Herbalife Business Opportunity Review

I have seen Herbalife described as one of the most respected MLM companies in South Africa. This is a little concerning me set for two reasons:  One HelloPeter contains some really poor reviews (granted, that may have more to do with the Independent Distributors than with Herbalife themselves) and Two I know someone who became really, really ill on Herbalife shakes.

Join me as I dig some more and present you with more information in this well-rounded and objective Herbalife Business Opportunity Review.  “Why objective?” you ask, well, I am not a distributor or member of Herbalife, this review is purely to research at the Herbalife Business Opportunity and decide if it is something we should be getting excited about.

Herbalife Nutrition Business Opportunity Review

Introduction and Summary

As I mentioned earlier, I am not an Independent Distributor or Member of Herbalife Nutrition. I am however, very interested in business opportunities, real ones where real money can be made and people’s lives changed.

MLM or Network Marketing is huge from what I can see, but my experience has shown me this is not the best business model around when it comes to building your own business and making money.

Herbalife Nutrition, as the name tells us, is a company focused on nutrition. According to their website they “provide high-quality and products and programmes which are focused on successful weight loss, improved nutrition, enhanced personal care and the opportunity for financial reward.”

When it comes to the Top 100 MLM Companies worldwide, Herbalife can indeed brag – they hold the position of number 4 with a revenue of US$4.9 Billion.  

Impressive, right?  But … does that bode well for you as a business opportunity?  Possibly a case of market saturation to be concerned about – that’s my first thought, anyway.

 

The Herbalife Business Opportunity Review

Thank you for visiting my site to have a look at the Herbalife Business Opportunity Review.

It is my absolute pleasure to bring this review to you because I enjoy learning about the potential business opportunities all around us.

Herbalife is well-known in South Africa, I have listened to the experiences consumers have had with the products and also watched the business model with interest. They have been clever in the way the product is positioned, literally tailoring the way products are marketed to the changing consumer landscape.

I have also read some really scathing reviews on Herbalife, Here is a headline taken from BBC.com

Dietary supplement firm Herbalife has reached a deal with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to avoid being labeled a pyramid scheme.

It is said that Herbalife was fined by the US FTC and the terms of the fine were that Herbalife was to “Reorganize compensation” so that Herbalife distributors are rewarded more for retails sales that for recruitment of their downlines.

This is a typical sign of a pyramid scheme, by the way.

The Pyramid Scheme label is a very serious one, pyramid schemes are illegal after all. Have the media made use of hype to sell their story or is this really the truth?

You are welcome to read the article and see what you think. For me it is a case of where there is smoke there is fire. If you are interested in becoming a distributor of Herbalife, I would proceed with caution.

Let’s get into what Herbalife has to say about themselves.

Herbalife describe their mission as one for nutrition since 1980. They go on to say that their purpose has never been more important, we can all agree with this, good nutrition is critical.

Looking at the numbers below, which are from 2018, after the 2016 legal saga with the FTC, the Herbalife meal replacement shakes hold the Number 1 position according to Euromonitor International Limited, there are 4.8 million protein shakes consumed every day, Herbalife achieved $4.9 Billion in net sales and 77.1 Million canisters of protein shakes were sold worldwide in 2018.

Seems they bounced back quite well after their ordeal with FTC in 2016.

Overview: Herbalife Business Opportunity Review At A Glance

NAME	Herbalife
WEBSITE	https://www.herbalife.com/
PRICE	See detailed pricing options in the review
FOUNDED BY	Mark Reynolds Hughes
FOUNDED	February 1980
CEO	Michael O. Johnson
OVERALL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY RANK	4/10

The Good & the Bad

The Good:

Pro #1 Herbalife have been in business since 1980 so they have some serious staying power

Pro #2 The Herbalife products are aimed at one of the most lucrative markets around, that is weight loss & nutrition

Pro #3 Distributors can work from home

Pro #4 Distributors can work their own hours

Pro #5 By all accounts, it seems their product offering is sound

The Bad:

Con #1 The legal history of this company is a concern

Con #2 Herbalife is in a highly competitive market and I did not see any compelling evidence that their product is superior to their competitors

Con #3 Earning potential for distributors is also not proven, it appeals that the top 1% are the real earners within the organization (this by the way is not uncommon in the MLM and Network marketing Industry)

Who is Herbalife For?

Herbalife have positioned themselves as a brand who are concerned about health and nutrition. They are in a highly competitive industry because it is one that the general world populous are concerned about – health and nutrition. They position themselves as the perfect business opportunity for people who want the following:

• Freedom to work to their own schedule
• Freedom to work from their home
• The opportunity to create “their own” business (let’s face it, as a distributor, you are never really running your own business)
• The opportunity to earn large amounts of money

Herbalife Tools & Training

Herbalife offers in person training and seminars in addition to online webinars and video’s. The online world has absolutely made it so much easier for companies to train their teams. I could not access the training on offer to share here so will share a screen shot from their website stating what they offer:

 

Herbalife Business Opportunity – How It Works

Below are some screen shots which explain, very briefly, how the Herbalife Business Opportunity works. I do appreciate the way it is abbreviated into 4 short steps. We know though, nothing worth doing and truly profitable is ever just 4 short steps, there is bound to be a learning curve (product, sales techniques, market etc) before you even get to Step 1 of buying the products at a discount and moving to Step 2 where you sell them at a profit.

The next two steps are also very simplified, at least they do speak of working hard and gaining experience before building and coaching your own team. 

Step 4 speaks of “… earning a commission on every transaction” this tells me that in order to really benefit from the “business opportunity” you would need to recruit and build your team.  Recruiting people as your downlines is a whole different world and much more challenging than selling product yourself. 

(Ever heard the expression “it’s like herding cats”?  Yeah, that is what you could expect).

---

Herbalife Business Opportunity Pricing

For the life of me I cannot find how much it costs to join Herbalife as a Distributor, I even signed up as a Distributor to gain access to the amount needed to invest and become a Distributor! Let’s see if my new “Sponsor” will shed some light on the have seen numbers bandied around on the internet of anything between $50 to $100, let’s take it as that for now. 

(I say new “Sponsor” because I doing joining for research purposes only, aint no way I am keen to join an MLM)

So the idea is that you spend between $50 and $100 on product which you are purchasing at a discount and then selling them at the retail price to generate an income for your new business.

I have noticed in my environment that Herbalife is promoted as a weight loss solution and nutrition for athletes too. In South Africa it is not uncommon to see exercise classes, Bootcamp in the Park for example, mushrooming up in the suburbs.

These are often hosted by Herbalife Distributors. How qualified the Bootcamp trainer is as an exercise facilitator or coach remains to be seen.

There are also weight loss groups promoted by Herbalife Distributors. So you go in, meet the leader and the group, have weekly meetings where you are weighed and measured and of course you are sold the Herbalife shakes to take as meal replacements twice a day as your weight loss method.

I have no doubt this works so long as you don’t overeat for the one meal you are allowed.  It is also a great way to sell the product to a captive market.  I’ve also seen badges and car stickers that say “Lose Weight Now.  Ask Me How” and I am sure these are Herbalife Distributors.

As I said earlier, they have been very clever in the way they have positioned and marketed the Herbalife product.

I see there are also sponsorships for top athletes such as Cristiano Ronaldo – his is the only big name I have seen there, though I suspect sponsoring this well-known man is probably quite a hefty figure for Herbalife to pay out.

Overview: Herbalife Business Opportunity Review At A Glance

NAME	Herbalife
WEBSITE	https://www.herbalife.com/
PRICE	See detailed pricing options in the review
FOUNDED BY	Mark Reynolds Hughes
FOUNDED	February 1980
CEO	Michael O. Johnson
OVERALL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY RANK	4/10

My Final Opinion of Herbalife

From a product perspective, my expectation is that Herbalife’s products are sound – based on their research and the highly qualified people they employ.

Herbalife ensure that the product does not contain any banned substances for the athletes taking the sports’ nutrition products and so on.

Really, from a product perspective, I believe that Herbalife are working hard to produce and sell top-level products. I say this even though I have personally known one person who became ill on Herbalife shakes, this was possibly a rarity, perhaps he had an allergy to one of the ingredients? It could have been anything.

Herbalife’s website goes into great details about the scientists and nutritionists in their employ. They speak about high quality ingredients which are “nature-inspired formulas” and how “Herbalife quality meets the highest standards set for the industry today.” Their advisory board are a team of respected scientific experts too.

From what I see Herbalife are doing everything possible to produce top quality products within their niches.

When it comes to Herbalife as a Business Opportunity, I would not rate it highly.

From everything I have seen, it is possible to make money from Herbalife, probably as a side gig to make some extra cash.

I would not recommend Herbalife as a dinkum, full-time business opportunity.  Not one that would allow you to resign from your job, earn a six figure income in USD, travel the world etc.

What I would recommend is that you take advantage of this day and age where you really can build your own online business – which is legitimately your own business. You choose which niche you want to work in and you can work from anywhere in the world, so long as you have a computer and an internet connection.

If you are keen on becoming an entrepreneur and building a business that is your own, allow me to guide you to my Number One Recommendation.

I hope you have enjoyed this review of the Herbalife Business Opportunity. Leave me feedback in the comments section below, I love hearing from my readers.

Love & blessings always