I have seen many posts regarding becoming a Distributor for this company, so I thought I would give some insights from the "sharp end".
As with any job there are good bits and bad bits of course, but you judge for yourself what those might be.
I write this as an ex Co-ordinator, so I do know how the business operates. My next thread posting will be about being a Co-ordinator.
Before you sign up, you will be expected to provide proof of identity, such as a utility bill, bank statement, etc., plus all your contact phone numbers.
As a Distributor you are assigned a particular area to work in, not necessarily close to home and to fixed timescales that rotate and determined by your Co-ordinator. You will be issued with a number of catalogues that you don't have to pay for. The amount of catalogues you are given depends upon your local region's sales performance. You can buy additional packs of catalogues at £5 each if your allocation isn't sufficient for your needs. There are 40 catalogues to a pack, they are very heavy to carry and out of those 40 you will get less than a third returned to be reusable - even less with wet weather and even paying £5 for a pack of plastic bags is no guarantee they will stay dry. On your first outing, the Co-ordinator SHOULD be out with you and the order forms will have their name and contact details, not yours and the date and time highlighted when you are going to collect them. Again, your Co-ordinator SHOULD be with you when you return to collect. If it has been raining, then you will have the pleasure of many soggy catalogues to dispose of, because once wet they are useless.
With a bit of luck, there may be a completed order form tucked inside the returned catalogue. From the 40 catalogues you have put out less than a third may come back and don't ever expect any of them to contain a customer order. You are then expected to collate the orders (if you have any) onto a huge order form to give to the Co-ordinator to be ordered, but your order value must exceed £50 to be submitted to HQ.
You are expected to return the catalogues then with a post-it note to confirm the order and having the catalogue to hand again it is hoped the customer will order more items before you deliver their original order.
The ordered goods should turn up the following week with a printed invoice and a "picking list". Scan these like a hawk because some products may be missing even though the picking list has been ticked and you have been charged for the item(s) on the invoice. You will also have items that are out of stock so not delivered. You must hand the picking list to the Co-ordinator so missing products can be claimed for.
Now you have a heap of goods before you, you must match them to the order forms, which can take some time. Then off you trot to deliver the goods and collect the money. Sound simple? No chance. A good percentage will not be at home, so back you go . . . . . and back you go . . . . and back you go, until eventually you catch them at home. Some will look at what you have brought and tell you to take it away and not pay. Some may hand you back defective or unwanted products they bought some while ago, so you have to refund them under the Distance Selling Rules. Don't panic, you will be credited by the Co-ordinator when they collect the cash.
So the procedure is, 1. Drop off catalogues, 2. Collect catalogues, 3. Re-order books drop off. 4. Collate orders, 5. Pass to Co-ordinator 6. Receive goods. 7. Deliver goods and collect money.
So the minimum number of trips to the same address with an order is 4 and even more if they are not home when you call. Factor that into your travelling costs.
You are subject to a minimum order value of £50. You are also expected to meet targets and when there is a "big week" you get a bigger target. You are not obliged or can be forced to meet those targets. You can earn an annual bonus by really pulling the orders in and working hard. I had one Distributor who earned £600 bonus in one year but he worked VERY hard indeed and his house looked like a Betterware warehouse each week, yet he would earn around £150 a week. That's another thing to bear in mind, can you live with mountains of boxes, products and catalogues strewn all over your home? You will also get plenty of phone calls at odd times too, because your name and number will be on those order forms. You will get endless grief when items are not in stock week, after week, after week, after week, so be careful about taking any money before the goods are delivered for that reason, as it will probably end in tears.
Finally, you will get feast and famine periods, where very little is being ordered no matter how many catalogues you have put out. Just before xmas is pretty good, matched by a slump in January and February. Bank holidays are not good, nor is the summer school holidays or half terms as holidays are a priority above your catalogues. Your customer base will have elderly people in the majority and sad to say as they pass on that is one less customer each time. Younger people do like the internet to shop, are mobile and are rather savvy at what costs what these days.
This is what you take on with this job, so I hope this has been helpful. No doubt the Betterware fans will be squealing like stuck pigs when they read this because they want you to see a much rosier picture than I have painted here.