FAQs

Yes, we can. We have consulted with hundreds of companies over the last 30 years and have worked with almost every product and service you can imagine. With this experience we can tell you right away what your chance of success may be and share with you what others with like or similar products have done to be successful.

The initial consultation takes place at our offices in Scottsdale, Arizona. We will ask you to complete a questionnaire, prior to your arrival, which will enable our consultants to get acquainted in advance with your goals and objectives. From 3 to 5 of our top consultants will be on hand during the day to give you instructions. After some brief introductions we will ask you to talk about your business plans and products/services. Then we will make an agenda of all the important topics that we will want address during our day together. We want you to leave having answered all of your questions and this agenda will help us stay on task. That day we will take the posture that your company is our company and thus carefully analyze and explain what we would do to make it successful. We will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. The purpose of our detailed consultation is to prepare a “Road Map” for your pre-launch and actual launch, to help make important decisions about how to proceed forward. During the day we will order in lunch and other amenities for your convenience. At the end of the day you will take home notes of the meeting (which we provide) and other valuable presentations and information.

Yes, we completely understand and have expertise in all aspects of the MLM/Direct Sales industry. We can provide you with virtually everything you will need to launch your company — with two exceptions: Even though we know the legal issues involved in setting up a Direct Sales company and which compensation plan software is most desirable, (1) we are not lawyers and (2) we are not software programmers. But we can point you in the right direction and make the proper introductions to assist you in acquiring a topnotch legal firm and comp plan software provider. Also, should you require any specialized services beyond what we generally offer we can help guide you to the right vendors for anything additional that you may need.

Based on our initial assessment of your proposed project during our Phase 1 consulting day, we will provide a general evaluation of the cost of starting your MLM/Party Plan company. It should be understood that it is difficult to ascertain an accurate startup cost prior to the complete evaluation of your company assets such as office facilities, equipment, available time from present employees, etc. that can be directed toward this project. The cost of starting an MLM company is variable.

Our consultants are dedicated, full time, staff members with many years of experience in the business world. Some have even owned or operated MLM or Direct Sales companies and have hands-on experience with “what-to-do” and “what-not-to-do” in this arena. Our Executive Consultants have worked at over 100 different company projects, both national and international, for our clients over the years.

That all depends on your type of product or service, who your target market is and your ultimate goals for your company. In today’s marketplace we see a lot of companies that are more than just an MLM, a Party Plan or Direct Sales company. Many are a combination of the three. When we evaluate your unique situation we will be able to advise you as to the right marketing strategy for your venture.

Although the many of our clients are startup companies wanting to enter the MLM or Direct Sales arena, we also have many established companies who have consulted with us over the years — traditional retail companies who want to start a Direct Sales division or established Direct Sales/MLM companies who want to evaluate their current status and perhaps update their marketing or operations. Some of these include: Shaklee, Microsoft’s MSN-TV, Nu Skin, Amway/Alticor, Nikken, Time-Warner, Fuller Brush Company, and AOL — just to name a few.

The Sheffield Group has developed a powerful planning session to conceptually build a successful business model around your business concepts called the “Strategic Planning Workshop,” in which we will literally draw out the master plan for your business. This intensive one-day session generally includes discussions on: (1) The values around which the Company must be built; (2) Product definition, sourcing, costs, pricing and margins; (3) Marketing and compensation plan development (4) A plan for recruiting front line distributors and pre-launching the marketing program (5) An Awards, Incentives and Recognition program; (6) The Operations Plan and organizational chart; (7) The Financial Plan with Proforma income statements, balance sheets, cash flow analyses; budgets; and exit strategies; and much more than can be listed here!