It can be difficult to start a new business. Decisions decisions. One of those decisions is, do you structure your new business on your own or are you looking for companies that provide you with all the marketing materials and products to research? In the Adult Toy Party business (home party category), there are about a dozen companies that you can choose from to be your base of operations. After 4 months of exhaustive research, about half a dozen are worthy of being included on the list for consideration. Only one of those companies stands out.

This article will not extend to naming names. Its purpose is not to be malicious or to speak ill of other companies, that is just a poor business in itself. If you’re in a company that practices what I call “run away” tactics, you know that. If you’re looking for an adult toy party business company to join, this article should give you some questions. Their answers will let you know that they were on the run.

One of the first things you can do before you even make the call is go to Google and type [Company Name] Complaints One of the adult toy party companies that appears on virtually every search page for “Adult toy parties” (because they have been in business for a long time and spend a lot of money on marketing) got 205,000 results from this search of complaints. With that, I really don’t have to go any further in my research. No way!

Even with thorough research, you may end up choosing the wrong company for you. We did, but we quickly realized the mistake (within a month), went out and started over. The GOOD that came out of our wrong choice was more questions to determine the correct choice.

You know it’s a bad choice when (“Run away!”) …

Monthly sales quotas

This is one of a series of requirements that lets me know that the company is selfish. They are in this to make money for themselves and they could really upset you whether you are successful or not. How many of us are in this to become full time? Sure, it’s always a dream, but in reality we are all just trying to supplement our income, or our spouse’s income. This month kids can have soccer tournaments every weekend, next month we can have the freedom to party all month, that’s what a home business is supposed to give you, flexibility to earn how much or how little is within your schedule and desire. Don’t force me to do what YOU think I should be doing.

No, you can NOT build your own website.

Self-service. Most representative websites (the website they bring to market for your business) have corporate information all over the place, giving your potential customers multiple avenues to communicate directly with the company. And as a multi-award winning professional web designer I think I have the authority to comment, most of the representative websites are just plain bad, flashy, shiny buggy, and not optimized. Now most people looking at home adult toy party business are NOT web designers, of course, but give them the choice. Even a basic hosted Word Press template can be MUCH more optimized than representative sites.

Your company’s website and marketing materials are peppered with corporate information.

Be selfish, selfish, selfish. Seriously, why would I want to hand over a bunch of paid-for catalogs that have, on every page, the corporate toll-free number and corporate website address? Why do I want to direct people to my website if the contact form goes to some corporate department where I then have to wait for them to examine it, access it and forward it to me? I heard the explanation that they are protecting themselves. They are making sure that if you decide to go out of business, the material you post still has a working contact tool. I say bull. My clients are not stupid and if they want to get in touch with the company, they can certainly figure out how to do it without it being scattered all over the MY BUSINESS marketing material.

Oh no, THAT product is only 30% profit

This was one of the straws that broke my back with the 1st company we chose. We bought during a special offer that gave us a 60% profit for 90 days. I guess we should have known that 60% was too good to be true (the industry standard is 40%), but it was special, and only for 90 days, so we thought: a nice little promo. And from the outside, everything else looked good. Well, once we go in and place the orders, we get the story that (about 70% of what we needed to order) some of the products only made a 30% profit. That’s just misleading, and with such blatant deception, we weren’t going to risk giving them more of our efforts.

You can only market our ladies parties.

Why do so many of these companies feel that it is wrong (or even against the law) to promote romance between couples? (I checked. It’s not illegal). In Why Americans Divorce I read that “22 percent of men cited sex as the reason for divorce.” In Sex Is Biggest Cause of Divorce I learned that a UK law firm reports that “sex was a factor in 43 per cent of divorce cases.” Think about it. Wouldn’t it be great if we as romantic consultants could be a savior with as little as .01% of that? If I saved ONE marriage, wouldn’t that be great? And we as consultants? Don’t you think I could bring a couple or two together to run a romance business together?

You only make commission from 1 (or 2) levels of your team, and only if YOU maintain a certain monthly income.

Okay, I understand the rule of thumb of having to maintain a certain monthly income to reap the benefits of your team, although it would be nice (and potentially lucrative for the parent company) to have a business or 10 that simply excel at helping your team. the team succeeds. Business coaching is a pretty big field, you know. But regardless, I get that part, but why should I limit myself to just 1 or 2 levels of my gear? I want to hear at least 4 or 5, and the company we established with makes it limitless. That’s what I’m talking about!

Your hostess rewards program is out of YOUR pocket, and worse, the company’s marketing material indicates what the hostess rewards program is.

So you (the parent company) are going to tell me what to give a hostess for throwing a party for me, but do I have to pay for it? Not cool. If I have to pay for it, then I should be able to decide what those incentives are. And in a perfect world, YOU (the parent company) should pay for it. After all, you are reaping most of the rewards.

You can only sell our products. No one else’s. Even if you are not in direct competition.

It’s just not cool. Why shouldn’t I be able to complement my business even more by offering a line of jewelry, kitchenware, or plastics for that matter? Why not? And really, if you don’t sell the deliverer’s wedge, and I can get it in bulk, and it’s a seller, why shouldn’t I be allowed to sell it? If you do not want us to sell what we sell for someone else, to offer it yourself; otherwise, please let us store our business!

Those are some of the things to keep in mind that should keep your search going, in case the company you’re looking for practices these tactics.

Some elements that you do want your company to offer are:

• Countless ways to win. Look for at least 40% across the board for the main product line
• Dirty internet. Take a close look at the representative site on offer. Check it out in ALL browsers. Make a purchase to the end (to the point where you click OK to make the purchase – stop there if you don’t want the item). Remember, the looks, the mistakes, the problems, all of this will be reflected in YOUR business.
• Customer promotions. There should be some incentives (NOT out of pocket) to help your customers want to buy.
• Team Building Commission. You must be incentivized and rewarded for building and training your team.
• Residual income. How is the company going to help the revenue keep coming in?
• Bonuses. Look for car bonuses, house bonuses, travel bonuses, etc.
• Reward program for hostesses PAID BY THE COMPANY. You shouldn’t spend money rewarding your hostess for a party through you.

It’s hard enough running your own business without being constrained by restrictions, bad press, and lack of cooperation or support. Take a look at your potential parent company and remember: if they don’t live up to your standards or don’t produce what you think you deserve, jump ship, there are other companies that will.