The BBB is your friend!

Anyone looking to work independently has two choices:  Start your own business from scratch, or do contract work with other businesses.  Most home sales programs (Tupperware, PartyLite, Pampered Chef, etc.) offer you the opportunity to start your own business, but what you really are doing is becoming a dedicated contractor for the company.  You don't receive benefits, you must purchase your own supplies, and you follow their program for the most part. 

In future blog posts, I'll go into greater detail of what I learned from the Party Sales type of home business.  For now, my most important advice is simple:

Remember that the Better Business Bureau is your friend.

If a company you have never heard of has an "F" rating by the BBB, that is a fairly large red flag that you may want to reconsider getting involved with that entity.  Less important is whether an old established company has been rated "F" by the BBB. 

If Party Sales or Catalog sales are interesting you--if you are looking to find yourself a title such as "Independent Representative"or "Personal Consultant"--start of by sticking to the solid businesses.  By that I mean a company that's been at it for a while:  Tupperware, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Avon, etc.  There are a lot of home jewelry businesses now, too.  You'd be surprised to learn that Tupperware has an F rating as well with the BBB.  I'm less concerned with that because of the enormous amount of business they do in the U.S., and the fact that the grade is based on 36 complaints in 3 years (which is literally a drop in the bucket of the overall customers they have serviced in the last 36 months).

Just be sure to research any company that is asking you to pay them money, so that you can sell their products.  That's the standard for the home catalog/party businesses.  You have to purchase supplies to get started.  Before you hop on board, start by going to the BBB.

Tell Peggy Your Favorite Home Sales Company (or least Favorite)!

Leave a comment on this entry if you've got a favorite Home Sales/Catalog Sales company...or a least favorite!  I'll feature some of your comments and opinions in a future posting.