- 3 -
others to join Melaleuca. The amount of commissions petitioners
would receive was determined by the number of individuals
recruited as well as the volume of products that these
individuals signed up to purchase from Melaleuca.
Prior to their involvement with Melaleuca, petitioners had
no experience in running a business. Despite this lack of
experience, petitioners did little to educate themselves in the
economics or logistics of operating a profitable business and
instead relied solely on the guidance provided by Melaleuca
insiders.
Petitioners hired their son to help set up and maintain an
accounting system on their home computer. Petitioners used this
system to track the income and expenses related to Melaleuca.
Petitioners did not, however, use this accounting system to help
evaluate their business or try to make it more profitable. In
addition, petitioners did not create or maintain any business
plan or budgets with respect to their Melaleuca marketing
activities.
Petitioners’ attempts to recruit other marketing executives
consisted of hosting gatherings of friends and acquaintances in
their home, where petitioners would present Melaleuca and try to
persuade these individuals to join. There is no evidence,
however, that petitioners advertised these gatherings by any
means other than word of mouth. Petitioners achieved limited
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 10, 2007