The Next $1 Billion Direct Selling Companies

The Next Billion Company

Many Direct Selling Companies would like to be a Next Billion Dollar Company. A big statement. What does it take to be a Next Billion Company?  Lets analyze a number of Direct Selling Companies who have reached that milestone.

Our definition for a $1 billion company is $1 billion in annual sales or $83 million per month. NOT combined revenue for a number of years. For the statement Next we define the time frame as the years 2012 – 2016, so 5 years from now.

Below 9 companies sales are in total  $35 billion with 28 million distributors and an average annual revenue per distributor of $1,256. Without Forever Living Products, which number of distributors is inflated as you can sign up for free, the annual revenue per distributor is $1,705.

Most companies describe an Active Distributor as someone who ordered at least once a year.

RankRankCompanyRevenue 2010Total Nr. DistributorsRevenue per Distributor
1
1
Avon
$10,800,000,000
5,000,000
$2,160
2
2
Amway
$9,200,000,000
3,000,000
$3,067
3
3
Forever Living Products
$2,750,000,000
9,000,000
$306
4
4
Herbalife
$2,734,000,000
2,100,000
$1,302
5
5
Mary Kay
$2,500,000,000
1,700,000
$1,471
6
6
Tupperware Brands
$2,274,000,000
1,900,000
$1,197
7
7
Natura Cosmeticos SA
$1,884,768,501
1,220,700
$1,544
8
8
Nu Skin
$1,537,000,000
825,000
$1,863
9
9
Oriflame
$1,513,000,000
3,285,000
$461
10
11
Total and average
$35,192,768,501
28,030,700
$1,256

 

Counting with above figures, a Direct Selling company who wish to be The Next Billion company has to sign up, based on $1,500 annual revenue, approximate. 667,000 distributors. Based on the following sources we have compiled a short list:

  • Number of open countries
  • Social Media rankings
  • Alexa rankings
  • Corporate information
  • Field Leadership
  • Confidential information

The next companies are on the Business For Home shortlist, most likely a small number of potential Next $ Billion companies are Flying Under The Radar and will be listed in the future.

Your company did not make the list? Who could imagine that a company struggling to survive 3 years ago would be in massive momentum?: ViSalus. Maybe your company strikes oil. In Direct Selling every thing is possible. To quote World's Nr. 1 Top Earner Dexter Yager:

NEVER LET ANYBODY STEAL YOUR DREAM

 

The $1 Billion Short List: [private_platinum]

RankNr.CompanyOpen CountriesEst. Nr. Distributors 2011
1
1
ACN
23
300,000
2
2
Ambit Energy
1
150,000
3
3
BHIP Global
35
65,000
4
4
Gano Excel
100
500,000
5
5
Global Wealth Trade
150
10,000
6
6
Ignite
1
200,000
7
7
Isagenix
8
250,000
8
8
Lyoness
26
20,000
9
9
Market America
6
180,000
10
10
Melaleuca
16
600,000
11
11
Monavie
21
400,000
12
12
Organo Gold
13
150,000
13
13
Scentsy
5
40,000
14
14
Stella and Dot
2
30,000
15
15
Tahitian Noni
30
250,000
16
16
Talk Fusion
150
100,000
17
17
Telecom Plus
1
35,000
18
18
USANA
14
250,000
19
19
Vemma
50
95,000
20
20
Visalus
2
350,000
21
21
WorldVentures
20
100,000
22
23
24
25

[/private_platinum]

Become a Recommended Distributor

Direct Selling Distributors, they are active professionals, who love to team up with you!

Comments (29)

  1. i am betting that TriVita will be a billion dollar company before some of these others. They are now opened in 10 countries with 90 more to come before the end of the decade. They are the only company I know that can provide customers for the distributers, which they do through their co operative marketing program. They attract thousands of customers through their infomercials and this allows people to create downlines with more and more customers and thus create predictable and sustainable long term residual income.

  2. Hi Guys,

    Ted, you have done a great job with this exciting site and I normally read without commenting. I might be able to help people here as strategic leadership issues in our industry are my specialist subject.

    Your way of analyzing how companies develop is interesting yet NOT actually how it works and certainly bears no resemblance to how the $bil companies grew. I have advised 5 of them.

    Social media, Alexa…mean nothing as they do not correlate to revenues or sponsoring or attrition. Field leadership…how would you judge between leaders of different companies?
    Revenue per distributor…companies actually determine many different ways and ‘order per year’ could be a customer or retailer when only a sponsoring distributor provides the growth necessary

    Momentum in one country does not = momentum is the next. We see this with companies booming in the USA and failing in Europe or Asia. And you must produce sustainability, so booms do not turn into busts… ie recently Mona Vie, Arbonne, Agel, etc.

    Big international expansion exposes strategic flaws in systems.

    Only credible analysis is based on the history of those companies that made $bil+ AND kept there!
    1. are they pioneers of a major boom phase?
    a. 1st Pioneer Wave – 1950-1970s – Avon, Amway, Tupperware, Mary Kay
    b. 2nd Establishment Wave – 1980s-2000s – Herbalife, Oriflame, Forever Living, Natura, NuSkin
    This ‘Establishment Wave’ is only powerful in emerging countries such as China, India, etc.

    b. Do you lead a credible product category [it has size, sustainability and you have competitive advantage], forcing all others to position around you?
    Avon – value beauty
    Tupperware – home plastic
    Mary Kay – value cosmetics
    Forever – Aloe vera
    Herbalife – weight loss
    Nu Skin – premium health & beauty

    c. Can you create significant momentum & sustain it in a major market of the world?
    USA, North Asia, Brazil/S.America, Europe?

    I look at your list of potential candidates and wonder whether they have what it takes to last.

    The real question is ‘What is going to create the NEXT Global Growth Wave in our industry?’
    Not a company, product or plan….thats what I am focused on as it will decide who will be the next billion companies.

    Rock n roll

    Ed

    1. Ted, your credible analysis is mostly based on factual information and strategic thinking, instead of the usual “ha! ha! or the hottest product or company of the moment” mindset I’ve seen in the network marketing industry for years.

  3. Hey Ted,

    As always you provide interesting analysis here. While it is interesting to look at billion dollar companies, if I was to go for the money on this basis I would join Amway. I did this a coupel of times and failed miserable, losing friends and neighbours in the process.

    Unfortunately, I am no a mercenary, and I find I do better when I can align with the company mission. i do believe that passion for the products and what can be done to change the world with your products makes all the difference. It certainly ahs been that way for me.

    I am clear that my business is about alerting people to the dangers of invisible killers in the form of toxins. I believe that once people understand just how significant these are in destroying our health and creating chronic disease that the money wil flow in droves.

    So that is where I am staying. With a company that has a mission I can feel great being part of. It keeps me gong through ups and downs and connects me with some wonderful people.

    Just a thought. Work with something you can align your soul with and it will be easier to build that large residual income.

  4. Ted,

    Just wondering why Ambit Energy is not represented on your list of up and coming companies to hit a $Billion in annual revenues. We are 150,000+ strong in Independent Consultants and 700,00+ customers with an annual revenues over $700 million by year end. We are in a run rate to hit our 1st $billion in revenues & to hit out million customer milestone by the end of 2012. We are breaking records in and out of the MLM industry and should be represented here on your site. I love all that you do with this site.

    Kevin

  5. J Miller said it, Melaleuca will be the next billion dollar co. Because of their sustainable business model, and high retention , the probability of them maintaining that level of revenues is very high.

    Not sure about the next after Mela, but it will be interested to see if some of the current mlm darlings can maintain their growth and achieve the billion dollar level themselves. I like Ed’s comments above. It will be interesting to see how Visalus is received in international waters.

  6. Good Onya Ted another seriously Interesting article nothing more enjoyable than when your e-mails hit my In Box ,the leg work you do behind the scenes is great. Also Ted congratulations on the open approach and the individuals you allow us all to meet take the reply from Ed Ludbrook what a dynamic bit of writing and seriously informative. What I look forward to is Ed sharing with me the next ( X factor)
    before it hits. So if you read this Ed count me in and we can all party in the Bahamas as the soup kitchens start handing out IOU’s
    Cheers have a great weekend
    http://www.premierwellnesscompany.com

    1. Thanks and if predicting the next $Bil company was a science, I would have written that book years ago! The challenge is having the leadership to be able to evolve the company as it grows.

  7. Ted,

    Great job as always, I believe the more Billion dollar companies we have in the industry only strengthens the legitimacy of Direct Selling and the opportunity it affords all of us to enjoy.

    One company that deserves to be watched is Viridian Energy. I have been an independent Viridian associate since they opened for business in my home state New Jersey. Viridian is in the energy category much like Ignite and Ambit only doing business in the USA. Just finishing the two year mark Viridian?s sales will be over $200 million with less than twenty five thousand associates. Currently only selling ?green electricity? in six states and opening up the Natural Gas markets in January the companies market expansion is a slow roll out of new markets. Viridian can only do business in states that have deregulated energy markets; currently 18 states are deregulated for gas, electric or both. The federal mandate is that all states be deregulated by 2025. In the current foot print of Viridian?s markets there are well over 50 million meters for electric and gas. The potential is staggering; the customer count is roughly 170 thousand meters being served with Viridian?s 20%+ green energy. Viridian adds 20% environmentally friendly generated power to the grid above each states green energy mandate. The combination of energy deregulation, the green energy movement and the resurgence of direct selling in today?s economy will lead to long term growth and stability.

    Corporate leadership is in place, Michael Fallquist, Viridian?s Founder and CEO has already built another energy company before starting Viridian in June of 2009. Corporate field development experts with over a combined 50 years of MLM management are in place with long term contracts. Field leadership has developed a completely duplicable system that helps anyone build a business and with the three converging trends Viridian?s future is in a great place to join the ?Billion Dollar Firm? list.

    I know you put a lot of time and energy into your research and I really appreciate your work and opinions on the industry as a whole. I think Viridian deserves some watching over the next 5 years.

    Best regards,
    Bo Bowidowicz
    ?Coach Bo?
    https://www.viridian.com/coachbo

  8. ACN is expected to hit $1B in 2011. Its a no brainer that there is no comparision between product based companies and essential services based company. We are selling Oxygen. You can not live without Home phone, internet, cell phone, electricity, gas and you have to pay these bills every month.

  9. I agree with John G.! I found a company with a mission and a passion that’s contagious. One that I can believe in , trust the leadership’s integity and products that work so I’m sticking with MonaVie for life!

    1. I couldn’t agree more about MonaVie! I have been with them for over 3 years, make over 100K in commissions, loved the Ruby Fly-In my wife and I went on, and excited to Cruise for Gold in January. What a great company – just went to the event in Seattle and was BLOWN AWAY! Great company, great future!!!

  10. I am with a company called Plexus Slim that has been flying under the radar for the past year. This years 2011 August sales were 1.6 million which was more then what we did the whole year of 2010. I know we are far from your billion dollar companies listed above but we all started here with that hope of being the next billion dollar company. This coming January 2012 will probably be a blowout month as people start their dieting for the new year. I enjoy so much being with a company that we say is still in the basement. We have not even made it to the ground floor yet! The first 2 weeks of January will really tell the true story if our company will hit the big times.

    I’d like to see you do a report on the up and comers in the Direct Selling industry. I know there are some real jewels out there that are just sitting waiting to be discovered. When the right marketer and leader come on board some of these hidden jewels will take off. I love this industry because it gives the average person the opportunity to become wealthy. The biggest thing I find is trying to separate the real opportunities from the ones that are here today and gone tomorrow.

    I wish you all a Happy New Year and may all your dreams come true.
    Bill the Plexus Slim Guy

  11. Comparing Goods vs Service revenues.

    Your readers have to be clear about comparing ‘like with like’ when comparing sales of companies.

    Its much easier to achieve $bil with a service product [telecoms, gas, electricity] than a physical product [health, beauty, etc]. YET they are not comparable in opportunities because on margins are so different ie a Physical product will have 3 times or more margin or profitability.

    On pure revenues, the key ones will be ‘service’ companies – Telecom plus [uk], Euphony [Belgium/Neth], Ambit, Viridian, ACN, etc.

    That does not mean they are ‘bigger’ that a company with $250m product sales.

  12. Powerful Growth Surge !!! By offering impressive commissions on a service everyone uses,and providing a host of incentives for customers, it is easy to see why Ambit is quickly becoming a force in the industry. In 2010, Ambit was named the No.1 fastest-growing company in the United States by Inc. 500- an honor that few companies can claim.

Write a comment

Connect with