I'm having a dilemma. I'm seriously, seriously considering selling Avon to make extra money. I decided not to sign up on an impluse, and now I'm having doubts. My husband and I accrued a lot off debt when I was on disability for the past 9 months (and we now have two children). Being on disability taught me that a rainy days can come, and I wasn't prepared for it.
I'm trying to find something that I can do from home in the little spare time that I have between the kids and my full time job. Avon seems like a good thing considering there were a lot of woman at my job left in the lurch by the previous Avon saleslady.
What do you think? Perhaps there is some other opportunity I'm overlooking besides selling stuff.
i think it will take up more time than you think it will. my mom's avon lady is so busy she accepts calls at midnight because she's still up working, and her husband and son do a lot of her deliveries. she sells a lot of avon though! i think it might be more like owning your own business in addition to having a full time job, rather than having a part time job on the weekends. with two kids, it might be too much work, and a regular part time job might be more realistic.
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I'm having a dilemma. I'm seriously, seriously considering selling Avon to make extra money. I decided not to sign up on an impluse, and now I'm having doubts. My husband and I accrued a lot off debt when I was on disability for the past 9 months (and we now have two children). Being on disability taught me that a rainy days can come, and I wasn't prepared for it.
I'm trying to find something that I can do from home in the little spare time that I have between the kids and my full time job. Avon seems like a good thing considering there were a lot of woman at my job left in the lurch by the previous Avon saleslady.
What do you think? Perhaps there is some other opportunity I'm overlooking besides selling stuff.
Thanks,
Rocki
Rocki---I fully understand your dilemma. Selling anything requires disciple and organization. If you dont have these skills then direct sales is not for you. I have had several direct sales businesses and they are a great way to make money, but they require work and discipline. You have to make sure you put some of your money back into your business to keep it going. (You gotta spend money to make money.) If you spend all they money you make at first you wont have anything to pay business expenses with. If you decide you like everything you sell and buy for yourself, you will eat up all your profits. No matter who you sell to, you have to tell them it is your business policy to never leave merchandise without receiving payment. (Friends can quickly become enemies that way.) Even if you will see them the next day(or whatever excuse they give. S--- Happens. Then, you will be out your profit, plus what you owe to Avon--and probably your friend. If you decide to go with direct sales, whatever company you go with will give you some instructions on how to set up your business and make good business decisions. Make sure you go about it in a professional manner and maintain disciplined habits, such as depositing all monies collected and then paying yourself. By keeping good records you will be able to deduct your expenses(including part of your house payment for having a home office, mileage, etc) from your tax returns. You CAN have a wonderful full or part time business (AND MAKE MONEY) if you go about it the right way. There are good and bad aspects of every situation. Many people will discourage you and tell you how bad their experience was. If they placed orders with Avon and received the merchandise but spent all the money and didnt pay Avon, you know Avon is going to do their best to collect their money, so, yes, that person would tell you it was a bad experience for them. It doesnt have to be bad, if you go into a business with a business like attitude. And that business about receiving calls at Midnight is for the birds!! Make it clear what your business hours are, 10-12, 2-5 or whatever and stick to it. Put answering machine on and screen your calls. Then deal with any messages later. You can decide to be the boss and run your business or it will run you. Or, you can decide to get a part time job at Walmart or Staples when kids go back to school. Or, keep other people's kids during summer. I hope I have been some help to you. Good luck--let me know how it goes. Sorry so lengthy!
FS, everything you have mentioned I have kept in mind right down to when my business hours will be if I decide to do it. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I like the idea of being my own boss even it is a part time gig, but I'm also afraid of what it means to be your own boss. Who do you complain to when something goes wrong? Yourself? lol.
what about getting a part time job in retail? there were a ton of people that worked normal 9-5 jobs during the day (when I worked at Cusp) and then worked retail for a couple of nights a week (just for 3-4 hours at closing)...the best if you can find a commissioned retail job...good luck!!!
I too took up selling Slumber Parties thinking it would be part time and easy b/c I am a stay at home mom. WRONG!!! It takes up a lot of time and has never been part time. Even though it practically sells itself, I still have to do parties and am required to sell a certain amount every so many days. It's not that bad and it gave me the idea to own my own business. Now I am a party planner but I still sell SP also.
Avon took A LOT more time than I had anticipated and I didn't make enough money to help our situation at all. Plus, they had a lot of little extra things to spend money on after you sign up that I wasn't anticipating (i.e. you can't sign others on under you and build a team unless you first buy their leadership kit). And regarding the money I made vs. the time I spent, I found that I could have done a lot better just going out and getting a part-time job. For me, it wasn't worth it.
I loved Southern Living at HOME, though. The company is fantastic and there are no extra hidden fees. The time commitment is minimal. Takes 5-7 hours per party, and you earn approx. $100 per party. But, like someone above said, you have to work your business. You have to spend time getting it built. You have to take initiative to get your parties booked and follow up. I added a couple hundred to our monthly income doing 2 parties a month. It worked well for me. If you do decide to do direct sales, I would whole-heartedly recommend Southern Living at HOME. (But if you're on disability this might not work for you because you have to tote around some heavy stuff.)
As with anything certain people do better at direct sales than others. You have to be a salesman. It's not necessarily hard, but it does take effort. You have to constantly put yourself out there and share the products/services you have with everyone. And that takes some initiative. It's not a thing where you sit back and let the money roll in. You have to love it and work at it. And you definitely have to love the product.
I just recently opened a francheise of an online travel agency. I have my own site and I get money when people use my site or if I refer people to open their own. It's great because I don't have to be a pushy sales person. If you have any questions about it let me know. You can check out my site at http://www.onyourwaytravels.com
THe pricing is extremely competitive and we offer everything including Hotels, airfare, vacation packages, car rentals, show tickets, etc.
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I'm having a dilemma. I'm seriously, seriously considering selling Avon to make extra money. I decided not to sign up on an impluse, and now I'm having doubts. My husband and I accrued a lot off debt when I was on disability for the past 9 months (and we now have two children). Being on disability taught me that a rainy days can come, and I wasn't prepared for it.
I'm trying to find something that I can do from home in the little spare time that I have between the kids and my full time job. Avon seems like a good thing considering there were a lot of woman at my job left in the lurch by the previous Avon saleslady.
What do you think? Perhaps there is some other opportunity I'm overlooking besides selling stuff.
Thanks,
Rocki
Do you have any hobbies that you like to do? Maybe this could be turned into some extra income for you. If you are pretty handy w/ a glue gun, you can set up an account on a site like http://www.etsy.com and sell your creations there. I have found that people are always looking for the different and unusual as well as items for children and babies. Hope this gets the wheels turning…
If I'm ever needing to pick up a little extra money, I go to Get a Freelancer.com. It's like a bidding site for freelance workers in different fields. People post projects they need done (website design, transcription, proofreading, article writing) and the freelancers bid on the project. I've had nothing but good experiences with the site. On a basic article writing job (short articles, little research) you can earn about $100.
I'm not sure if that's anything that would fit your needs but I thought I'd let you know it's out there. A friend of my works as a social outreach coordinator for a Catholic church and D.C. and her offices gives out "loans" to people who are in dire situations. She said that most of the people who need a little extra money are people who had some sort of health problem occur. Most of the people are barely living from paycheck to paycheck so a disturbance in that cycle can be devastating.
There was a great and realistic look at the world of direct selling this morning on Good Morning America. I hope some of you who are thinking about this as a part time gig saw it.
What about Mary Kay? They have good products and seem to treat people well. Anybody have experience with them? And I’ll definitely check out get a freelancer.com. I have run my own writing/marketing biz for 8 years, but am always on the lookout for extra work. And on that, I’ll echo the points about selling or direct sales--even in a “fun” industry, you have to operate in a business-like manner. Defend and protect your time, and manage it professionally. No one else will do it for you. This means sometimes you have to “fire” clients. Some clients are worth keeping, others aren’t--the latter might waste your time and cost you money. Also, you have to know what you offer, compared to all the competition out there. If you can swing it, working for yourself is great. But it’s not for everyone. Good luck! :-)
I have had experience with Mary Kay. I have to say that it was a very good experience. But I have to strongly agree with the other ladies when they stress that you have to be a good salesperson. That was my big problem. I am a bit shy and I don’t like to push. But I have to say that when you get your business started you can make alot of money that way. I also did AVON and bombed. Alot of people ordered things but didn’t want them once I recieved them from the company. And the one thing I really liked about MK is that they follow the golden rule. Treat others as you would like to be treated. And they really do! Nice company. JMHO
I’ve heard of a lot of people having success selling Avon. I like the idea of being an affiliate for a company, because a lot of the legwork is already taken care of and it’s not that difficult to sell if people know what you have. I have a full-time job and a part-time business where I am an affiliate for a company and it’s really helped me keep up with the rising gas and food prices, while of course enabling me to buy my favorite clothes.
