Comment Number: 522418-10960
Received: 7/17/2006 12:28:01 AM
Organization:
Commenter: Andy Hamon
State: KY
Subject: Business Opportunity Rule
Title: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
CFR Citation: 16 CFR Part 437
No Attachments

Comments:

I have been an Independent Business Owner (IBO) in Quixtar since 1999. The information we have from the beginning informs what is the average business earnings, who the support team is, that this is a business, and we have an education system to teach us, but we are not required to invest in it. This same information is provided to any new prospect that is serious about diversifying their income. I have reviewed the FTC proposed Business Opportunity Rules. Having been approached by several non-conventional businesss, I understand the need for some guidelines to protect us as prospects. I am growing my Quixtar business and I believe the proposed changes will dramatically restrict and basically inhibit future growth. The requirement of a seven-day waiting period is unnecessary if a company has a full money back guarentee, as ours does. If I have a prospective IBO who is excited about the business concept, we both have limited time and may need to talk with some of his prospects, or family and friends in the next 2-3 days. I have had this happen, and the proposal would prevent that from happening. To provide a list of other IBO's in our area would confuse the prospect (the new potential IBO), especially if they were given IBO's of other groups. Potentially that reference could register my prospect. Also, I would not want my name given out for people to call me. We take our new prospect to meetings where they can meet other IBO's. IBO's we can trust to give good information to our prospect. We also take prospects to larger meetings where they can meet our support team which is important. Providing a "litigation list" would open up the possibility of providing to prospects all cases whether meritous or not. The cases I know about have no relationship to my business or how I run it. A pospect is not knowledgable enough to know that. This would be an injustice to them if this stopped them from getting into our business. I submit that a "litigation list" is unnecessary. Requiring earning disclosures is misinformation. We disclose the average monthly gross income in the SA-4400 which I believe is sufficient. Even this is misleading in the sense that the prospect can make much more than that with average effort. I certainly did. Why limit the prospects thinking. To disclose my personal financial records to substantiate claims is inappropriate. I do not make any claims about my earnings. I do not want the prospect to judge what he can do by what I am doing. I let the prospect decide what he wants to make and when. I then guide their time frame to match a reasonable goal. I believe I make more than my sponsor, and if I had to judge my earning ability by what he had done, I would not have become an IBO. That would have been a big mistake. In summary, having the parent company have a one hundred percent money back guarentee of the registration costs and any products or educational material purchased for at least one month after registering would eliminate the need for all the proposals suggested. With this, one would not need a waiting peiod, reference checking, looking at a litigation list, or check on someone's earnings. That should be enough time to check out any problems with a company. I also think that the parent company should provide an average monthly gross income of their business owners such as Quixtar does. Quixtar has been the most reputable company I have worked with, and their integrity is phenominal. One would wish all companies would be as up standing. However, trying to legislate this by the present proposals will only end up severly limiting the growth of us who want the run a reputable business, and will not change at all those who are unscrupulous. Thank you for letting me air my point of view. Andy Hamon