MLM sent  a shudder through me. That was true for me for many years when I felt that it’s a scam. I reckoned that I felt this way because of various negative reports about pyramid scheme during a period of time. When did that happen, I could not recall but probably quite a long time ago.

This negative association continued until I read briefly on an investment by Warren Buffet on MLM company. If the world best investor is into MLM, then there must be something I don’t know about MLM. It was then that I first knew about Best World, the only direct selling company listed in SGX. Without much knowledge, I bought the shares in 2009 even as its sales were dropping. Then,  I felt it was a temporary problem and dividend yield was good. Held on to the shares, bought the rights and continued to accumulate but things got worse and when their best market in Indonesia tanked, dividend was cut as the group hardly made any profit. Finally sold out at a loss of about 11k in 2013.
It was then a friend called me out to introduce me to Amway. After attending to an introduction presentation and finding out more about its business model, I decided to have a go at it. While I am not very used to the use of NLP during the seminars, my perception of MLM has changed. I think the business model is highly scalable and one can achieve success if he put in sufficient effort in it. To cut the long story short, I was a passive member for two years and decided not to renew my membership as I was not putting it as my priority. I might one day re-join Amway when I decided to have a go at having a business.
While I have divested from Best World in 2013, it was still on my radar. Last year, I read about its improved performance and decided to purchase a small stake in it again. I accumulated more with the release of its 2015 results. The share price just rocketed after it released its 2016 1Q results. And of course it is with joy that I read that the company received its direct selling license in China.
I am now clearer of Best World business after reading its past 12 years annual report and the various analysis done by valuebuddy Boon. The presentation by its COO during a recent investment seminar also provided me a better insight of the company.
This is my experience with MLM companies and Best World. In the next post, I will share more on what I know about Best World business.
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