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A Top-Rated Home Business For Mom!

Copyright 2005 Roger Staubus

This article rates a home business opportunity using my "New

Approach for Rating Home Business Opportunities," of 11 major

and 7 minor attributes. Each major attribute can be worth 7

points, while each minor attribute can be worth 3 points, with

98 points as a perfect score. Of course, there are no perfect

scores for home business opportunities. The 11 major attributes

are-

* Product or service * Product price and market competition *

Company * Proven business system * Available Support system *

Available training and resources * Compensation system *

Profitability - has good profit margins * Costs involved - both

startup and recurring costs * Will I have full control over my

business? * Can I work this business at my own pace?

The 7 minor attributes are-

* How is the product delivered to the customer? * Does the

product/service have an automated delivery capability? * Is the

Company "On the Net" and E-Commerce enabled? * Are you supplied

with business tools to make your life easier? * What level of

administration is required? * Consider whether you will be ahead

of or behind the trends? * How great is the potential to make

money in this business?

The Company is Sensaria, a Washington state private company that

sells Natural Body Care products. The product line includes Skin

Care, Body Care, Sun Care, Home Care, and Hair Care products,

all of which are sold by individual representatives. There are

about 3,600 representatives. The Skin Care and Hair Care

products (not makeup) are naturally based with no chemicals,

which many people prefer, are consumable and representatives

have personal web sites which customers may go to for repeat

product purchases. Sensaria is a member of the Direct Selling

Organization, which is a significant consideration. The company

is about 20 years old, but has been using direct sales for the

last five years.

Representatives schedule and hold Spa Parties where products are

sampled and introduced, used and sold. The parties are fun

events for women and those in attendance have a good time.

Representatives plan for product sales, to book additional

parties with those in attendance, and to recruit new

representatives for the company, with individuals seeking to

earn additional income. The cost to become a representative is

$180, and another $50 for items that representatives use at Spa

parties and for office supplies. Even though each representative

has a personal web site for product re-orders, this business

opportunity is an offline opportunity, as compared to an online

internet business opportunity.

Eleven Major Attributes

* Products are very well received. Women love these products and

purchase them eagerly. Samples used at the Spa parties are very

effective in producing product sales. This major attribute is

the crucially important one for this home-based opportunity.

Because the products are consumable, this is a very favorable

situation for a representative. This attribute gets a 7 rating.

* Product pricing is competitive in the market place and market

competition is moderate. In this instance, a 5 is awarded for

this attribute. * The company is well respected, stable, and can

be counted on to deliver on promises made. So this consideration

gets a 7 rating. * Proven business system. Sensaria has a very

effective business system for beginning reps that includes

getting Spa parties scheduled, presentations for the party,

securing bookings for additional parties at each party, and

prospecting for potential new representatives. Free products

provide good motivation for individuals agreeing to host a

party. After a Spa party, each rep has a business suite

installed on their personal computer which allows the rep to

transmit the orders to the company for efficient order

processing. This consideration gets a 7 rating. * The available

support system is generally good, as each new rep has an upline

person for questions and problems that may arise. This

consideration gets a 5 rating. * Available training and support

is good for this company. New reps attend teleclasses to learn

the ropes as beginning home-business entrepreneurs. Teleclasses

are one hour in length and about 50 individuals may be involved

in each call. More experienced representatives conduct these

teleclasses. This consideration gets a 6 rating. * The

Compensation system is a good one. Each rep earns 30% of the

product sales value for each party, and has the chance for bonus

amounts each month based on their total product sales. These

bonus amounts vary from 6% to 9% of product sales for the month.

In addition, a rep earns a 5% override for any reps they have

recruited. After 3 recruits, the overrides go four levels deep.

For any checks received at the parties, the rep deposits them to

her bank account, and remits 70% of the sales value to the

company via credit card payments. So rep earnings accumulate

quickly during each month, and are available immediately. This

consideration gets a 6 rating. * Costs involved are $180 for the

beginning product kit, and approximately $50 for supplies, most

of which can be purchased at low-cost at Wal-Mart. The rep will

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have travel costs to and from each Spa party, and office

supplies will be needed for record keeping purchases. * Will I

have full control over my business? The answer here is an

unequivocal yes. There are no monthly sales quotas, but

purchases of $75 wholesale are necessary to remain active. A rep

can go inactive periodically without penalties. This attribute

gets a 6 rating. * Can I work this business at my own pace? The

answer is yes, and this attribute gets a 6 rating.

Seven Minor Attributes

* How is the product delivered? The products sold at a Spa party

are shipped to the hostess for that party and she delivers the

products to customers who purchased. This consideration gets a 2

rating. * Does the product/service have an automated delivery

capability? Not in the sense that e-Books and software can be

delivered immediately as downloads after purchase. Each rep has

a web site for customer re-orders and they are shipped to their

home address. This consideration gets a 2 rating. * Is the

company "On the Net" and E-Commerce enabled? Yes, this

consideration gets a 3 rating. * Are you supplied with business

tools to make your life easier? Yes, each rep gets a business

suite for submitting orders and other tools as well. This

attribute gets a 2 rating. * What level of administration is

required? Keeping customer records, party records, contact

records are required for a rep to be effective, and to earn as

much as possible. This attribute gets a 2. * Consider whether

you will be ahead of or behind the trends. I don't know the

answer for this one, so I am not assigning any number for this

consideration. * How great is the potential to make money in

this business? It has very good potential, a new rep can earn

from $800 to $1,000 in their first month. Downlines can be

willed to family heirs. This attribute gets a 3 rating.

Total Score

The Company has scored a total of 66 points on the 11 major

attributes, and 14 points for the 7 minor attributes, yielding a

grand total score of 80. This rating approach requires a 90+ for

an Excellent rating, 70+ for a Good rating, 50+ for an Average

rating, 30+ for a Poor rating, with zip for an opportunity

considered to be a scam. Based on this approach, this is a GOOD

home business opportunity.

About the author:

Roger Staubus CPA http://www.goodhomebizopp.info/index.html

Author of the Free e-Book "Looking for a Good Home Biz?" and of

a previous published article, "New Approach for Rating Home Biz

Opportunities."