Orenda International promises to help you be your best self and to give you control over your time, finances, and career. But, is this just a marketing ploy? Let’s take a closer look.
Is Orenda an excellent opportunity? Orenda is probably not a good opportunity for most people. According to information on the company website, most Orenda distributors earn less than $403 a year. A part-time, minimum wage job pays more.
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Before you invest your time and money into the Orenda opportunity, it’s wise to investigate it thoroughly. That’s the purpose of this article.
In the company’s Notice of Income Averages, Orenda states; “Potential Marketing Partners are urged to conduct their own due diligence before deciding to participate.”
This article will walk you through the process of due diligence, outline what it takes to succeed with Orenda and help you determine your odds of success.
You must get this right. If you choose wrong, you may suffer humiliation, lose money and damage relationships.
Is Orenda a Good opportunity?
It depends on how you define opportunity. What does opportunity mean to you? The chance to make a killing? A few extra bucks each month or just a fair shot at improving your finances?
Read Why Affiliate Marketing is Better than MLM.
Orenda Will Cost You.
If you choose to become an Orenda Independent Marketing Partner, aka distributor, you will be investing your time and energy for months and perhaps years.
There is a genuine chance you won’t earn anything in return.
The only thing that is sure with the Orenda opportunity is that it will cost you.
Cool Your Jets
To help you make the best decision for you, please be as objective as possible. We, humans are a strange lot. We often make emotional decisions and later try to justify our decisions with logic.
Unfortunately, this approach typically leads to poor choices.
As you follow the logic of this article, please think like a businessperson.
If you decide to pass on Orenda, you could always come back to it. However, if you join Orenda and later discover it’s not what you thought it would be, your time and money are lost forever.
What Do You Expect from Orenda?
To simplify our analysis of Orenda International, we will attempt to answer a series of questions. The first question is, what do you expect from Orenda?
Before you commit your time and resources to Orenda, you must be clear on what you expect from the company and the opportunity.
- Do you only want to buy Orenda products?
- Do you want to earn a few hundred dollars a month?
- Do you want to replace your job?
- Do you want to create wealth for yourself and your family?
Take a moment to think about your answer. Write it down.
At the end of this article, we’ll revisit these questions to see if Orenda can deliver what you expect.
For now, let’s establish what we will search for as we conduct our due diligence of Orenda International.
- Is Orenda a typical MLM?
- Does Orenda provide the information we need to conduct proper due diligence?
- Does Orenda load distributors with product?
- Is there a refund policy?
- How much will the opportunity cost?
- How much can you expect to earn?
- What must you do to succeed with Orenda?
- Can you protect your client base and grow your business?
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Is Orenda an MLM?
MLM, also known as Multi-level marketing, network marketing, or direct sales has a troubling reputation.
Because many MLM companies promise opportunity but usually cause members to lose money, it’s worth determining if Orenda is an MLM.
Also, because of the horrid reputation of the industry, many companies will conceal the fact that they are an MLM.
On its website, Orenda does not describe itself as an MLM.
The Better Business Bureau categorizes Orenda as a privately-owned business offering “nutraceuticals, immune science, weight loss, and anti-aging services.”
A Manta listing shows Orenda as a “Pharmaceutical Products wholesaler.”
Orenda is a member of the Direct Selling Association. According to Wikipedia, the DSA is a lobbying group for the MLM industry, and 94% of DSA members are MLM companies.
According to the Orenda 2017 Consumer Notice of Income Averages, Orenda has 10 ranks, otherwise known as levels.
Also, Orenda has a profile on MLM.com and MLMLegal.com. SupplementPolice.com describes Orenda as an MLM.
What is Orenda?
In the Orenda Statement of Policies and Procedures, Orenda describes itself as “a direct sales company that markets products through Independent Bio-Marketing Partners.”
Not all direct sales companies are MLMs, but many of them are.
Near the top of their Statement of Policies and Procedures, Orenda indirectly refers to itself as a network marketing company when it states; “Orenda will have the most profitable Marketing Partners in the entire network marking industry….”
Network Marketing is just another name for Multi-level Marketing.
Orenda is a Multi-level Marketing company.
MLM’s Poor Reputation.
Before we continue with our analysis, let’s take a look at the MLM industry and its reputation.
Ultimately, we are going to determine if Orenda is better than the MLM industry average or just more of the same.
In the following paragraphs, I’m referring to the MLM industry and not Orenda. Later, we’ll compare Orenda to the MLM norm and see how it measures up.
False Promises.
MLM has a poor reputation for several reasons. The industry is known for dangling the promise of opportunity to lure people into buying over-priced products.
With most MLMs, the so-called “opportunity” is just a marketing ploy to trick people into buying a lot of products upfront and then buying more products each month through auto-ship.
People become distributors under the belief that they are building a business when they really are just customers duped into buying a lot of over-priced products.
Most MLM distributors will continue to try to succeed with the false opportunity until they become disenchanted or go broke.
Research published on the Federal Trade Commission’s website shows that most MLMs do not offer a genuine opportunity.
Promising an opportunity is how an MLM can sell $5 worth of vitamins for $75.
Less than 1%
Data gathered over decades and across hundreds of MLM companies shows that less than 1% of the people who try to make money with MLM ever earn a profit.
To be clear, let me restate that. Less than 1% earn a profit with MLM (Source: MLM Abysmal Numbers).
The odds are better in Vegas, and a part-time, minimum wage job pays more.
Product Loading.
Often an MLM company will load a new distributor with hundreds or thousands of dollars’ worth of product. Typically, maxing out the poor soul’s credit card.
Known as “Product Loading or Front Loading,” the new distributor usually cannot sell all the products and quits within the first year. She’s left with nothing to show for her efforts except a garage full of inventory and a maxed-out credit card.
A Closer Look at Orenda.
Now that we’ve established the averages for the MLM industry, let’s take a closer look at Orenda.
Does Orenda Provide the Information We Need?
It’s essential to determine if Orenda is trustworthy. As a distributor, you will be in a relationship with the company. You can’t build a relationship unless there’s trust.
First, let’s look at Orenda’s reputation.
I found only one Orenda complaint online. It was on RipOff Report. Although the complaint was lengthy, it was focused primarily on the behavior of the Orenda distributor and not the company.
Also, Orenda is a member of the Better Business Bureau and has an A+ rating.
As a member of the Direct Selling Association, Orenda must abide by a code of ethics. The DSA Code of Ethics requires that their member companies refrain from front-loading products and to buy back excess products from distributors.
Another benefit of Orenda’s membership in the DSA is if a distributor feels they have been mistreated by the company, they can appeal to DSA for help.
However, some member companies have sneaky ways of getting around the DSA Code of Ethics. We’ll have to review the Orenda Policy and Procedures Statement to see if they have given themselves a way around the DSA Code of Ethics.
You can read the Orenda Policy and Procedures Statement here:
Finally, as we’ll see in a moment, Orenda also publishes an earning history of their distributors. This is more than most MLMs will reveal about themselves.
At this point, it appears that Orenda is indeed transparent. However, that fact alone does not mean Orenda is a good opportunity or that it is right for you. Let’s dig a little deeper.
Orenda DOES provide the information we need to make an informed decision.
Does Orenda Load Distributors with Product?
As was mentioned earlier, product loading is when a company persuades a distributor to buy more products than they can possibly sell.
New distributors are usually targeted because they will soon quit anyway.
When they first join an MLM, a distributor is often very excited. In this state they are easily manipulated into buying a ton of products and charging it to their credit card.
If an MLM company doesn’t have a refund or buy-back policy, the distributor is stuck with the products and out the money.
Orenda addresses this concern in its Policy and Procedures Statement.
Section 4.11 of the Statement, boldly states; Excess Inventory Purchases Prohibited.
In that paragraph, we learn that Orenda distributors are not required “…to carry an inventory of products or sales aids.” Later in the same section, it states, “Bio-Marketing Partners are prohibited from purchasing more than $3,000 in products per month…”
But, the kicker in that paragraph is “To ensure that Bio-Marketing Partners are not encumbered with excess inventory…, such inventory may be returned to Orenda upon the Bio-Marketing Partner’s cancellation according to the terms of Section 8.2.”
In other words, when you ask for a refund, don’t expect to continue as a distributor for Orenda.
In Section 8.2, we learn that only 90% of the purchase price of the products will be refunded, and only if they are in re-sellable condition.
In the Orenda Compensation Plan video, we learn that there are three ways to get started with Orenda;
- Preferred Customer who just buys products.
- Affiliate (a Preferred Customer who buys $400 (discounted to $320) worth of product in a single month.
- Manager (a Preferred Customer who buys $2000 (discounted to $1600) worth of product in a single order or makes $2000 in sales over 3 months).
Although Orenda has a buy-back policy, there does appear to be an incentive to push a lot of product on a new distributor. It may not be product loading, but it’s similar.
How Much Will the Orenda Opportunity Cost?
According to Orenda’s 2017 Consumer Notice of Income Averages, there is no fee to join Orenda.
However, the Manager position requires the purchase of $2000 worth of product (actual cost after discount $1600) or $2000 in sales over 3 months.
Keep these dollar figures in mind. In a moment we’ll look at how much the average Orenda distributor earns.
Read the Orenda Compensation Plan for more information.
Can You Make Money with Orenda?
It is possible to make money with Orenda, although, most people don’t and only a very few earn a full-time income.
How much can you expect to earn?
We’ve established that you can expect to spend $1600 to be an Orenda Manager. Now, let’s see how much a typical distributor earns.
According to the Orenda 2017 Consumer Notice of Income Averages Statement, the median commission check paid out in that year was $40.30 for the year!
Forty bucks a year is a far cry from Orenda’s promise of helping you be your best self and gain control over your time, finances, and career.
The average income for all distributors who were paid was $2,810.46 for the year before deducting for expenses.
It’s important to understand that the income averages are based on only the number of distributors who earned a commission and also sponsored at least 1 person.
Because Orenda does not include all distributors in their calculations, the income figures are skewed upward.
However, even with this bias, the chance of success with Orenda looks dismal.
73.4% of Orenda Distributors who successfully earned a commission and sponsored at least one person earned an average of $403 for the year before deducting expenses. If they incurred only minimal expenses, they lost money.
8.7% of Orenda Distributors who qualified for commissions earned an average of $1272.56 for the year before deducting expenses. If they bought in at $1600, they clearly lost money.
Only the top 1.9% of qualifying distributors earned an average that might be considered a full-time income ranging from $25,000 and $85,000 for the year. On average, it took them 2 months to 7 years to achieve this level of income.
If we factor in all the distributors who are struggling to make the opportunity work, the top percentage of earners would be smaller. It would probably be closer to the MLM industry average of 1%.
The average Orenda Distributor would have made more money with a part-time minimum wage job.
Most Orenda Distributors earn less than $403 a year.
What must you do to succeed with Orenda?
Success in any endeavor is challenging and never assured.
However, according to the FTC, the failure of MLM distributors is much higher than other so-called business opportunities. Still, a few people do succeed in MLM, and, as we’ve seen, people succeed with Orenda too.
The thing to remember is success is rarely an accident. It’s typically a combination of preparation and perseverance.
The Orenda 2017 Consumer Notice of Income Averages gives us a clue as to what it will take to succeed with Orenda.
It defines the Orenda Distributor as an independent contractor, “…who has developed business management skills, cultivated relationships within the Orenda community and challenged themselves to become comfortable before individuals and groups.”
Across the board, successful multi-level marketers have the skills to build and manage a large sales organization.
If you don’t have these skills, you must develop them before you can expect to succeed.
Given the information we’ve discovered on the Orenda website, it’s not realistic for someone without MLM experience to expect to quickly succeed with the opportunity.
Also, if you do not have access to lots of health-conscious people who are willing and able to buy Orenda’s products, that will be another challenge.
A pattern among the distributors featured in the Orenda testimonials is they are associated with the healing arts. They are doctors, nurses, chiropractors, or natural healers. As such, they probably have a thriving retail business recommending Orenda products to their clients.
They may also have access to an extensive network of health practitioners who they can recruit into their sales organization.
It might take years to make your Orenda business profitable, so patience is also essential.
As with any business, there will be expenses. Do you have the resources to fund your business until it is profitable, even if it takes years?
As a minimum, success with Orenda requires the following;
- $1600 to buy in as a Manager
- The skill to build and manage a sales organization
- A ready market of health-conscious people willing and able to buy Orenda products.
- Access to a large pool of health practitioners
- Resources to keep your Orenda business afloat until profitable
- A thorough understanding of the customer who buys premium-priced health and wellness products.
- Patience and commitment
Can you protect your customer base and grow your business?
We’ve seen that Orenda Distributors who also have a health and wellness practice enjoy a distinct advantage.
Health practitioners also enjoy a captured market and the power of authority. When a healer recommends a product, the client is prone to try it.
Plus, if a health practitioner has a trusting relationship with their client, the client is more willing to buy only from the practitioner.
In other words, the practitioner has a protected customer base.
If an Orenda Distributor does not have an established relationship with their retail customer, the customer is less obliged to purchase only from them.
When considering a business opportunity, it’s helpful to determine why someone would buy from you and what barriers you might have to protect your customer base from the competition.
In the business world, this is sometimes referred to as a moat.
Just as a moat protects a castle from outside threats. The more your business is protected from competition, the better.
Looking over the Orenda product line, it obvious they are considerably more expensive than many competing brands.
For example, Orenda Eaze®, a blend of digestive enzymes and probiotics, costs $48. A similar product made by a well-known company is available on Amazon for $22. Less than half the price.
Why would someone pay you $48 when they can get something comparable for $22?
That is staggering competition. And, that doesn’t include competition from other MLMs or the competition you create for yourself when you recruit someone into Orenda.
An Interesting Experiment.
Search Amazon for products comparable to Orenda products. The price difference is jaw-dropping.
Orenda products are Non-essential.
As an Orenda distributor, if you do manage to talk a customer into signing up for auto-ship or joining your team, the moment they have budget concerns, non-essential expenses like vitamins will be cut.
This is yet another reason why success with Orenda is dependent on access to health-conscious people who can afford the products.
Although Orenda’s products are priced higher than most of the competition, there is a market for premium-priced wellness products.
Is Orenda Right for You?
We began our Orenda exploration with several questions. Let’s look at them again.
- Do you only want to buy Orenda products?
- Do you want to earn a few hundred dollars a month?
- Do you want to replace your job?
- Do you want to create wealth for you and your family?
Do You Only Want to Buy Orenda Products?
If you appreciate premium-priced health and wellness products, you can easily join Orenda as a Preferred Customer without risk.
As a Preferred Customer, your purchases are back by a 30-day refund policy.
Do You Want to Earn a Few Hundred Dollars a Month?
Based on what we learned from the Orenda 2017 Consumer Notice of Income Averages Statement, the Orenda opportunity is a lousy way to try to earn a few hundred dollars a month.
Most Orenda Distributors earn less than $403 a year. That works out to less than $34 a month!
In comparison, a part-time minimum wage job is golden.
Do you want to replace your job?
Replacing your job might be possible if you have the skills and other minimum requirements for success with Orenda and are prepared to work it for a few years.
If you don’t have the skills and minimum requirements for success with Orenda, it’s doubtful you will ever replace your job with this opportunity.
If you just want to make money and think you can talk your couch potato cousin into buying Orenda products, it won’t work. You’ll never build a business by talking people into buying expensive products they don’t need, can’t afford and don’t want.
Do you want to create wealth for yourself and your family?
While it may be possible to build wealth after you are successful with Orenda, it is a minuscule probability.
The top level of the Orenda compensation plan earns an average of $85,000, and the highest earner was paid $172,000. This may be a comfortable income, but it’s not enough to build wealth.
Is Orenda a Pyramid Scheme?
Orenda is not a pyramid scheme. It’s a privately-owned Multi-level marketing company that abided by the Direct Selling Association’s Code of Ethics.
Some critics of MLM describe MLM companies as “product-based pyramid schemes” because most of the company’s revenue is generated from sales to distributors.
Is Orenda a Scam?
Orenda is not a scam. Orenda openly publishes all the information anyone needs to make an informed decision about the business opportunity.
The Last Word on the Orenda Opportunity.
MLM has never been good for the little guy. Consider this, playing the averages, the Orenda opportunity costs $1,600 and returns $403.
Orenda International is more transparent than most MLMs. And, their refund policy is better than most MLMs too. However, the earnings are about the same as the industry average.
There’s a reason so many people fail with MLM. It’s designed to reward the few at the top at the expense of the many at the bottom.
We can see this in the Orenda 2017 Consumer Notice of Income Averages Statement.
For this reason, it seems that Orenda would be a poor fit for someone who just wants to make money. However, a health and wellness professional with a large client base and network to other professionals may do very well with the Orenda opportunity.
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The Last Word on the Orenda Opportunity.
MLM was born in the 1940s. That was 80 years ago, a time of black and white movies, chaperoned dates and polio epidemics. Back then, most homes didn’t have a television or a refrigerator, and doctors claimed smoking was good for you.
Multi-level Marketing doesn’t work for most people. It’s an antiquated and inefficient business model.
There’s a reason so many people fail with MLM. It’s designed to reward the few at the top at the expense of the many at the bottom.
MLM has never been good for the little guy.
We can see this in the Orenda 2017 Consumer Notice of Income Averages Statement.
Orenda International is more transparent than most MLMs. And, their refund policy is better than most MLMs too. However, the earnings are about the same as the industry average.
Remember, the founders of Orenda International did not create the company to help you make money. They created it to help themselves make money.
Consider this, playing the averages, the Orenda opportunity costs $1,600 and returns $403.
For this reason, it seems that Orenda would be a poor fit for someone who just wants to make money.
However, a health and wellness professional with a large client base and a network of other professionals may do very well with the Orenda opportunity.
We’re in the 21st Century now. Anyone with an internet connection has immediate access to the global marketplace.
If you want to make money as efficiently as possible, learn to leverage the internet.
With the proper training, you can build an affiliate marketing business with unlimited earning potential for about $50 a month.
Read Why Affiliate Marketing is Better than MLM.
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