Wondering if ACN is the right home business for you? I’ve put together a high-level overview of the pros and cons of the ACN opportunity. Anyone could make a more demanding list of the pros and cons, but I wanted to write from a person who studied and analyzed the compensation plan, met the top leaders, and watched the business grow from zero to over 100 in the last ten. months in Bozeman, Montana.

Pro #1: Consumable Market

ACN is the world’s largest direct seller of telecommunications services that is more or less a consumable product. The main service is the digital videophone service, but it has also expanded the product line through wireless services, Internet, satellite television, home security and energy. All of these home services are basically essential to the modern home, and people are already customers. They pay their bills every month to some company. It might be you too. You can be the provider of home services for a wide range of customers in 21 countries.

Pro #2: The management of the company

ACN’s second professional is the company itself. The company is built on integrity and this permeates everything from training, contracts, communications, promotional materials and operations. ACN was founded in 1993 in Michigan and has grown from a company that sells long distance services to a global company that offers essential home services in many different markets. Basically, ACN has been around the corner. However, it has only penetrated a small portion of the home services market. Therefore, ACN has a lot of growth ahead of it.

Pro #3: The business model

ACN has built its business around network marketing. There is no better compensation plan than network marketing because it rewards top salespeople as well as team builders. In direct selling, you can sell whatever you want, but at the end of the day, you have to keep selling to earn a commission. If you miss time from work for any reason, you cannot sell and you cannot earn commissions. Network marketing is different. What’s the same is this: You learn the business first, like you do in any job, and then you turn around and train others, like in any job. Here is the special difference. In network marketing, you are rewarded for being a great coach. In the corporate world, people are afraid that other employees are doing better than they are. Supervisors don’t want their subordinates to overshadow them. It makes them look bad. It becomes political. In network marketing, you love the fact that your downline is successful. It just creates a happy team and better business relationships.

I promised you the cons of ACN and I hope that helps you decide if ACN is the business for you.

Con #1: The Compensation Plan

If you’ve researched online or talked to people at other network marketing companies like Usana or Rodan and Fields, you’ll hear them say negative things about ACN’s compensation plan. The facts are these. ACN competes in the highly competitive retail telecommunications space, which is perceived as a low-margin business. Compared to other network marketing opportunities, ACN’s compensation plan has a commission structure that is more rewarding as you build a deep team. Other network marketing opportunities may be structured differently and reward you with large up-front commissions. This leads to the next scam.

Con #2: You have to build a great team

I’d say this downside should scare off a lot of part-timers. You have to build the ACN business. An Independent Representative will need to meet several personal sales goals along the way to qualify for commissions, and commissions are earned at the deepest levels. So you’ll need to have reached your personal sales quota (it’s not hard) and have a large team that has many customers at those levels to earn significant commissions. Over time, a committed professional can achieve these goals, but it will take the average person a few years to achieve these goals. I describe an average person who can recruit one or two dedicated people a year. Furthermore, the assumptions used in this article are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to imply that they are typical. Success as an ACN Independent Representative is not guaranteed, but is influenced by each individual’s specific efforts. Not all Independent Representatives make a profit and no one can be guaranteed success as an ACN Independent Representative. Given this statement, a person who does not want to build a large ACN organization will not find the business financially rewarding.

Con #3: Customer Acquisition Bonuses Reward the Fast Builder

You have to build fast to earn properly titled fast start bonuses. The initial income comes from these customer acquisition bonuses related to the customers of your downline representatives. Residual income doesn’t come into play until you have a large organization. Obviously, if you don’t sign up reps, then you can’t earn any bonuses from your customer acquisitions. Even if you sign up a really great person and really grow the business, you may not see any bonuses unless you are one step ahead of them. Basically, ACN’s compensation plan is fair. Rewards dedication, performance and salesmanship. The bonus plan is set up correctly. Reward the people who are building the business. There isn’t much of anything for people who don’t do anything except great training.

So, in short, if you’re interested in leveraging your skills developed in long-defunct network marketing programs, or ready to introduce your skeptical spouse to the same business model you discovered, there’s no better company than ACN. One time products are sold by themselves. In fact, most people already use the product on a daily basis and, in some cases, cannot live without it. However, if you are not interested in building a large organization, ACN may not be for you. You might consider one of those GO Go juice companies that have wider margins, but tend to go out of business after just a few years.