I’ve talked about party plan as a way to make money before. I have done it myself, both hosting and demonstrating. This month The Body Shop asked me to host a party (which will be on the 31st August) and talk about it. I am actually going to interview my demonstrator, Katrina Marshall, in another post and on YouTube.
Benefits of party plan
There are many reasons a lot of people turn to party plan as a side income or business:
- Flexibility: You essentially choose your hours, it can be worked around kids, another career or anything else.
- Uncapped earnings: You can earn a little or a lot. It can vary greatly but if you are a good salesperson you can often earn more with party plan than you would at most part time jobs which work around other things such as kids, school, sports and so on.
- Easy start up: If you compare party plan to starting your own business from scratch, party plan is cheap. You can start for pretty much nothing, work off your kit quickly then work as much or as little as you want. Plus there is lots of help and training available for free to help you build your business (or hobby).
- Extra income: If you need extra money but can’t get a part time job for whatever reason (husband does shift work, kids schooling/extra activities, other commitments etc.) then party plan is a great way to earn extra income.
Cons of party plan
- Pressure sales: Your income is based on your sales. It can be really hard to essentially pressure people into sales. Many people go to party plan parties with no intention of buying or to just buy the cheapest thing to support the host. As a consultant you need to increase the sales and basically pressure people into spending more. If you are not good at sales or don’t feel comfortable doing it, then you probably won’t have high sales. I am not saying you won’t have decent sales, just it might not make you as much money as other consultants say they earn.
- Going into strangers homes: Not everyone likes dealing with complete strangers and going into their homes. You have no idea what the party, attendees or location will be like.
- Confidence: With party plan you need to be confident. You are demonstrating product, trying to convince people to buy it, dealing with strangers and often working odd hours. You need to be confident in yourself, your product and in increasing sales.
- Varied income: There is no guarantee you will make sales at every party you do. I know of one person who used to do a different party plan and she sold only 1 mascara at her worst party ever. Of course she made significant amounts at other parties, but you can get dud parties. You don’t know from week to week how much you will earn, it is not a steady income. BUT you do have the ability to take on extra parties, earn more and if you are good at sales increase your income easily.
So how does party plan work?
With party plans you join, get your kits, do a launch party and work off your kit, at the same time as getting trained, once your kit is paid for it’s all profit.
Join and get your kit
For example with The Body Shop you pay $299 for over $1,000 worth of product and needed stationary/business then you host a launch party. Kits from party plan businesses usually contain a selection of the most popular products. Depending on when you join there can be extra specials too, such as bonus product for a limited time (The Body Shop has a cute tin with extra product worth $160 for free until the end of August). When I did party plan I scored over $1,000 worth of product for free in my first 2 weeks which I still use.
Do a launch party
Your launch party is similar to hosting a party, you invite all your friends and family where it is announced you are doing party plan, although of course you also let everyone know beforehand that this is what you are now doing. Your launch party is also part training. You don’t just get given your kit and then told to go off and do parties without any training!
Work off your kit
Since kits come at a discounted price, or completely free for some party plans, you do need to earn it by way of parties. A percentage of sales or a set amount is used to cover the cost of the kit to ensure people don’t just sign up to get the free or cheap product without actually turning it into a side income.
Your launch party is the best time to try and clear your kit, get high sales, learn and book future parties. Often if you get $800 or so in sales your kit is fully paid and anything you earn after that goes straight to you!
Training
After joining and while working off your kit you will get trained. Usually you do a few parties with whoever you signed up under to learn how to do it, tips on increasing sales and securing bookings, how to use and effectively demonstrate the product, games, ordering and more.
No one expects you to know everything straight away, so training is essential if you want to make money.
There are various meetings you can and should go to each week where extra tips are shared, you meet other consultants/managers and so on. There are also often free products, competitions and more. It was at one of these meetings I scored $500 worth of free product which came in very handy at future parties and increased my sales. Going to all of them might not be practical, but do try to go to the big ones.
Profit
Once your kit is paid off, you’re trained up and doing parties it is all profit. It can be very easy to spend the profit on product because of the great price you get it at and different specials but try to be smart about it.
The amount you earn with party plan depends on you and your sales. You need to be comfortable encouraging people to spend and be a good salesperson to get high sales. Even if you’re not right now, training helps. Some parties might only be $300 parties which can still give you a decent amount for the 2 or so hours it takes to do the party. Other times you can sell over $2,000 in product easily. Average parties are often about $600 – $800 in sales which becomes a couple of hundred dollars in your pocket.
More than parties
Party plan has a little more work that the 1 – 2 hours for the actual party. You have your training, paperwork, reporting your earnings, placing the orders, planning/booking the parties, consulting with hosts and things like that. A party might only take 1 – 2 hours (if you are quick and don’t get caught talking and people place their orders quickly for you), but you can spend a few more hours a week placing orders, following up with hosts, training meetings, paperwork and so on. But it still works out to be a good income if you are making average sales each week.
Is it worth it?
Honestly, that is up to you. It can be if you like dealing with people, are confident, do the training and actively seek out more parties and increasing sales. It can be a great way to make money in the evenings and on weekends around other commitments. It was worth it when I did it because I also wanted products. I worked off my kit, won prizes, earned free product and was actually planning on using what I earned to buy the other items I wanted but I made profit on top of that as well.
Party plan is not for everyone, but it can be a great way to make money on the side or even turn it into a full time business with all the perks.
Have you ever done party plan?