Warwick, UK (PRWEB UK) 10 November 2017 -- ‘Traditional ways of working are changing – people want more flexibility’ – Bob Parker, Forever UK Country Manager
Over 425,000 people are involved in the UK direct selling industry. Chances are you know someone or more than one person who is a direct seller. It provides an opportunity for those looking for an alternative to traditional ways of working, and for many represents a low-risk way of supplementing their existing income and/or over time transitioning to a more flexible work/life balance. The sorts of people involved in direct selling are diverse – from all walks of life, all ages, all backgrounds.
“It’s one of the most level playing fields you will find” – Bob Parker, Forever UK
Forever Living, the aloe vera company operates in 159 countries around the globe and will be 40 years old next year. The network marketing company is the world’s largest, grower, manufacturer and distributor of aloe vera, and it owns and manages all its farms and manufacturing facilities ensuring the highest quality of its products. The flagship product is Forever’s aloe vera drinking gel in its iconic yellow bottle which accounts for half of the company’s sales globally; this sits within a huge range of aloe vera inspired products spanning health, beauty, nutrition, weight management and fitness, together with a wide range of products from the bee hive.
Instead of retailing its products on the High Street Forever Living is a ‘direct selling’ company providing a business opportunity to individuals to retail the aloe vera products to consumers. Direct selling is in fact a simple model – referring and recommending products that you have personally tried and enjoy and want to share with others.
High quality products – continuous innovation
Forever Living’s product range is continuously evolving; in addition to its patented stabilisation process for its aloe vera, new products are added and existing ones are continuously updated as new technologies and ingredients come to the fore. Forever Living has recently launched its ‘Infinite by Forever’ premium anti-ageing skincare range, 18 months in development incorporating specially selected botanicals that boost the efficacy of the aloe vera.
The company makes huge investment in product development and has a dedicated team of research and development scientists based in Scottsdale Arizona as well as a quality control team made up of 11 chemists and microbiologist who test every ingredient in every batch. In total Aloe Vera of America performs over 1.5million quality tests a year – equivalent to one test every 20 seconds. Forever Living products are synonymous with quality and are all backed with a 60-day money back guarantee.
How direct selling and Forever Living works
Forever provides a low-risk, flexible business opportunity for individuals to start their own business under the umbrella of this global brand. Some people are looking to supplement their existing income by a few hundred pounds each month and this is achievable solely through retailing the products. For others, with bigger financial goals they will go on to build teams and are paid a commission by the network marketing company on the retail sales of their team members who they support. With flexible working hours, each individual decides how much time they want to invest in developing a customer base and/or building a team. There is extensive product and business training and support to help Forever business owners develop the skills to take their network marketing businesses forward.
To get started most Forever business owners buy a ‘business owners box’ containing many of the top-selling products at a discounted price as well as tools including business planning materials and product literature. This ‘starter kit’ allows the individual to evaluate the products for themselves so that they can fully understand their benefits and recommend with integrity, and also gives them a licence to operate in any country in the world.
The network marketing company offers a range of other incentives including, ‘Forever to Drive’, five-star travel incentives and Chairman’s Bonus where each year the company gives back over $24million to the top performing business owners.
Faces of Forever
Mum Natalie from Glasgow was working as a yoga teacher when she decided to start retailing Forever’s aloe vera products around her teaching and family life. Initially she was looking to make £200 a month additional income. Four years on Natalie now has the largest business in Scotland. What is perhaps most remarkable is how she has grown her business organically without the need to compromise her family time.
Kyle had a five-year career with the Metropolitan Police; following a back injury he retrained as a graphic designer. Having seen both of his sisters build successful Forever businesses he decided to start his own business in 2015 enabling him to fulfil his ambitions to travel and to be his own boss.
Debbie worked for over ten years in the oil and gas industry as an IT trainer working long hours and was out of the country for at least a week every month. She was the mum who dropped her children off at breakfast club and picked them up after the after-school clubs – they were always the last kids left. She joined Forever in 2010 and nine months later when Martin was made redundant he joined Debbie in the business. As a family they haven’t looked back.
Family Values
Established in 1978 by Rex Maughan, Forever Living is an independent, family-led company based on family values. Rex built Forever Living into an international company that now operates in 159 countries. The network marketing company provides opportunities for over 10,000 employees and 15 million Forever Business Owners worldwide. Gregg Maughan, Rex’s son is President.
In the UK, Forever Living is headed up by Country Manager Bob Parker who is also responsible for Forever’s business in Ireland and Iceland. Bob has led the company here in the UK since 1993 and is based at the UK Head Office, Longbridge Manor in Warwick.
Forever Living has a strong commitment to ‘giving back’. Forever Giving is a charity that Rex Maughan founded seeking to fight hunger and poverty. Forever Giving has partnered with Rise Against Hunger and in 2017 Forever has set itself the challenge of packing one million meals for children across the world achieving this ahead of schedule in July. Forever UK hosted its’ meal packing event on 12 August when almost 600 volunteers came to Longbridge Manor, Forever’s UK head office and packed over 134,000 meals.
Forever Living UK also supports Helping Hands a local charity that works in Leamington Spa, Warwick and Kenilworth. Helping Hands supports local homeless and low-income families in a variety of ways including providing meals and shelter, as well as helping people back to work.
Understanding network marketing and pyramid schemes
The network marketing industry is a mature, established industry where the best companies have high quality products and a strong track record. There is a lot of misinformation and many will have come across the term ‘pyramid scheme’.
Direct selling or network marketing should not be confused with pyramid schemes. Pyramid schemes are illegal in the UK and many other countries and are a type of fraud disguised to look like direct selling. Pyramid selling is where recruits pay an admission fee to join the scheme to earn commissions on persuading other to join rather than supply any real investment or sale of products or services to the public. Pyramid schemes do not offer contracts to participants, cancellation rights nor the opportunity to buy back unsold goods - all of which are required under UK law. You can find out more here.
Forever Living is not a pyramid scheme; in the UK the company ships hundreds of thousands of products from its distribution centre in Warwick and business owners are paid a commission on those product sales and the sales of their team members.
The UK is highly regulated – protecting both consumers and business owners
The UK is one of the most highly regulated countries in the world with legislations protecting both the consumer and the business owner. Forever Living offers a 60-day money back guarantee on all its products. It fulfils hundreds of thousands of orders each year in the UK and less than 10% of the company revenue comes from new business owners investing in a ‘business owners box’ (which is also covered by a money-back guarantee).
Forever UK is an active member of the UK Direct Selling Association – there are 37 member companies in the UK. What this membership means is that all those companies have signed up to a code of ethics regarding best practice and high standards*.
For more information please visit http://flpuk.info/homepage
- UK DSA codes of ethics – http://www.dsa.org.uk/codes-of-ethics/
Diane Sealey, Fibre PR, +44 7798524846, [email protected]
SOURCE Fibre PR
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