Herbalife
Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. is an American dietary supplement direct-selling company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company was started by Mark. R Hughes, in 1980, from his car trunk, after the tragic death of his mother due to an eating disorder, with a simple weight loss supplement. Soon, Hughes gathered up a team of independent sellers and shifted his business model to direct selling, to never look back again.
Over the next 5 years, what started from a tragedy and at minimal resources would become one of America's fastest-growing direct-selling companies, racking over $450 million plus in profits. Right now, the company operates in about 95 countries worldwide, employs more than 9900 people, has 4.5 million plus independent representatives, and has over 5.90 billion in annual revenue.
Although the flagship products from Herbalife are still in the weight loss market, the company has explored almost every health-related category over the years and expanded its circle of consumers. To amplify the brand's voice, Herbalife has sponsored many athletes, most notably Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, as well as different Volleyball and Soccer teams.
With effective marketing, countless business opportunities for ordinary people, and marketing that doesn't seem to fail, Herbalife is arguably at the top in the direct selling world, despite the huge number of controversies to its name.
Herbalife has a massive inventory of products for its independent representatives and consumers. Following are some of their most popular categories:
Core Nutrition
This category consists of 3 subcategories, each with products focused on fulfilling the body's micro and macronutrient needs to grow and thrive. Products from each of the three subcategories are often combined for maximum benefits.Healthy Weight
Healthy Weight is Herbalife's flagship category consisting of personalized weight loss programs, weight loss enhancers, protein supplements, etc. Herbalife makes more than 30% of its profits from this product line since it's the most popular and effective. These products sell like hotcakes.Specialized Nutrition
Specialized nutrition, as the name suggests, is a particular category that targets very specific areas like digestive health, heart, immune, male, and female health. However, it should be well kept in account that none of those are FDA-approved, so they should be used carefully.Energy and Fitness
The category consists of several product lines, including fitness, hydration, energy, and sports, and it has everything from workout and fitness drinks to nutritional drinks and anything else you need to stay pumped in the gym and on the field.Skin and Hair Care
Includes soaps, serums, and creams for daily use and special conditions like acne, etc., to keep the skin healthy, clean, and glowing. While this isn't anything new, the "special" botanical ingredients and less use of chemicals (per the company's claim) make these products effective.Herbalife's Compensatin Plan Type is Breakaway
The breakaway plan is used by Herbalife to organize their groups of distributors. In a breakaway plan, also commonly referred to as "a plan within a plan," the Herbalife distributors are paid in two different ways depending on if they have reached a "breakaway rank".
Once a Herbalife leader reaches the breakaway rank, she and her downline form a new unit where she will earn commission based on the rules for her rank. Some compensation plans have multiple breakaway groups that are formed as the distributor hits the rank goals. This is often referred to as a stairstep breakaway plan.