The Arbonne Opportunity Presentation states that those considering being an Arbonne business builder should do their due diligence. Part of that due diligence is checking out the stability of the company. In the past Consultants who shared the Arbonne business handled this in various ways with the three most common being:

1. In the ancient days Consultants stated that Arbonne was debt free. This fact eliminated a significant amount of financial risk.
2. When this ended Consultants would list the years Arbonne had been in business. In addition they stated Arbonne was a financially solid company.
3. When Harvest Partners took over Consultants would refer to Harvest Partner's financial stability.

But all this ended with the current financial difficulties Arbonne is facing as they go through a "Reorganization" or what is legally termed a "Chapter 11".

So in light of the current situation how does a Consultant handle the issue of due diligence as it pertains to Arbonne's financial stability?

There is an Ally Bank TV Commercial where an adult asks a young girl if she would like a pony. She says yes. He takes a toy pony out of his pocket and gives it to her. She says thank you. He then asks the next young girl if she wants a pony. She says yes. He calls to a pony and a real life pony comes walking out. The first girl says, "You didn't say we could have a real one." The adult says, "You didn't ask!" The announcer then says, "Even kids know its not right to hold out on somebody."

The same is true when a Consultant shares the Arbonne Business Opportunity knowing Arbonne's current financial difficulties. To withhold information from a person that could alter their decision contains the same ethical load as lying to them. By withholding this information you prevent the potential business builder from knowing all the risks.

Now there is nothing wrong with risk. All businesses carry some risk. But risk, in order to be ethical, must be known by the person taking the risk. Even if I think it is worth the risk, this does not justify the ethic when someone else is making the decision for themselves and their family. The only way to justify the ethic is to give the full information to the person making the decision.

So the question is, "What is the risk to join Arbonne?" The answer, to be honest is, none of the Consultants in the field really know what the true risks are because none of them have seen the books. All the field hears is what they hear from Arbonne Corporate. So is that enough to satisfy due diligence?

When I was the Director of an IT department I would regularly receive calls from head hunters who were looking to fill a position that my skills set matched. If I was interested I would take the information the head hunter provided about the position and the company.

But my due diligence never stopped there. I never took a head hunter's word when it came to the financial stability of a company because there was a conflict of interest. The head hunter had a vested interest in making that company look as good as possible in order to get me to say yes, because my yes benefited them.

The same is true with Arbonne. Arbonne Corporate has a conflict because they have a vested interest and are naturally going to put the best possible spin on things to paint the brightest picture. And any one who is already a Consultant in Arbonne, who is building a business, also has a conflict of interest because they want what Arbonne Corporate is saying to be true and to work out because they have time and treasure invested in the process.

So in light of this what does an Arbonne Consultant who is sharing the Arbonne business need to do to meet the ethics of full disclosure? The following provides full disclosure and is the only ethical way to share the Arbonne business in the current environment.

1. State that Arbonne has been in business for over 30 years.
2. State that Arbonne is still a leader in the industry.
3. State that Arbonne is currently going through a financial reorganization.
4. To be accurate make sure to use the terms "financial restructuring through Chapter 11 Bankruptcy".
5. State that no Consultant has seen the books, and there has been no independent audit published.
6. And, in the Arbonne spirit, encourage them to do their own due diligence before they make a decision.

Any less than the above does not fulfill the ethical requirement for full disclosure of risk.

Once Arbonne files the articles of bankruptcy in US Court, this would give final proof that there is an agreement with the creditors as a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy can only be filed if the creditors are in agreement with the restructuring. So once there is an announcement that the papers have been filed with the court, this confirms the stability of Arbonne. Then it takes 45 to 60 days to complete the process. Once the process is complete, Consultants would no longer have to state #3, #4 & #5 listed above.  

What if you are on the other end of the conversation? What are you to do if you are being recruited by an Arbonne Consultant to do the business during this time of transition? Ultimately it is up to each individual. But there is one fact to keep in mind. You must know all the risk to weigh all the risk. So my advice is — Rah, Rah does not replace due diligence. Only facts provide due diligence.

See my updated post on Arbonne Restructuring through Chapter 11 Bankruptcy at: Arbonne Chapter 11 Bankruptcy & Restructuring Links.

See all posts on Arbonne Restructuring through Chapter 11 Bankruptcy at: www.voicewind.net/category/arbonne/arbonne-bankruptcy-arbonne/

© 2009 – 2010, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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