A free guide

Eight questions to ask before you join any direct selling business

Not just mine. Any of them. Ask these of whoever is sitting across from you, and pay as much attention to how they react as to what they say.

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I’m Lawrence Chan. I’m an Independent LifeWave Brand Partner in Singapore, which means I have an obvious interest in you joining my team. You should read everything below with that in mind.

I’m writing it anyway, because the people who ask hard questions early are the people worth building with, and because anyone who can’t answer them straight should not be sponsoring anybody. If this guide talks you out of joining me, it has done its job.

Question one

“Can I see the official income disclosure statement before I join?”

Reputable direct selling companies publish a statement showing what participants actually earn, including how many earn nothing. Ask for it in writing, before you commit to anything.

What you’re listening for: whether it appears immediately, or whether you get a story about someone’s uncle instead. A person who dodges this question at the start will dodge harder ones later. Anyone who quotes you a figure they’ll personally help you hit is telling you something is wrong.

Question two

“What does it cost to start, and what will it cost me every month?”

Get both numbers, in your own currency, in writing. Ask specifically what you must purchase to stay eligible for commissions, and what happens in a month where you sell nothing.

What you’re listening for: a straight answer with a number in it. “It depends” and “less than you’d spend on coffee” are not answers. You need to know the worst realistic monthly cost before you can judge anything else.

Question three

“What percentage of people who join actually earn a commission?”

Not the top earners. Not the success stories. The proportion of everyone who signed up who received any payment at all.

What you’re listening for: honesty about a number that is usually uncomfortable. In this profession it is normal for a large majority to earn little or nothing. Someone who acknowledges that plainly is being straight with you. Someone who acts as though you’ve been rude is managing you.

Question four

“What happens if I want to stop?”

Ask about the return policy on unsold stock, the cancellation process, and any minimum term. Ask what happens to product you’ve already bought.

What you’re listening for: a clear exit. Any business worth joining is one you can leave. If leaving sounds complicated, expensive or faintly shameful, that tells you how they’ll treat you on the way out.

Question five

“How many people have you personally sponsored, and how many are still active?”

The second half matters far more than the first. Anyone can recruit. The question is whether the people they recruited are still there.

What you’re listening for: whether they know. A mentor who has genuinely supported people can tell you where those people are now. Someone who has signed up a hundred and can’t say what happened to them is not going to notice when you go quiet either.

Question six

“Am I paid for recruiting people, or for products end customers actually use?”

This is the question that separates a legitimate direct selling business from a pyramid scheme. Ask them to show you, in the compensation plan itself, where the money originates.

What you’re listening for: a willingness to open the document and point at it. Commission should trace back to products bought and used by real end customers. A structure that pays primarily for enrolling more people collapses the moment recruiting slows, and is illegal in Singapore under the Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Selling (Prohibition) Act.

Question seven

“What am I not allowed to say about these products, and why?”

Every legitimate wellness company has firm rules here. Ask what the restrictions are and ask them to explain the reasoning.

What you’re listening for: immediate, specific knowledge. The honest answer involves not claiming a product diagnoses, treats, cures or prevents disease. If the person recruiting you doesn’t know the rules, they will teach you to break them, and it will be your name attached when that goes wrong. In Singapore, health claims in advertising are regulated by the Health Sciences Authority. This is a legal exposure, not a formality.

Question eight

“Who do I speak to at the company if I have a problem with you?”

Ask for the compliance contact. Write it down.

What you’re listening for: no defensiveness. Someone operating properly will give you the address without hesitation, because they don’t expect you to need it. A flinch here tells you more than the previous seven answers combined.

One last thing

If you ask all eight and the answers hold up, you still haven’t been promised anything. You’ve simply established that the person in front of you deals straight. That’s the floor, not the ceiling.

What comes after is ordinary and unglamorous: consistent hours over a long stretch, conversations that mostly end in no, and a skill set you build slowly. Anyone describing it differently is selling you something other than the truth.

Ask me all eight. I’d think less of you if you didn’t.

Lawrence Chan
Independent LifeWave Brand Partner, Singapore

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