The title of this post came about because of the number of times I have heard Becky tell me that someone is interested in joining her Usborne Books & More team but needs to talk to her husband first. I understand the importance of discussing things with your significant other, but when this happens it seems like more often than not the response ends up being “He doesn’t think I should do it” or “My husband won’t let me.” This leads me to believe the husband doesn’t have all the info he needs to understand the true potential of the opportunity in front of them. Usborne Books & More has had such a positive impact on our family that I feel compelled to share a few reasons why I am supportive of my wife being an Usborne consultant.
The Company
The first thing that impressed me about Usborne Books & More is their history and how established they are. The parent company Educational Development Corporation (EDC) was started in 1965. Their direct sales business was launched in 1989 and formally became Usborne Books & More in 2008. They are not a start-up company that will be going under any time soon.
EDC is a publically traded company under the ticker symbol EDUC. Being a public company carries a lot of credibility with me because it means they are subject to regulation and auditing and financial data is publicly available. The good news is their financial performance has been impressive over the last few years after they stopped selling their books on Amazon in 2012. The Usborne Books & More division has posted 36 consecutive months of net revenue gains over the same month the previous year. The number of consultants has also grown to over 23,000 as of May 2016 compared to 8,000 in May 2015. Compare that to the 3.5 million Mary Kay consultants and I can see that there is tons of room for the company to grow. Right now seems like a great time to jump on board and ride the wave as the company continues to expand.
The Product
The books are amazing. They are extremely high quality, engaging and essentially sell themselves. But what is the best part about books? You don’t have to convince or sell someone on why they should buy books. Every parent knows the importance of reading to his or her children. This is a big advantage over other products like oils and nutrition products where you have to convince someone why your product works and why it is better than the other similar products that are out there.
Low Risk
I am pretty risk adverse when it comes to money which makes being an Usborne consultant attractive. Did you know that according to the U.S. Small Business Administration the average cost to start a business is $30,000? That is a lot of money to put on the line to start something new! The cost to get started as an Usborne consultant is only $75 which is much more manageable for me. With that initial investment you get everything you need to get started including books, catalogs, order forms, etc. There are also no monthly minimums or inventory requirements which allows you to work your business as much or as little as you like.
Flexibility
When you are an Usborne consultant you have a ton of flexibility. There is flexibility in the ways you can make money with Facebook parties, home parties, book fairs and fundraisers. You can also set your own hours. Whether it is nights and weekends so you can still keep your regular 9-5 job or working during the day so you can spend more time with your family in the evenings, the choice is yours.
Passive Income
This is the most exciting part of the business to me, but I put it last because making passive income is not possible without first having the other items discussed earlier. Passive income gives you the ability to stop trading your time for money. If you currently work a regular job like me, earning a salary or hourly wage, what happens when you stop going to work? You stop getting paid. The beauty of passive income is that you can earn money without being directly involved in the transaction or spending your time to make that money.
I’ve already seen this happen in two ways with my wife’s Usborne Books & More business. The first way is through building a customer base that continues to re-purchase books. You make the connection with your customer once, through a party or event for example, and that person makes an order. They get their books, obviously love them and continue to make purchases from you in the future when they want more books. You had to work to make that first sale, but the follow on sales are essentially automatic or passive. A great example of this that I remember happened when my wife and I took a day off to take the kids to Sea World. My wife got an email saying she had a new order and she says, “I just got a random order!” When I asked who placed the order she said it was a customer she had previously sold books to at a booth event a few months ago. So even while we are taking vacation my wife is still earning commissions. This was a big eye opener for me.
The second and most impressive way to earn passive income is through building a team. When you are having a party or event there will inevitably be people that want to learn more about how you are making money selling books. When they decide to join your team you have the potential to make money on your team’s sales in addition to the commissions you make on your own sales. This is where the income potential is truly unlimited and can start to increase exponentially as more team members join and your team continues to grow.
These are a few of the reasons why I “let” my wife be an Usborne consultant. Hopefully it will motivate a few other husbands out there to let their wives start building a business to financially help their families as well! What do you have to lose? In the worst case you end up with some books for your family or to give as gifts. In the best case you make some money, get some of your valuable time back and start working toward financial independence. Click here to get started!
-Jeremy Launder, Husband of Usborne Consultant