84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 22, 1995
Taking
Time
by
Rebecca
Escott
INVESTIGATING “EXCITING
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES”
When times are financially
tough for families, those “exciting
business opportunities” that are
advertised in the classifieds,
magazine fliers, and on TV
become very enticing. Recently
someone approached me and
asked if I might be interested in
hearing about the business oppor
tunity they had just become
involved in.
The reality for my family is that
our time is so precious at this
point, the last thing we would
want to do is commit it to a side
line business. But for people who
need money or long for a more
extravagent life, these offers may
be welcomed.
If you’re considering taking on
a new money-making venture—
whether it’s a work-at-home
opportunity, a product sales ven
ture, or some other option—make
your decision very cautiously after
lots of investigation.
Don’t spend a lot of money up
front to order supplies for business
start-up. This is especially impor
tant if you have never actually
seen the products/equipment that
you will receive for the money
given. Some companies actually
make their money by tricking peo
ple into buying supplies for a
much bigger price than they are
worth. Even if the person can nev
er resell the products, the com
pany has made a profit. The more
gullible people they discover, the
more money they make.
Ask for referrals of others in the
same business. Many ads suggest
that thousands of dollars can be
made by selling or operating the
business venture in your “spare”
time. Ask people how much time
they devote to the business and
how much profit, not gross in
come, they make. Product sales is
a grueling occupation. It cannot be
done casually and still bring in lots
of money.
You will also want to ask how
many other people in the local
area are already involved in the
business. Unfortunately, many
people who make money in these
businesses do so by recruiting
•more people under them rather
than by selling massive amounts
of merchandise. Even if the pro
duct or service is a good one, often
the profit that is promised is not
possible from strictly selling
goods. It comes only as you build
a sales team underneath you. It’s
easy for a location to become
saturated with buyers and sellers.
The pyramid scheme is a princi
ple that business scams use to
make money off uniformed con
sumers. This practice depends on
people recruiting others and tak
ing a cut off the sales that they
make.
Let’s see how impossible it
becomes to make money if you are
not in at the start of these schemes.
Suppose one person begins the
business and recruits six others to
do a similar task and he takes a
cut. In turn each of those people is
challenged to recruit six others so
they too can gain profit from
someone else’s efforts. It doesn’t
take long before there’s no one left
to recruit or sell to.
36
216
1,296
7,776
46,656
279,936
1,679,616
10,077,696
60,466,176
362,797,056
3,916,782,336
13,060,694,016
By the fourth level of recruit-
HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.)
Capitol Region 4-H Fashion
Revue selected seven winners to
attend state competition. .The win
ners were selected at die annual
Fashion Revue, held in Harrisburg,
from contestants living in Adams,
Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin,
Lancaster, Lebanon, and York
counties.
The seven senior gold ribbon
winners are Kristin Johnston,
Adams Co.; Terri Seibert, Leba
non County; Cassandra Knerr,
Cumberland County, and Lancas
ter countians Maggie Strausbaugh,
Amy Strickler, Elisa Ranck, and
Amy Bernard.
Senior division blue ribbon win
ners are York countians Tanya
Thoman, Amy Trowbridge, and
Angie Whitcraft; Lebanon coun-
ment, there would be 7,776 people
trying to sell a product or service
to other consumers. Often a per
son’s network does not stretch far
beyond his home town. Can you
imagine 7,776 people all trying to
do the same thing in the same
community? Who would your
customers be?
By the tenth level of recruit
ment, the business would have to
involve everyone in the United
States’ population, and by the
twelfth level the entire earth’s
population would be involved in
this “exciting business opportuni
ty.” It becomes impossible to real
ize the advertised profits for near
ly everyone who joins a company
that operates in this way.
The real truth is no legitimate
business results in quick money. It
takes a lot of work. As a consumer
or potential business partner,
explore all the questions thor
oughly before committing any of
your already limited assets to
someone else.
Fashion Revue Selects Winners
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tians Lee Brandt, Jessica Watson,
and Amy Musselwhite, and Lan
caster countian Melissa Holloway.
Junior division gold ribbon win
ners are Kara Johnston, Adams;
Joanna Burman, Lancaster; Jennif
er Watson, Lebanon; Dulcimer
Tucker. Cumberland; and Emily
Capitol Region 4-H Fashion Revue winners include these
Lancaster Countlans: Clockwise from top left, Joanna Bur
man (Jr. division), Gap; Maggie Strausbaugh, Manhelm;
Amy Bernard, Quarryvllle; Amy Strickler, Quarryville; and
Elisa Ranck, Paradise.
If your local i lore
does not hive it,
SEND FOR
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Black, Adams.
Junior division blue ribbon win
ners are Emily Grieggs, Dauphin;
Sara Cartwright, Dauphin; Erica
Joline, Lancaster; Elizabeth
Grieggs, Dauphin; and Amy Mar
tin, Lancaster.
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