Is Kleeneze A Pyramid Scheme?
To address this thorny subject we’ll look at features of a pyramid scheme and examine Kleeneze to see whether it matches the ‘warning signs’.
Recruiting members to the business
Recruiting members to the business
- A pyramid scheme compels individuals to join and make a payment. In exchange, the organization promises its new members a share of the money taken from every additional member that they recruit.
- Kleeneze members optionally recruit distributors as a secondary income stream. When this happens Kleeneze pays commission to upline distributors for real retail sales achieved by team members, not for new recruits per se. Many Kleeneze distributors have been, and continue to be, extremely successful, via a retail only model, without ever recruiting members to their team.
- Pyramid schemes may purport to sell a product, but they often simply use the product to ‘hide’ their pyramid structure.
- Kleeneze has a wide range of genuine products, including own brand, unbranded and branded household goods and giftware. These products have wide customer appeal.
- In pyramid schemes the money you make is based primarily on the number of distributors you recruit and your sales to those distributors. Often there are no sales to the public.
- Kleeneze distributors sell their products almost exclusively to members of the general public outside the business, who genuinely intend to use the products. These customers are not required to pay anything extra or to join the business.
- In pyramid schemes initial entry costs for marketing kit and first products may be high, and this ‘investment’ forms part of the recruitment pot.
- In Kleeneze there is no stock holding at all – all products are ordered from the warehouse after the customer has ordered, and distributors have a credit facility to allow them to collect customer payments before paying for stock. There is an investment in purchasing catalogues, but the company is fully engaged in keeping this as low as possible, and frequently offers incentives to reduce the price or give away free catalogues.
- In most pyramid schemes members are expected, or even required, to buy the company’s products.
- Kleeneze distributors are not compelled to buy any products at all. In practice they often do buy products, because they genuinely want them, but buying products to artificially achieve sales targets is actively discouraged.
- In many MLMs the profits made by members are not disclosed, and it is impossible for those further down the line to make as much as those above them.
- In Kleeneze everybody’s income details are publically shared with all other members, and it is possible for a distributor to make more money than less successful members of their up line.
- In pyramid schemes the number of people in the business grows exponentially, and it becomes increasingly difficult to find new members, therefore most members are unable to profit.
- Currently the Kleeneze business is nowhere near saturation levels and there is plenty of room to develop a successful retail business, and to recruit a team.
- The pyramid model is fixed, and there is little scope to progress within it.
- In Kleeneze the business model is carefully designed to allow for personal success. The landscape is constantly shifting: distributors overtake their recruiters, down lines break off when they achieve certain levels of business, and distributors join or leave the business for their own personal reasons. You are never stuck at the bottom of a pyramid, and there is always potential to succeed, provided that you have commitment and perseverance.
- In many pyramid schemes the company and/or leading distributors may make substantial amounts of money via events, training and materials.
- In Kleeneze no attendance or training materials are required and much is offered free. Even major national events are cheap or free to attend. The ethos of the company is to encourage members to grow as individuals and to achieve more sales success, not to fleece them!
- Pyramid schemes are illegal in the UK. In many cases they do not offer contracts to participants, cancellation rights, or the opportunity to buy back unsold goods, all of which are required under UK law.
- Kleeneze is a legal direct sales and network marketing business! Proud members of the DSA (Direct Selling Association).
- A pyramid scheme cannot go on forever, because there are a finite number of people who can or want to join the scheme (even if all the people in the world were to join). People are encouraged to believe that by investing in the scheme, they will make more money; however, no product has been sold, no investment has been made, and no service has been provided, so no wealth is created, and the business is ultimately unsustainable.
- Kleeneze is a successful business which has been in existence for almost 100 years. It is currently expanding both nationally and internationally.