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I am trying to get general commercial liability for a business I am starting in Ontario, Canada. I just got a quote saying that they require me to be added to my supplier’s insurance. I don’t see why I need to be mentioned on the supplier’s insurance when I am buying the product and reselling, I am not working for the supplier. I am working independently, as a wholesaler, you could say. Will this be a hastle, will the supplier or his Insurance have lots of questions for me, or is it standard?
Thanks all!

Right. Your supplier probably gets LOTS of these requests, to add the retailer as additional insured – vendor. MOST if not ALL of the businesses he sells to, will be requiring this.

You are buying the product and reselling. If the product is defective, and there is a product liability lawsuit involved, you want cover under the supplier’s policy, not yours.

Most insurance companies will REFUSE to give you product liability coverage, if your supplier doesn’t have any product liability coverage, or won’t add you to their policy.

As a wholesaler, you WOULD be named in any lawsuit for a product liability case.

We would be using telescopic poles, so there would be no possible ladder accidents. I asked about Business Insurance at some insurance companies and they said that they don’t give insurance for a period less than one year (the business will run only two months, July and August). So, do I need business insurance? Will it be difficult to get customers without it? What would happen if we caused property damage by accident?

Every business should have General Liability Insurance. If you do something that causes somebody to think it is your fault, an insurance company insuring your business will do the following:

1. They will provide legal defence for you. Attorneys can be very expensive.

2. They will pay for any of your wrong doing covered by the policy up to the limits of the policy.

3. Give you peace of mind that if you do get sued you will not lose your financial life.

If you don’t have any personal assets and some clients is willing to hire you without you having any insurance coverage, then by all mean, go without.

If you are doing window washing as a student during the summer and you DO NOT have a business using a DBA. Then I don’t think I would bother with insurance as an isurance company would not issue you a policy anyway. However, if you lose customers because of NO INSURANCE then it might benefit you to go legal and get a DBA and Insurance.

If you caused some property damage without any insurance, you should pay for it out of your pocket. However, it might be covered by the homeowners policy but don’t count on it.

Primerica Financial Services is a financial services company that is structured through the MLM business model. Representatives can earn either by selling various financial products and services like life insurance, mutual funds, variable annuities, segregated funds, loans, long-term care insurance and pre-paid legal services or by actively recruiting more representatives to do the same and get a commissions from their sales. Using an MLM business model to sell financial services might draw some criticism, but so far, it has paid off well for Primerica. But if you’re reading this article, then I suspect the bigger question is whether it will pay off well for you too.

The Company

Primerica, whose headquarters are located in Duluth, Georgia, is a subsidiary of Citigroup, which by itself, should ease concerns about whether this particular MLM is a legitimate business. Citigroup simply has too much at stake to risk involvement with a dodgy subsidiary to tarnish it’s name. Primerica has gotten a lot of criticism for aggressively recruiting just about anybody to become a representative (a hazard of using an MLM business format), but the products and services sold under the Primerica name are, by all indications, legitimate.

The Compensation Plan

For this review, let’s focus on Primerica’s best-known product, term life insurance, which is sold under the Primerica Life Insurance Company. This is probably why a large number of agents enter Primerica Financial Services to begin with.

Entering Primerica costs $199, which is reimbursable upon passing a licensing exam. The commission on a sale of term life Insurance is 25%. The representative who closes that sale gets the bulk of the commission but has to split the rest among people in their upline.

As with any business structured around multilevel marketing, you are paid commissions based on your sales level. Selling Term Life Insurance policies on your own is a hit or miss proposition. So to improve your chances of getting significant income from Primerica on a regular basis, the smart representative turns to recruiting new reps so he or she can receive an override from their sales. The more people you recruit (who actually close on sales,) the less actual personal selling you have to do to receive a greater income.

The Verdict

Primerica gets a nod for being a legitimate MLM business. But like any other MLM business opportunity, success comes only to those who have the proper set of skills to keep their business growing until residual income kicks in. Primerica’s idea of recruiting the average Joe into their sales force is great in theory, but one occasionally runs into problems when recruitment standards are thrown out the window completely. Still, it seems to be working out well enough for both Primerica and those dedicated representatives willing to put in the time and work involved.

If you’re considering a Primerica business opportunity, take a close look at your “warm market” of family and friends (who will probably be your first prospective recruits). Then ask yourself honestly if they’d be willing and able to actively sell term Life Insurance. Even with the proper training, some people are just not inclined to get into that kind of thing.

In short, you need to ask yourself if you could replicate the success of people higher up in the company. That’s a question only you can honestly answer. If you have any doubts about being able to sustain the level of recruitment needed to keep this particular MLM business opportunity growing, then keep your options open. There are thousands of business opportunities that might be a better fit for you.

But if you’re really serious about getting into Primerica and if you’re really looking to expand your marketing efforts from a different angle, definitely take a look at the largest marketplace on the planet, the Internet. If you can figure out how to market to the 1.6 billion people on the web each and every day, you more than likely will skyrocket to the top of the leader boards of Primerica or any other MLM business you get involved with for that matter.

Brian Horwitz
http://www.articlesbase.com/franchise-articles/primerica-mlm-business-reviewed-1147761.html