One of the things Amway Independent Business Owners (IBOs) are taught to blame themselves for is not working the business hard enough or not doing things correctly, even if they follow their upline's instructions to the letter. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth than this statement. All that is happening is that the uplines want to be absolved of any responsibility, so they teach their downlines that failure in Amway is their own (the downline's) fault. Of course, upline is quick to claim credit for any successes, which is understandable. A coin toss and a game of "heads I win, tails you lose" is what it comes down to.
However, the reason that hard work does not always translate into success is that an Amway IBO is essentially a commissioned salesperson. In commissioned sales, it is possible to work extremely hard for little or no compensation, and at other times, little effort can result in significant rewards. However, because of Amway's tarnished reputation, Amway Independent Business Owners (IBOs) are given a disadvantage that most cannot overcome. Getting new people to attend recruitment meetings is difficult enough without taking into consideration their ability to sponsor others. It's easy to see why uplines teach that you should buy from yourself and that selling is not important when you take all of this into consideration. It diverts attention away from the fact that selling at less than competitive prices is nearly impossible (in general).
Amway Independent Business Owners (IBOs) enjoy arguing about how Amway products have magical qualities or premium features. However, the reality is that Amway is essentially a generic brand that charges a premium price for its products. That's going to be difficult to sell. And, to be completely honest, if you're selling cleaning products or laundry soap, most people aren't bothered by the fact that they have to pay more for dish soap. They are content with purchasing a gallon of dish drops for $5 at Costco rather than spending $10 for a litre of dish drops.
The work involved is extremely straightforward. Sell products and sponsor other independent business owners (IBOs) in your downline in order to increase your volume. There are many IBOs who work hard and attend all of the functions and follow all of the steps as outlined by their upline, but only a small number of them receive rewards, and the majority of them quit when they realise that the system is broken. It is unfortunate that, in addition to losing money, IBOs are also taught to place blame on themselves for their own failure. Where is the upline when IBOs are busting their buttocks working har and receive no compensation for it? To make matters worse, uplines profit from the sale of training and motivation to their downlines, which further compounds the problem. Why aren't they being held to account?
Some Amway defenders have expressed a desire to sue Amway critics for a potential loss of business, which I found amusing. However, the majority of critics, including myself, are simply stating our personal experiences and opinions. Many of these statements are true and are still occurring today. What about the millions of former IBOs who, it is possible, may have lost billions of dollars as a result of false claims that led them to believe they would become wealthy by following upline advice? It's possible that former IBOs should band together and file lawsuits against unethical upline leaders who led them astray.
However, in Amway, hard work does not equate to success, and I challenge anyone to prove me wrong in this regard.
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