Network marketing usually conjures up images of stay-at-home-moms holding makeover parties with their friends, fitness freaks selling smoothies that are “guaranteed” to make you lose 20 pounds in 10 days, and burnt out careerists pushing the latest miracle fruit that’ll make you live past 100.
Solur is a little (a lot) different – at least in this regard.
These guys push solar panels, and they’re pretty hot right now. Does this mean I’m involved?
This video explains everything:
Make sense? Either way, here’s the full review on Solur (the company).
Overview
Solur’s website starts out with a ticker showing that they’ve sequestered over 5 million pounds of CO2 and counting, as well as a bold statement:
“We’re putting solar panels on 2 million homes by 2025. And we will pay you $1,000,000,000 to help us do it.”
They go on to state:
“The greatest transfer of wealth in history is happening right now as society trades dirty energy for a sustainable future. Powur gives you the chance to be part of the solution and create the life of your dreams.”
Pretty visionary, if it all turns out to be true.
The company operates out of – surprise – California, the hippie motherland.
They’ve got some HUGE partners too who have funding billions of dollars worth of solar projects with them. Google, Goldman-Sachs, Honda, Citibank, U.S. Bank…this is some Forbes level A-listers.[1]
It was started by network marketing whiz-kid Jonathan Budd. Dude is young but powerful. He started in network marketing at the age of 21, and within 3 years of navigating that world, he started a multi-million dollar company.[2]
He has one of the largest followings in the direct sales world, including 90,000 fans on Facebook. He built his first MLM up to 1,000,000 reps in a mere 78 days.[3]
Dude knows how to start a company and get rich, for sure. But do his followers?
Well, let’s take a closer look at this serial entrepreneur’s previous companies.
He founded Rippln a while back, which lasted barely a couple years before it totally tanked. They weren’t able to raise capital from investors (probably because they saw through the pyramid scheme), and they also came under attack from a trademark lawsuit.[4]
As he states on his fan page, Jonathan Budd doesn’t let obstacles and struggles stop him. A new company with his name attached to it, MyStand, started up a brand new company within months of RippIn’s failure.[5]
It very easily could have just been RippIn version 2.0, but we’ll never know, because no one ever heard anything more about the company past its initial launch announcement back in 2014.
So, not the best track record, but everyone can start over, right?
Maybe the third time’s the charm.
Product
Solur is a solar energy MLM, but to say that their product is solar panels is misleading.
They partner with SolarCity, a publicly traded world leader in solar technology. SolarCity manufactures and installs the solar panels, and their co-founder is no other than Elon Musk himself.[6]
So, Solur technically doesn’t have a product of their own. They do the lead generation/network marketing for another solar energy company.
SolarCity isn’t currently operational in all 50 states – only Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, and Washington. They have plans to continue expansion.
Already, they’ve installed in over 300,000 homes in the U.S., and they represent 40% of the residential market share, making them the #1 solar company in the world.
However, SolarCity is infamous for having a negative cash flow. They’re deep in debt…$3.246 billion as of June 30 to be exact. And it’s gone up since then.
Although after merging with powerhouse company Tesla, Elon Musk himself has vowed to pay SolarCity’s debt if need be.[7]
Still, they could be on shaky ground.
Opportunity
You might have noticed above that I mentioned lead generation.
That’s because, as a “distributor” for Powur, you don’t actually have to sell a single thing. Your customers never have to hand over a dime for you to get paid.
All you’re doing is getting people to sign up for a free proposal from SolarCity. SolarCity handles the entire sales process from there.
However, you do only get paid once the leads turn to an install, so in the end, your leads have to be quality enough to convert.[8]
Still, this takes a lot of the leg work out of network marketing. No product, no autoship, no closing sales and processing payments.
They boast not having a registration or membership fee to join as a “Powur Advocate” but, of course, to make any real money or training (which you really need in this industry), you need to upgrade.
A “Solar Certification” offers additional training and opportunities for $199.
However, there is lots of talk that it actually costs $500 to join and gain access to full compensation. WOW, that is quite a price tag. Since the company doesn’t have a product of its own to profit off of, I guess it has to really rely on membership fees from its distributors to make any money.
Not a very sustainable plan.
I also don’t like how shady their website is – not a word on how much it really costs to join, and no mention of what the compensation plan looks like either.
You need three qualified leads to be eligible for commission, which will get you a one-time payment of $75. After that, when your personally recruited members bring in three qualified leads, you get another $75 payment.
They pay out a 20-year residual for your customers (as long as you’re active), which is pretty good. Residuals are paid through a uni-level plan, and you get $100 for every 3 qualified leads. There are pass ups incorporated as well.
For every contract one of your leads signs, you get $250 – half paid upon signing of the contract, the other half upon installation. There are also rank bonuses and differential bonuses involved.
Recap
Honestly, despite a sort of shady past, this MLM is partnered with a solid company and offers a decent compensation plan. They also cut out a lot of the BS involved in MLM, from home parties to autoship.
But they replace some of that noise with the fact that you have to get people to sign up for a solar panel proposal AND hopefully sign a contract with SolarCity.
Even if you’re not actually closing sales, you’re gonna need some pretty baller sales skills for that. I mean, would you be easily convinced to give up your Saturday to listen to a sales pitch about solar energy?
What’s more, if you rely on a network of family and friends, that network will run dry real quick. After that, where do you go, without a real product to sell?
A lot of reps resort to door-to-door sales. Most people don’t have the stomach for that, and for good reason…it’s pretty much dead and completely unwelcome in the United States.
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While the solar industry has shown no signs of losing popularity, you have to remember that this company is still an MLM. They have a history of getting hot and then falling off a few years down the road.
If you like automated ways to build passive income, there are better ways.
(and you can trash those old MLM habits, too)
from MLM Companies
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