Do you have a passion for health and wellness? Would you like to work with people to help them reach their goals? You can join the Optavia MLM opportunity and become a coach.
But before you do, consider how much it will cost and how much time you need. Then, you can determine if it's the right fit for you.
Keep reading to learn more about the company and how it can make you money.
What Is Optavia?
Optavia is a multi-level marketing (MLM) company that sells meal replacements and other weight loss products. Its parent company is Medifast, which has been around since the 1980s.
The MLM focuses on more than just products, and it encourages people to change to healthy habits throughout their life. You can join as a coach and work with customers to help them achieve their health goals.
Cost to Join
You will need to pay $199.99 for a business kit to join Optavia. The business kit includes information about Optavia products, the Optavia Success System, and access to your own company website for a year.
After the first year, you will then need to pay for your website, or you will need to find another way to sell the products. The business kit should help you get started selling Optavia, and it's not the most expensive MLM joining fee out there.
However, it can be expensive for a lot of people, unlike affiliate marketing and other online businesses. Joining won't guarantee that you'll make back your initial investment.
How to Earn
When adding any new income stream to your life, you should consider how it can make you money. As with other MLMs, you can earn money by selling Optavia products directly to customers. You can also earn money from commissions when you recruit other coaches.
Without recruiting anyone, you can earn commissions on your sales, and you can earn a bonus for bringing in consistent sales. Commissions range from 18% to 31%, and consistency bonuses are $250 to $1,000 if you maintain sales for a rolling quarter.
If you recruit other coaches, you can advance in the company ranks, and you can earn commissions when your recruits sell. The commission rates for team sales are much lower, but they can increase your income.
Can You Make Money?
While you can earn money in different ways through the Optavia MLM opportunity, most coaches don't earn much. According to the company's 2019 income disclosure, 21.66% of coaches didn't earn anything that year.
Another 8.16% earned no more than $100 during those 12 months. Less than 1% of coaches earned more than $100,000 in 2019. And only 3.43% of coaches earned between $30,000 and $100,000 that year.
Using those numbers, less than 5% of coaches earned close to a living wage, assuming everyone works full-time on their Optavia sales. While you may make some money, odds are you won't make enough to quit your job.
Optavia MLM Pros
When doing an Optavia review, you should consider the benefits of the company. While it's not perfect, there are a couple of things that make it worth considering before you join.
Consider the pros before you write off Optavia from your list of income streams.
Team of Coaches
When you join Optavia, you have access to other coaches, so you can learn from them. You can ask questions and get feedback on everything from your marketing materials to your sales plan.
Coaches can support each other, and you don't need to just work with the coach who sponsors you. Then, you can make sure you're the best coach you can be for your frontline clients.
Return Policy
Another advantage of Optavia is that it offers a 30-day return policy. If you buy the business kit and realize that the business isn't for you, you can return it for a refund within that first month.
Not only that, but you can use the return policy as a selling point for your future clients. Then, you may be able to convince more people to sign up if they know they can get their money back.
Optavia MLM Cons
While Optavia has some benefits, it is very similar to other MLMs. It has many of the same cons as those other companies, so you should think twice before signing up.
Here are a few disadvantages of Optavia.
Anyone Can Join
The fact that anyone can become a coach can sound like a good thing because there's no barrier to entry. However, this means someone with no health or wellness experience can join.
The minimal joining requirements can make the company look less credible, especially if you do have a background in health and wellness. When selling to prospective customers, it can be hard to convince people to hire someone without industry experience.
It could affect your ability to gain clients, and it also means your competition pool can grow quickly. Whether you recruit others or not, you'll have to fight more people for clients.
Low Earnings
You could spend all of your time on Optavia, but you may not make much money from it. MLM basics make it hard for anyone to make money in the company without recruiting.
Even if you do recruit, you'll have to rely on your recruits working hard for you to make a significant income. If you want to be able to control your income, that can be stressful. You'd be better off creating your own online business. Then, you can control what you sell and how much you make.
Complex Ranking System
Most MLMs have some sort of ranking system to determine how much you can make in commissions. However, Optavia's system is more complex than some other companies.
The company has a lot of ranks, and each rank has a couple of different requirements for you to reach it. As you advance, you will need more and more people under you to keep growing.
Should You Join Optavia?
Optavia sounds like a great online business opportunity with room for growth. However, the Optavia MLM structure makes it almost impossible for you to earn a good living.
Before you sign up for the company, consider if the small profit is worth the risk. And if it's not, you can look for other ways to make money.
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