Arbonne International experienced tremendous growth in 2005 – 2007.  However, with many Arbonne distributors calling it a day, that growth is now reversing and many consultants are walking away.

This led to the layoff of 95 workers at one of their main facilities, citing that there wasn’t enough work to keep them all busy.  The really sad thing is that Arbonne remains dedicated to the “friends and family” party model of business.  As other marketing tools have appeared over the years, Arbonne has continually refused to look at alternatives to home parties.  Hopefully, this incident will provide the impetus for Arbonne to give a more serious look at home party alternatives and get their growth back on track.

There are also some concerns about starting an Arbonne business. I’m about to go through and give an unbiased review of the pro’s and con’s of developing a business with Arbonne, and see if we can find out whether Arbonne is a great opportunity… or if it’s a pass.

1. Arbonne Business – The Good

There are plenty of good things that come with owning and marketing an Arbonne business. The products, which were first developed by chemist Petter Morck, are top-flight by anyone’s standards. Their flagship product line of Nutramin C anti-aging has powerful testimonials and before and after pictures to show their effectiveness.

Of course, with any home-based business, the compensation plan is important, and Arbonne International claims that their average payout for their top-level distributor position, National Vice President, approaches $30,000 per month. Not too shabby.

2. Arbonne Business – The Bad

Compensation with Arbonne is delivered through the model of network marketing. Unfortunately, most distributors will be taught to leverage their “warm market” of friends and family members to grow their businesses. Their Starter Kit includes a place to write down a list of 100 people that you know who would interested in the Arbonne opportunity. They are also encouraged to hand out free product samples and have home parties to share their products with others. They are told that the “products sell themselves”, which is a load of bull. If the product sold itself, what would they need distributors for? They could just put the product on a shelf at the department store and let it sell itself.!

3. Arbonne Business – The Ugly

Over 97% of all network marketers fail. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t grow an Arbonne business, it’s just to say that developing a successful organization requires more than chasing your friends and family members. They have a great product to market, but there are plenty of companies that have great products, and many people that market good products never make a dime. There are also plenty of terrible products that generate millions of dollars in revenue (anyone remember the pet rock?) The difference is the marketer, and their ability to target their market effectively.

In closing, I would say that starting and growing an Arbonne business is a great opportunity if someone knows how to effectively use the telephone, the Internet, direct mail, and other effective marketing tools. It’s not a scam, but like any business, success will be determined by the skill-set of the marketer. Arbonne is not a lottery ticket or a stock option – meaning, you don’t just buy into it and wait for a payout.

If someone doesn’t have the first clue on how to market effectively, then I would suggest that they should either learn how market effectively, or else just become a product user and enjoy the products.

The program has been widely touted here in the states, and is one of the key pitch-points of an Arbonne recruiting presentation.  At the RVP and NVP levels, Arbonne will put $800 USD – $1,500 USD each month towards a white Mercedes-Benz of the distributors choice.  Debbie decided to put her stipend towards a new C-Class Benz.

Arbonne launched in Australia in July 2007.  That means it only took Debbie 14 months to get her Arbonne-mobile (technically, she got her Benz in September).

Props to you Debbie – you must be an Arbonne party animal!

1. Time - Balancing their business with their job, family, etc.

2. Investment - What should they spend their marketing budget on?

3. Organization -Where should they put their energy in order to build their business quickly?

Sometimes, a marketer will choose to move beyond the expertise of their upline and try to find help in coaching for an arbonne business. This can be a great decision, but you must understand the 3 critical questions to ask any potential arbonne coach prior to spending a penny.

Question 1 – “Do you understand my schedule”

Any Arbonne coach worth their salt should understand exactly how many hours per week, each week, you have to devote to the growth of your business.  This number can range dramatically depending upon your specific personal commitments, but your Arbonne coach should be able to help you find enough hours in your schedule to be able to help you apply yourself to your business and see results for those efforts.

Question 2 – “Do you understand how to market?”

This is critical.

Many coaches and trainers base all of their expertise on helping people “stay motivated”.  Now don’t get me wrong, motivation is a huge factor in growing a business, but it’s far from the only factor.  Effective coaching for Arbonne requires knowledge in:

- How to target a responsive market for Arbonne

- How to use  time-leveraging tools like the phone and Internet

- How to craft effective scripts for Arbonne products and the opportunity

- How to retain your downline, and help them see results

If a coach for Arbonne simply gives out the same motivational rhetoric that  is common in network marketing, then you find yourself a new coach.

Question 3 – “Do You Understand Cost Strategy?”

Cost strategy is all about building yourself into profit.  When we are growing any kind of home-based business, we have to be careful about designing a budget for our business.  We have to understand ways to mesure our business like:

- How much does it cost (in time and money) for every new client I bring in to my business?

-  How long will the average business-builder continue to promote a business and use the products?

- How do I build my prospecting and closing skills on low-cost leads, and build from there to more targeted leads as my skill-set gets better?

These are all important questions that all pertain to building the right cost strategy.  You have to give your business a chance to grow, and if your Arbonne coach recommends you spend $10K before you’ve ever even made a profit in your business, then you need to ask them about the cost-strategy behind it.

Now, even though the above 3 questions are very important, there is one final question that will really test anyone who claims to be a coach.  And that is…“What have you personally accomplished?”

If they have never built a significant organization, then  how the heck can they ever expect to teach you anything?

There’s an old saying that goes:  “Those who can’t do…teach”.  That’s not always true,  but if you go to any major university, you’ll find plenty of professors in the business department that have never owned or operated a business.

When evaluating a coach for Arbonne (or any other home business),  you should ask them what they have personally accomplished.  Not everyone who claim to be the “real deal” is legit.

Coaching for Arbonne can be a great way to take your business to the next level.  Just make sure you do business with someone that knows what they are coaching for.

The products, by nearly everyone’s standards, are fantastic.  You can read about what some others have thought of their products here:

Arbonne Product Reviews

I’ve used their products before myself, and I like them.

They are high end (meaning, not cheap), but it’s pretty good stuff.

The reason Arbonne is controversial is their distribution model – network marketing.

Network marketing is where you sign up product purchasers and other distributors “beneath”, so that you receive a commission on all the product that is consumed in your own distribution channel.

This means that there is a business opportunity attached to Arbonne.  You can become what they call an “Arbonne consultant”, and you can re-sell their products for commission, and recruit others who sell their products for commission, etc etc.

This in of itself isn’t a bad thing at all.  What become sketchy are some of the side-effects of this model, which can be:

1.  Front-loading – Where new sign-ups are encouraged to “front-load” and purchase a ton of product, and then attempt to re-sell the product for profit.

2.  Warm-Market Marketing – This is where new enrollees are encouraged to sell products to their warm markets, i.e., their friends and family members.

3.  Hype – This can include exaggerated product claims (It can cure cancer and AIDS!) and/or exaggerated income claims (I signed up 3 weeks ago and I’m making six figures!).

Now, that’s not to say that Arbonne endorses these policies – they don’t.  But over-eager distributors can become a bit over-zealous, and in their enthusiasm, end up saying some pretty stupid stuff.

There is plenty of Arbonne information on their website:  www.Arbonne.com

When a new rep signs up, they are introduced to “Arbonne University”, where a consultant can educate themselves on Arbone products, skincare in general, the Arbonne compensation plan, and even (ahem) their “marketing plan”.

The only weird thing with Arbonne is that it can get a little “cultish”.  Some people who get involved become convinced that the company can do no wrong, that it’s doing the world a favor by simply existing, that you should never question any decisions that come from their “upline”.

I can tell you this – Arbonne is in business to make money.  They have a great product, and a cool business opportunity, but at the end of the day, they treat their business as a very “for profit” organization.  So much so that they do something very few retailers do – they charge sales tax on shipping, and the jury is still out on whether that is legit or not (for a great discussion on the subject, check out The Great Tax-On-Shipping Debate)

My only recommendation would to be prepared to find other creative ways of marketing beyond your friends and family members.  That gets old in a hurry.