Posted by Lamont Breckenridge on October 08, 19101 at 07:17:53:
In Reply to: I Was a Regional Manager w/ Scentura (10 years of Experience). I know all the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. posted by Mike Barrick on July 27, 19101 at 03:02:05:
: I can tell you, from the perspective of someone who ran a distribution center, and had numerous offices beneath me, anything and everything you would want to know about this "opportunity". I am not a basher and really not all that biased........I just know enough that I now do something else.
: Scentura's real opportunity is for you to learn the direct sales game ( an invaluable lesson btw ), and once you are ready in the eyes of your office manager, Scentura will consign you about $3000 worth of perfume ( which costs the company about $300-$400), so you can start your own business, recruiting and training people to do the same. Thats it!! That is the golden opportunity that you have been promised.
: You will at that point take all the same risks/responsibilities of any other entrepeneur.......including signing your name on the lease for an office space, spending money on advertising before making a dime, working 60-70 hours a week, etc...
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: Can you make money doing this?? Absolutely. I made over $1,000,000 doing exactly what I just described.
: Will you learn alot in the process?? Absolutely!
: Here is the problem.....Not many people would warm up to the idea of selling stuff on the street while virtually going broke ( more on this later), so the recruiting office owners have to make it sound extremely appealing. If they described it factually ( like I have above ), they couldn't recruit enough people to stay afloat. They pitch the opportunity to all the recruits just like the sales people pitch the perfume to people on the streets. This is where the ethical boundary gets crossed. You have to put your own good before the well being of anybody else in order to be successful in this setting. Most that walk through the doors for an interview will never make a dime doing the perfume business, but you ( as an office owner ) don't make any money telling new recruits the truth. You tell them all that they can do it if they make enough sacrifice, burn bridges with their family and friends who try to talk them out of it ( in effect, alienating them from everyone but other people in the perfume business), Put the blinders on taking all focus away from any "Pre Scentura" values/priorities and they can be successful.
: Please understand as you read this.........I was the guy telling you all this. I had a recruiting ad in the paper 52 weeks a year telling each person that I was able to hire how lucky they were to find this opportunity.
: Everytime I think of that time of my life, I am filled with shame and regret rather than pride. Yes, I was successful in that business but it was at the expense of others. Good people quit working for me ( financially they had no choice ), and I shunned them. That was what I was taught. Anyone that did Scentura for any period of time know the saying.." The weak fall by the wayside, while the strong survive". The lack of moral terpitude is what you can expect from your experience with Scentura Creations. Nobody cares about you.....It's all about money.
: I learned alot of things while I did that business but I learned some of my most valuable lessons after leaving the company. Business does NOT come before family. You can't achieve success at the expense of others without it eventually coming back to bite you in the ass. Most importantly, money is NOT the most important thing. It can make things more comfortable but in the end, your cars, jewelry, houses, etc... don't mean a thing. Things you buy with money only provide short term happiness which always goes away. The joy I derive from my wife, children, family and friends is long lasting and more important than any of the superficial BS.
: Any Scentura owners that stumble upon this post will surely rationalize that I sold out for a low income/non stressful lifestyle but you would only be half right. The businesses I am now involved in make me the kind of income I only experienced during seldom "highs" with Scentura, while only requiring 25-30 hours a week. More importantly, the people that work for me make good money and can believe what I tell them.
: Hope this helps some of you understand what it is you are contemplating. Email me if you have any specific questions and I will be happy to try to help.
: Good Luck to all.