not have grown like this. Requiring that ten references be provided could also impact our business negatively because we would have to give out contact information of other business owners. That doesn't seem right. I really don't see how this would be beneficial to the prospect. I see it confusing the prospect more than anything. What if you are a new business owner who all of a sudden has to come up with ten references? That would be a huge hurdle to get over because they just started their business and may not have ten business references. I really dislike the proposal of providing the prospect with all lawsuits and arbitrations. There may be some business owners who have done something that is not ethical, but that is not how I run my business. Their conduct should not be compared to mine. Not to mention that not all lawsuits are legitimate. I think that having to disclose your personal income will also negatively affect our business. We may be doing okay, but what about our new people who are just getting started? Everyone has to start somewhere and financial information is something that is personal. I don't believe that providing financial information will tell a prospect anything about the character and integreity of a business owner. I understand that something has to be done to crack down on the scams that are out there. However, I feel that by doing what is proposed will harm the legitimate network marketing businesses that are out there. Network marketing is a great way for the "average" person to make additional income. These proposed regulations would make it harder for those of us truly working hard to build legitimate businesses. It seems like the legitimate businesses would be punished because there are scams out there. Those scams out there probably wouldn't adhere to the FTC regulations anyway. Why can't the FTC just go after the scams directly and be more aggressive that way? It seems like when there are problems, more rules are proposed. I think it would be better to enforce the rules already in place and be more aggressive that way. Thank you for taking into consideration my concerns. Sincerely, Tamara Bigelow Quixtar Independent Business Owner