$4,800 wholesale not a full store in Mary Kay?
The greed exhibited by directors and national sales directors in Mary Kay Cosmetics is insane. How this company can continue to pretend to “enrich women’s lives” is beyond me.
There is now an even bigger push than ever for recruiters to get consultants to buy the largest inventory packages in Mary Kay history. $4,800 wholesale is being promoted as “not even a full store.”
The reality is that Mary Kay “stores” should be smaller than ever. Technology has made it so that products can be received in 3 days from Mary Kay Inc. Let the company warehouse the products, and only order them when absolutely needed. Plus, with the rapid changes in products, having smaller inventory should be a goal for all consultants and directors.
Yet we know that is not how the game is played in Mary Kay. Small inventories mean small commission checks for the upline. Units are built on those initial orders, and everyone knows it. It’s even taught in the first training a director receives in Dallas.
This complete disregard for the good of the consultant is what makes the Mary Kay scheme so evil. Recruiters and directors leverage their “experience” in the business to convince the new recruit that inventory is necessary for success in Mary Kay. Reality shows just the opposite.
Here’s one director’s justification for pushing big inventory orders:
Wow I can’t believe how a $4800 isn’t even a full-store to me. Ok it’s great for the average Consultant working her business part-time and holding 1 appointment a week but if you are moving up then I can’t imagine this is enough products to service your clients unless you are ordering every week to replenish.
No wonder when I did my mid-year inventory count that I keep $14000 wholesale on my shelves. I want to have what my clients need so that I can deliver or mail same day.
I have heard some Consultants make statements like… I want to find out what my clients need before I stock it. My thought… that will be too late. If they want it and I don’t have it, then they have to wait. Can you imagine Wal-Mart not stocking items because it doesn’t sell every day. They have some items that sell just once a month or less but they stock it for those that may need it because they don’t know when we will need it! If we have products listed in our Look Book and on our Websites…. then someone may buy it!
If you have items now in your inventory that you have not sold…. then show it! It hasn’t sold because you have tucked in the back of your store under the cabinet. Would anyone buy shoes that were in the back corner hidden away? Everything in our product line has been proven to be a hot seller by someone…. if not, they would be moving it to close out. Learn about that product, so you can be a Consultant. Show the product, so it’s in the front of your store. Put it on sale, so it will move out and make room for more.
Remember that WE ARE BUSINESS WOMEN AND CONSULTANTS!!! If you had a professional business analysis evaluate your business…. what areas would they recommend changes? Better time management to work more effectively. Mary Kay always told us to WORK SMART, NOT HARD. Better money management to gain more profits from your efforts. What business doesn’t understand the concept of buy low and sell high. Do you take advantage of every free product offer? Are you monitoring your Sec 2 spending? Can you use more Sec 1 for your testers? Better marketing of YOU and your products. Do you just show the book and expect to sell $400 to one person like you can when you hold a makeover or party? I could go on and on…
If you need that business analyst, then call your Director or National! This is what we do for ourselves and for YOU…FREE OF COST TOO!!! Remember that we want your success as much as you do…possibly more than you do!!
Today is INDEPENDENCE DAY….ARE YOU LIVING AN INDEPENDENT LIFE OR ARE YOU TIED TO YOUR BILLS, YOUR JOB, YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES? WITH MARY KAY, YOU TRULY TRULY TRULY CAN BE INDEPENDENT!!!!
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If I had had a “professional business analysis” evaluate my MK business, probably the first thing they would have told me is to get the heck away from Mary Kay. Plus, I wonder if the director writing this meant to say business analyst. I know it’s picky, but the little typos in “professional” documents written by these directors make me cringe. A true professional proofreads even when they use spellcheck.
“If you had a professional business analysis evaluate your business…. what areas would they recommend changes? Better time management to work more effectively.”
I am a professional business ANALYST and consultant. I would never, ever recommend that anyone spend close to $5000 on inventory without being really, really sure they can move it ALL within 90 days. I especially would never recommend buying $5000 in inventory the way I have seen it described, with someone else ordering it for you and buying a wide swath of the product line that may not be appropriate for (or attractive to) your immediate customer base. “Investment” into inventory is generally something that should be done AFTER you have a defined and proven target market, and are confident in their ability to convert inventory into cash in a short period of time. And I would NEVER advise my clients to purchase large amounts of inventory on credit if they could possibly avoid it.
Inventory is technically an “asset” on a balance sheet but as I tell my clients, you can’t pay the electric bill with your inventory. You MUST have cash. Cash is king. If you spend cash to buy product you must be able to convert that product back into cash rapidly. Otherwise, DO NOT buy it. Exhausting cash reserves or going into debt to buy inventory is NOT a “time-management” technique!
And no, I don’t believe the “people won’t wait for product” line either.
last week’s meeting our NSD said 4,000 WS is not enough! She says her directors are required to have 7-10,000 WS inventory, period. WTF?
there is product being faced out (at least in Canada): tinted moisturizers, cream eye shadows, spf lipglosses, foundations, and some pencil makeup stuff among other things