Is Optavia a pyramid scheme? Well… Their enterprize model is that of a MLM and is structured to put much of emphasis on recruitment, but does this total it being truly a pyramid scheme?
I'm guessing that you are probably reading my post here because you're contacted by an Optavia coach and asked to join in on the business opportunity, or possibly a pal or member of the family was. But anyways… It doesn't really matter your basis for reading this. In this short review I will undoubtedly be addressing the claims that Optavia may perfectly be a pyramid scheme.
What Is Optavia?
Optavia is a weight loss MLM company that sells meal plans scientifically designed for weight reduction, similar to Avisae, It Works, and Shaklee. They take a more holistic method of fat loss, not merely emphasizing the short-term, but alternatively having an even more long-term focus. The goal is to adopt new healthy habits one at any given time in your lifetime so your changes you make stick.
That is an approach that I really like. Plenty of people lose weight and then gain it right back. They place in all this work and effort losing the weight however find yourself regressing back for their old unhealthy habits. Optavia's goal is to greatly help change those habits to healthier ones.
At the core of the Optavia enterprize model are coaches that are there to greatly help guide and support people on their fat loss journeys. These coaches may be anyone. You are I both could join the business as an instructor and generate income doing so. Coaches are able to generate income by selling fat loss products along with by recruiting and other coaches beneath them and earning from what they sell.
This recruitment part of everything is the reason why people are calling a pyramid scheme. Yes… Coaches can generate income by recruiting in other coaches and so on, but this doesn't mean it is a pyramid scheme. To be able to get a much better understanding of what's going on here we first need to take a consider the compensation plan and observe these coaches are getting compensated.
Pyramid Scheme?
Okay… So a MLM type business like this is often completely legitimate and rely on recruitment of other distributors, in this case “coaches”, to a great deal. What separates a legitimate MLM from in illegal pyramid scheme is simply how much they actually rely on recruitment of distributors. When they rely on recruitment similar to this an excessive amount of and don't focus enough on selling products to everyone, that is where it begins to cross line and becoming an illegal pyramid scheme.
That said…there is definitely not enough here for me to express that this is a pyramid scheme, BUT… I'm somewhat concerned when looking at their compensation plan detail. They don't really seem to own any safeguards in place to keep a pyramid scheme -like scenario from playing out.
So far as I am aware, you can become an instructor and to complete nothing but recruit in other coaches to go up the ranks and make a lot of money. Some MLM's that I have reviewed need you to sell a certain amount of products each month to everyone (non-distributors), while Optavia does not.
But anyways… Know this doesn't seem just like a pyramid scheme to me. Recruitment like that is completely legal and although it mightn't be probably the most trustworthy business, since many coaches are on the market just to recruit a number of people in and generate income, it's still legal.
