Friday, November 9, 2012

Fuller Brush Review

The Fuller Brush Company is one of the legends in the direct selling industry having been a part of the American business landscape for over 100 years. The company was founded in 1906 by Alfred C. Fuller, a 21 year old entrepreneur from Nova Scotia. Fuller began by creating custom made brushes of all shapes and sizes, which he built on a workbench in his sister's home and sold from a suitcase door to door. Over the years, the company became a fixture in the American cultural landscape, even spawning a song about the Fuller Brush Man.

Through the years, the company has seen significant growth and now headquarters out of a modern production and shipping facility in Great Bend, Kansas. The Fuller Brush name is still easily recognized by consumers everywhere and a new generation has been introduced to the company through a regular household cleaning segment featured on one of the major home shopping networks.

The Fuller Brush product line consists of over 2,000 unique items withe primary focus being on household cleaning and personal care. The company has worked vigorously to create a cleaning solution for every room in the house. This includes specialty cleaners, brushes, brooms and mops for every imaginable use. The product line is bolstered by the inclusion of the product line from Stanley Home Products, a subsidiary of the company.

The business model adopted by Fuller Brush is a classic direct selling model. Distributors receive a base discount rate of 20% that they are charged for product, as their product sales increase the discount also increases. Once the distributor sells their product at retail price they get the difference between their current rate of discount and the sales price as profit. As the distributor adds members to their team, the sales volume of their group pushes the rate of discount even higher, with the highest levels of discount being 55%. A distributor also receives the difference between their level of discount and the level of discount obtained by a producer in their MLM downline. Fuller distributors are also enrolled as Stanley Home Products distributors, allowing them to pull sales volume from both product lines. Sales can be made via personal presentation, company replicated web site or catalog purchase.

The company utilizes a stairstep compensation model for their distributors. Distributors move through 3 tiers of activity in the Fuller Brush System, beginning at the Sales Associate level, progressing to the Manager level and finishing at the Director level. Each advancement in level has a sales volume qualification attached to it. This sales volume can be self-generated personal volume (PV) or it can be group generated volume (GV) based on the combined efforts of the distributor and their sales team. In addition to the retail profits, you will find other bonuses and incentives awarded for production volume.

For a potential distributor considering The Fuller Brush Company, there are several distinct advantages that may be very appealing. The longevity of the company and the familiarity with the company name are certainly two of the most apparent advantages. The company and product line up take little explanation as there is already a high degree of brand awareness. Other advantages are the relative low cost of products, startup and business building tools. Additionally the opportunity to represent the Stanley Home Products line is an added positive feature.

A potential distributor should also consider some of the challenges in this type of business. Those would include the need for a substantial amount of sales volume required for a Fuller Brush distributor to create a high level of income. The need to build a deep organization or to develop a high volume customer base would be crucial to achieve and keep a consistent degree of sales volume.

As with every business opportunity, anyone looking to build a profitable Fuller Brush business needs to learn the basic principles of building a successful home based business. This would include such things as personal branding, lead generation, follow up and team replication.

No comments:

Post a Comment