How to make more money in 2009

The dust has finally settled on the year that stumped analysts and turned the global economy on its head. Last month alone, Market Watch reported a loss of 580,000 jobs in the US, up from half a million in November. Global banks and companies are downsizing, recalling their expatriate workers from all corners of the world, millions of jobs have been lost globally, Filipino overseas workers are coming home to uncertainty, and consumers are further tightening their belts.  

Can it get any worse than the surprises of 2008? Nobody really knows.

“We are living in unprecedented times in terms of the economy and recession,” says Bob Briddon, Avon Philippines president and general manager. “Here, the effects are being felt already. We know that at the end of last year thousands of workers lost their jobs whether in Hong Kong, the US or Dubai.”

So what is one to do to supplement the family income or create new sources of income? Sell lipstick, according to three women who have made their dreams come true in the last five years. And if they can do it, anybody can — and you don’t even have to have capital to start your own direct-selling business.

Avon representatives begin as franchise dealers with their own creative beauty consultants to help sell the products and work their way up to sales leaders with downlines in the hundreds. All of them earn on a commission basis, by as much as 25 percent for the sales leaders. In short, the effort is directly proportional to the income — the more you sell, the more money you make. 

The question is, will women still buy lipstick and other cosmetics when they’re trying to bring down their expenses? Avon brand communication manager Faith Aranton cites a global survey done in 2004 that found out women “look at lipstick not as a luxury but as a necessity.” A necessity — like food. “There’s something about lipstick that makes women feel good and confident.”

“Traditionally, in tough economic times, Avon does really well,” adds Briddon. “More and more people are looking for opportunities.”

Mary Gail Ouano-Villafañe from Cebu City, Maritess Lim from Pateros, and Gebelyn Balajonda from Cabanatuan City are all Avon sales leaders. All three are excited about the year ahead and say that for certain they will earn even more than they previously did.

It seems almost unthinkable that a tube of Avon lipstick — costing from as low as P99 to as high as P499 — could be the answer, but for these women and for thousands of Filipinos who are with Avon, that is in fact the case.

Mary Gail says the biggest challenge for them in 2009 is to be creative in selling. “I’m excited about the future. I know that one by one, all my dreams will come true. When you set goals for your franchise dealers, they get challenged.”

She started selling Avon five years ago, when she was still in college. “I would buy Avon for personal use and for classmates. At first, nahihiya ako kasi baka sabihin ng mga kaklase ko, ‘Bakit siya nagbebenta, wala ba siyang pera?’”

She quickly got over that when she stated earning. After graduating from college, Gail did not even try to get employment (her dream was to be her own boss), but rather went into selling Avon full-time. “Three years ago, I was able to help my dad build his house, buy a car for myself, and treat my family to a local trip.”

Gail got married two years ago to her boyfriend, who had been working in Dubai for several years. After they got married, her husband thought of going back abroad but she told him, “There is money to be made in the Philippines. Let’s just grow this business to earn double.” And that’s what they have been doing. Now she and her husband manage about 500 to 600 downlines.

Gebelyn’s story is the opposite of Gail’s. It was she who wanted to work abroad to uplift her family, but her husband didn’t want her to leave. A high school graduate, she was a merchandiser for a Mercury Drugstore branch in Cabanatuan City. She knew how to sell — even something as basic as a new brand of tissue on the market, she had to explain to customers why it was better than others — but she never thought she would be selling for her own business. Her investment capital: P10, the price of a thick Avon brochure. She went to the service center to pick up cosmetics for personal use and the operator told her she had the potential to be a sales leader. That was three years ago. Since then she and her husband have been able to build their dream house and her target for this year is to buy a car.

Maritess grew up literally with Avon. A franchise manager, her mother has been with Avon for 33 years (since the Beautyfont days, the company that Avon bought out in the Philippines 30 years ago) and Maritess would go with her mother on the incentive trips she got from being a top seller. Despite being born into the world of Avon, Maritess resisted being an Avon lady. She became a pharmaceutical sales rep and a bank teller first. “Working in a bank, I was counting and counting money that wasn’t my own. Sometimes I’d work until 11 at night balancing the accounts. One time, a customer deposited a huge amount and I asked her what she did for a living. She said she had her own business.”

This made Maritess realize that she had the perfect entrepreneurial model in the family — so why look elsewhere? Her mother was a manicurist before she joined Avon, and today she has two service centers, 31 apartments for rent, and a number of vehicles.

What may be the best thing that direct selling has done for these families, apart from making them very rich, is that it has kept them together. Maritess’ father worked in Saudi Arabia for two years before he joined her mother in Avon; Maritess’ own husband is also an Avon man; Gail’s husband no longer needed to go back to his job in Dubai; and Gebelyn’s desire to work abroad was superceded by the income she was earning here.

Avon prides itself on being “the company for women,” but these days it is also turning out to be great for men. Even they can — and will — sell the intimate apparel in Avon’s catalogue, which is incidentally the No. 2 best-selling category next to cosmetics. “My husband knows a woman’s bra size just by looking at her,” says Maritess with a laugh.

Briddon says, “Avon is really the world’s largest micro lender. To start you don’t have to have cash outlay. Right from the beginning Avon provides credit.” The company “lends” to over five million reps around the world.

In the past two years, Avon Philippines has posted double-digit growth and Briddon says they have the same forecast for 2009. Unlike other companies that may scale own their advertising and promotions efforts, Avon is going to be more aggressive in promoting and getting new local endorsers (“It’s a celebrity-driven market,” says Briddon) to help its representatives push the products.

The world may be uncertain now — but women know that they always have their favorite lip color to make them feel and look good.

Not even the gloomiest forecast can take that away.