Amway

The Amway Corporation has grown from a two-man company selling all-purpose cleaner to become the largest and best known multi-level or network marketer in the world. Its diverse product line, ranging from personal care items to major appliances, generated sales of over seven billion dollars in 1998 and was sold by nearly one million distributors in 80 countries and territories. In the process, founders Richard M. DeVos and Jay Van Andel have made millionaires of some of their adherents and Fortune 400 billionaires of themselves. With the growth of home businesses in late twentieth-century America, Amway has inspired a slew of imitating companies, selling everything from soap to long distance telephone service. Amway, or the American Way Association as it was first called, has also revived interest in the American success story; rags-to-riches financial success based on hard work, individualism, positive thinking, free enterprise, and faith in God and country.

The prosperous years following World War II inspired people to search for their own piece of the American dream. A variant of the 1930s chain-letter craze, pyramid friendship clubs swept the United States in 1949. The clubs encouraged people to make new friends by requiring them to pay one or two dollars to join and then recruit at least two other paying members. The individual at the top of the pyramid hosted a party and received all of the proceeds before dropping out. This "new mass hysteria," as Life magazine called it, was popular mostly among the lower middle class but attracted adherents even from the upper class. The pyramid aspect was illegal--a form of gambling--but authorities risked huge public protest if they intervened. Hundreds of irate readers even threatened to cancel their subscriptions to the Detroit News when the paper published stories condemning the clubs. That, however, did not stop magazines and movie newsreels from showing images of lucky participants waving fistfuls of cash at pyramid parties. But most of the schemers got nothing more than dreams of instant riches.

Amway co-founders Jay Van Andel (1924--) and Richard DeVos (1926--) met as students at Grand Rapids, Michigan, Christian High School in 1940. An oft-told business deal brought the high school buddies together; DeVos paid Van Andel a quarter each week for rides to and from school in Van Andel's old Ford Model A. The Dutch American DeVos and Van Andel shared the same church, the conservative Christian Reformed, and similar backgrounds, values, and interests. Their families encouraged hard work and both young men were instructed to develop their own businesses as a means of assuring their financial future. World War II intervened, but the pair reunited after the war and founded their first businesses, a flight school and the first drive-in restaurant in Grand Rapids.

Following an adventure-filled trip to South America by air, sea, and land, the two men searched for a new business opportunity in 1949. The answer appeared--at the height of the pyramid craze--in the form of Nutrilite vitamins and food supplements. Nutrilite had been founded by Carl Rehnborg, a survivor of a Chinese prison camp. Rehnborg returned to the United States convinced of the health benefits of vitamins and nutritional supplements. His company used a different sales technique, multi-level or network marketing, that was similar to but not exactly the same as pyramiding. New distributors paid $49 for a sales kit, not as a membership fee but for the cost of the kit, and did not have to recruit new distributors or meet sales quotas unless desired. Nutrilite distributors simulated aspects of pyramid friendship clubs. They sold their products door-to-door and person-to-person and were encouraged to follow up sales to make sure customers were using the purchases properly or to ask if they needed more. Satisfied customers often became new distributors of Nutrilite and original distributors received a percentage of new distributors' sales, even if they left the business.

DeVos and Van Andel excelled at network marketing, making $82,000 their first year and more than $300,000 in 1950, working out of basement offices in their homes. Over the next ten years, they built one of the most successful Nutrilite distributorships in America. In 1958, a conflict within Nutrilite's management prompted the pair to develop their own organization and product line. The American Way Association was established with the name changed to Amway Corporation the following year. DeVos and Van Andel built their company around another product, a concentrated all-purpose cleaner known as L. O. C., or liquid organic cleaner. Ownership of the company had one additional benefit beyond being a distributor. DeVos and Van Andel now made money on every sale, not just those they or their distributors made.

The new enterprise "took on a life of its own, quickly outgrowing its tiny quarters and outpacing the most optimistic sales expectations of its founders," according to a corporate biography. Operation was moved to a building on the corporation's current site in a suburb of Grand Rapids--Ada, Michigan--in 1960. In 1962, Amway became an international company, opening its first affiliate in Canada. By 1963, sales were 12 times the first-year sales. In its first seven years, Amway had to complete 45 plant expansions just to keep pace with sales growth. By 1965, the company that started with a dozen workers employed 500 and its distributor force had multiplied to 65,000. The original L. O. C. was joined by several distinct product lines with dozens of offerings each. Most of the products were "knock-offs," chemically similar to name brands but sold under the Amway name. A fire in the company's aerosol plant in Ada in 1969 failed to slow growth.

The 1970s were an important decade for the company. Pyramid schemes attracted renewed public attention in 1972 when a South Carolina pitchman named Glenn Turner was convicted of swindling thousands through fraudulent cosmetic and motivational pyramid schemes. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused Amway of similar pyramid tactics in 1975. "They're not in a business, but some sort of quasi-religious, socio-political organization," a FTC lawyer said. The FTC alleged the company failed to disclose its distributor drop-out rate, well over 50 percent, as well. But an administrative law judge disagreed in 1978, arguing that Amway was a "genuine business opportunity." The company began a vigorous public relations campaign against pyramid schemes, which was to continue on its corporate web-page through the late 1990s.

What does the word Amway mean? Amway is an abbreviation for "American Way" and was coined in 1959 by company founders, Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos. Short, unique and easy to remember, Amway has been registered as a corporate name and trademark ever since.

In the following decades, Amway Corporation successfully established itself as a leading multilevel marketing business, built on strong values and founding principles that continue to sustain our company today. The business is built on the simple integrity of helping people lead better lives. We have long had a tradition of opportunity and success.

Today, Amway is a multibillion-dollar international business representing freedom and opportunity to millions of people in more than 80 countries and territories around the world. We offer over 3 million Business Owners the inspiration to grow those businesses, and we work hard to provide new and better ways for them to achieve their life goals.

Amway's range of products is huge. Our exclusive brands together feature more than 450 individual products, created to meet the needs and regulations of more than 80 different markets around the world.

Because preferences and legal requirements vary widely around the world, so does the range of AMWAY products available in each market. Even in Europe, with its single market, national regulations mean that our product ranges are different in Germany and the UK. For this reason, we don't produce a global product listing. In each market, though, there are many excellent sources of information about the products available.

Amway's business is built on direct sales from Business Owners to consumers. It's been the foundation for more than 40 years of global success. Many people join the business because they use AMWAY products and appreciate their quality and value. That means that our Business Owners are often some of the best sources of information about our products and their benefits.

3. Amway

Amway

In any walk of life, you tend to believe that the longer something has been around, the better it must be. This is especially true in business - after all, if a company were truly bad, it wouldn't still be around. With Multi-Level Marketing businesses, though, it's a little bit more difficult to gauge, since it's such a new concept. The exception to this rule is the Amway Network Marketing Program.

Conceived by the world famous Amway Corporation (itself part of the Alticor group of companies) way back in 1959, Amway Corporation has been selling quality household products for almost 50 years now, including skin care and cosmetic products, as well as water purifiers and even laundry systems. In 1999, Amway joined up with another company within the Alticor Group called Quixtar, and the Amway Network Marketing Program was born, as well as the term MLM.

In the beginning, the opportunity with Away was to sell their products and make a profit that way - however, not long after the Amway Network Marketing Plan was conceived, the emphasis changed, and instead of making any real money through selling their goods, Amway affiliates earned their profits from the sales that people they had signed up made instead.

This is where so many complaints about Amway have come from. Although there is no doubting that the company's products are excellent, and that in general the affiliates are all honest, hard-working people, there have still been instances where Amway has been found guilty of breaking various MLM practices. Tales of distributors commissions being withheld are just some of the negative stories that have circulated over the years.

On top of that, Amway has extremely stringent rules that you have to pass before they make any payments to you. These include:

Having to buy back any of the gods not sold by your team members. This comes into effect either if they don't sell it, or leave the Amway business completely.

Each distributor must sell at least 70% of their monthly stock purchases to qualify for bonus payments.

To ensure bonus payments, each affiliate has to also sell to 10 different people each month; otherwise they might not receive any bonus payments at all.

The problem with these, and the other rules that Amway has in place, is that the stock obviously needs to be kept somewhere, which can be problematic. And the pressure is on to make the profits via the people that you sign up to sell the Amway products for you, so it's not unheard of for distributors to upset friends or family members, as they keep pestering them to join the Amway Network Marketing Program.

Amway is the leader of the MLM industry. Products, compensation plans and training are all combined in a seamless 50 year old company that withstands the onslaught of modern marketing. As everyone knows, building an Amway business, like in other business ventures, requires time and patience.

4. Amway Corporation

Amway

The History of Amway

What does the word Amway mean? Amway is an abbreviation for "American Way" and was coined in 1959 by company founders, Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos. Short, unique and easy to remember, Amway has been registered as a corporate name and trademark ever since.

In the following decades, Amway Corporation successfully established itself as a leading multilevel marketing business, built on strong values and founding principles that continue to sustain our company today. The business is built on the simple integrity of helping people lead better lives. We have long had a tradition of opportunity and success.

Today, Amway is a multibillion-dollar international business representing freedom and opportunity to millions of people in more than 80 countries and territories around the world. We offer over 3 million Business Owners the inspiration to grow those businesses, and we work hard to provide new and better ways for them to achieve their life goals.

The Amway Corporation began life over forty years ago and has built a strong global reputation for innovative products ever since.

The way Amway does business was defined right at the outset by its founders, Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos. They outlined the ethical and operational standards that continue to guide both the company and its Independent Business Owners in all their activities. Those founding principles are literally carved in stone outside the World Headquarters:

Amway will always support the fundamental FREEDOM of people to determine their own future, allowing them the time and resources to protect and nurture their FAMILY. In addition, Amway will always offer HOPE to individuals and the opportunity to receive REWARD in proportion to their efforts.

Amway is as proud of these principles as it is of more than forty years of business success. In fact, the two go hand in hand. Amway wholeheartedly believes that the strength of its business is due in large measure to the importance it attaches to these founding principles.

5. Amway

Amway

In any walk of life, you tend to believe that the longer something has been around, the better it must be. This is especially true in business - after all, if a company were truly bad, it wouldn't still be around. With Multi-Level Marketing businesses, though, it's a little bit more difficult to gauge, since it's such a new concept. The exception to this rule is the Amway Network Marketing Program.

Conceived by the world famous Amway Corporation (itself part of the Alticor group of companies) way back in 1959, Amway Corporation has been selling quality household products for almost 50 years now, including skin care and cosmetic products, as well as water purifiers and even laundry systems. In 1999, Amway joined up with another company within the Alticor Group called Quixtar, and the Amway Network Marketing Program was born, as well as the term MLM.

In the beginning, the opportunity with Away was to sell their products and make a profit that way - however, not long after the Amway Network Marketing Plan was conceived, the emphasis changed, and instead of making any real money through selling their goods, Amway affiliates earned their profits from the sales that people they had signed up made instead.

This is where so many complaints about Amway have come from. Although there is no doubting that the company's products are excellent, and that in general the affiliates are all honest, hard-working people, there have still been instances where Amway has been found guilty of breaking various MLM practices. Tales of distributors commissions being withheld are just some of the negative stories that have circulated over the years.

On top of that, Amway has extremely stringent rules that you have to pass before they make any payments to you. These include:

Having to buy back any of the gods not sold by your team members. This comes into effect either if they don't sell it, or leave the Amway business completely.

Each distributor must sell at least 70% of their monthly stock purchases to qualify for bonus payments.

To ensure bonus payments, each affiliate has to also sell to 10 different people each month; otherwise they might not receive any bonus payments at all.

The problem with these, and the other rules that Amway has in place, is that the stock obviously needs to be kept somewhere, which can be problematic. And the pressure is on to make the profits via the people that you sign up to sell the Amway products for you, so it's not unheard of for distributors to upset friends or family members, as they keep pestering them to join the Amway Network Marketing Program.

The only real upside to this particular MLM is that there is no joining fee to become a member - simply a screening process to make sure that you're the "right type" of candidate. However, with the onus on you to sign up as many people as possible to your network of sales people, the Amway Network Marketing Program is definitely for the more aggressive-minded businessperson than your average Joe.

Amway

6. Amway

The Amway Sales Plan

The Amway Sales and Marketing Plan is a low risk, low start-up cost business opportunity that is open to everyone. It allows you to build your business through retailing products and sponsoring other people who, in turn, can retail products and offer the business opportunity to others. By passing your sales and marketing knowledge to your developing team, you not only build your own business network but also enable others to build one of their own.

The core of the Amway Sales and Marketing Plan's income opportunity is the sale of quality AMWAY products and services to retail customers. As your Amway business grows, the rewards you earn grow in proportion. The Amway Sales and Marketing Plan does not compensate anybody for simply recruiting others as Independent Business Owners.

7. Amway

Starting your own business

The only thing anyone is required to buy in order to become an Amway Business Owner is the Literature Pack from the Amway Opportunity Kit. Despite what you may have heard, starting an Amway business doesn't involve handing over large amounts of cash.

With your efforts and our knowledge, the Amway opportunity can become everything from a means of earning a little extra cash to building an international business. Where do you want to go?

For more information about starting your own Amway business, select your region and market to visit the Amway Web site for your location. The list includes all the markets where the Amway opportunity is currently available. It's that easy to start down the road to being your own boss!

8. Amway

The Amway Sales and Marketing Plan is a low risk, low start-up cost business opportunity that is open to everyone. It allows you to build your business through retailing products and sponsoring other people who, in turn, can retail products and offer the business opportunity to others. By passing your sales and marketing knowledge to your developing team, you not only build your own business network but also enable others to build one of their own.

The core of the Amway Sales and Marketing Plan's income opportunity is the sale of quality AMWAY™ products and services to retail customers. As your Amway business grows, the rewards you earn grow in proportion. The Amway Sales and Marketing Plan does not compensate anybody for simply recruiting others as Independent Business Owners.

9. Amway
Amway's business opportunity reaches people all around the globe, helping them to live better lives and realize their hopes for themselves and their families.

10. Amway
The buzzwords for business in the 21st century are Think Globally, Act Locally. Amway has been doing just that for over 40 years. With operations in more than 80 countries and territories, and products tailored for local regulations and preferences, Amway is one of the largest local companies in the world.

11. Amway
Amway's world headquarters in Ada, Michigan, USA, is over a mile (1.6km) long and is home to more than 300 research and development scientists, product development teams and global business support personnel. All these resources are dedicated towards helping you achieve business success. Ada is also one of the four global manufacturing centers, along with Buena Park, California, USA, Lakeview, California, USA, and Guangzhou, China. Alongside the manufacturing facility at Lakeview is one of four farming centers that use organic and natural practices to grow ingredients for our health and wellness products. Other farms are located in Trout Lake, Washington, USA, El Petacal, Mexico; and Tiangu, Ceara, Brazil.

12. Amway
Today, Amway supports your business with over 450 exclusive products and services, a state-of-the-art global ordering and distribution network and over four decades of experience and advice to help you when you need it.

13. Amway
Over 40 years ago, Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel, two young entrepreneurs from the USA, created a plan that enabled anyone to start their own business by selling quality products and giving other people the chance to do the same. This unique business opportunity has enabled Amway to grow into one of the world's leading direct-selling companies.

14. Amway
Amway is part of the Alticor family of companies, which generated worldwide retail sales of US$6.4 billion in 2005