Direct Selling, as represented by DSA Member Companies, is a method of marketing and retailing consumer goods and services, based principally on face to face contact with customers.

Direct Selling owes its continuing success to the thousands of people of all ages who either want to be independent or to have a business of their own. It is particularly suited to women with family commitments as they can start a business on a part time basis with minimal start-up capital.

The great attraction of Direct Selling is that it offers a flexible earnings opportunity where you are in control of the income you generate. Whilst many people work their Direct Sales businesses part-time, others put in full time hours and generate a substantial income. Some companies offer the opportunity to earn from selling the product and others also offer team development programmes where you can generate further income from developing a team of other Direct Sellers.

• You should select a business that markets products which appeal to you and which seem fairly priced. If you are enthusiastic about the product yourself sales will be much easier to achieve.
• The appeal of company's product is much more important than the rates of commission and bonuses that are on offer. Reasonable commissions on easily achieved sales are much better than high commission on sales that are difficult to achieve.
• Look for an assurance that the business is a DSA Member. This gives an assurance that the business opportunity is legal and has agreed to abide by the DSA Codes.

The amount varies with nature of the product and recommended method of sales. With most companies the investment in a business kit and a range of sample products rarely exceeds £100. The law governing MLM does not allow an investment of more than £200 in the first seven days. The great advantage of any business opportunity in Direct Sales is that it is not necessary to buy goods before you have made any sales to consumers.

Never be tempted to buy more stock than you are certain to sell, nor be tempted to 'buy' your way into a higher position in the company's sales organisation.

You can run a substantial Direct Selling business from your home and do a certain amount of retail sales and recruiting on the telephone and the internet. However, Direct Selling is a 'people business' - it is all about establishing personal contacts and relationships and this best done face to face.

Compared with direct mail, where commonly only one in a hundred will respond to a mailshot, the response to Direct Sales or a proposition to join your business, is much higher – frequently at least one in ten. It does mean that to be successful, you need to talk to everyone you know or meet and that you have be able to cope with rejections!

It is possible to build a large team of other direct sellers and continuously loyal consumers. However, as with any business, personal contacts and regular customers need looking after. If you don't, you will lose them. Anyone who imagines they can build a sales team and then, with no further effort, retire on residual income is likely to be disappointed.

Not necessarily. Some new businesses, even if they are subsidiaries of successful overseas companies, do not always succeed in the UK. The most important consideration is your personal opinion of the products.

In many businesses that have been operating in the UK for 10 years or more, some of the most successful distributors are those who joined many years after the business was started. Direct selling companies generally market products for which there is an established demand. No direct selling business currently has more than a very small share of the total UK market for its products and so there is great potential for future growth at the expense of conventional retail outlets.

Direct Selling

Direct Selling is the sale of a consumer product or service by an independent sales Representative who are also some-times referred to as Distributors or Consultants. These direct sellers are not employees of the company rather they are independent contractors who market and sell the products or services of a company in return for a commission on those sales.

Network Marketing

Network Marketing is a way of doing business in which independent sales Consultants, Distributors and Representatives earn commission not only for sales of products and services they personally generate, but also from a percentage of the sales of others who they have recruited into the business. These recruits form a 'down line' of Distributors creating a hierarchy of multiple leveraged levels of commission.

Pyramid Selling

Direct selling or network marketing should not be confused with Pyramid Selling. Pyramid selling is illegal in the UK and many other countries and is a type of fraud which is disguised to look like direct selling. Pyramid selling is where recruits pay an admission fee to join the scheme to earn commissions on persuading other to join rather rather supply any real investment or sale of products or services to the public. Pyramid schemes do not offer contracts to participants, cancellation rights nor the opportunity to buy back unsold goods - all of which are required under UK law.