Want to lose weight and make money in the process?
Well that’s what you will be able to do with this company and I would like to give you more details on this, especially if you are considering this as your next business venture.
This review will help you understand the company and its overall business model so that you can see if this is the right business for you.
I am not affiliated with this company, so you can expect an unbiased opinion from someone who does have MLM experience but is not trying to get you to join me, like you would find with other Optavia reviews.
With the many health and wellness home based businesses out there, what makes this one any different and why should you even join?
There are so many questions that don’t have a lot of answers on the actual site, so let’s dig a little deeper and we shall see if this is really “the one”.
Don’t forget to checkout my #1 recommended work from home program for those of you who are not into recruiting.
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Optavia Review
Name: Optavia
Website: www.optavia.com
Price: $199 business kit + additional product costs
Overall Rating: 2/5 stars
So What is Optavia?
Probably the hardest business to understand, due to its many trademarks and business names and partners that the company is associated with, as well as no real indication of who owns the company.
This review took a lot of research and studying just to grasp what everything is about, but I have done enough to give you the most basic understanding of what you need to know before you get started.
Optavia is more of a direct selling company, in which its members get compensated through sales, rather than recruiting others in order to make money like a traditional multilevel marketing biz requires.
So if you’re wondering what Take Shape For Life or Medifast is and why you see them on their site, it is simply because they are partners, aliases, and the change that happens with a company that is fairly new.
I also believe that they are doing away with the Take Shape For Life name and sticking with Optavia, as the domain www.takeshapeforlife.com is now being redirected to www.optavia.com.
The company targets the health and wellness niche, but its main focus being in weight-loss and weight management.
With Optavia, they stay away from the whole “consultant” and “individual business owner (IBO)” and they refer to the person who got you to join as a “coach”.
In a traditional MLM business, this would be what you call an up-line.
There are 4 components that they abide by and they include:
- The Octavia coach, guides, and support
- The habits of health
- The Optavia community
- Fuelings and plans
There are many outdated reviews that will be different and that is because a lot has changed since their start back in 2016, so you won’t find better information elsewhere.
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The Products
There are many products that they refer to as “fuelings” and there are 60 different meals now, compared to the 30 that they used to have.
With your coach to guide you in the right direction, you are advised on several meal plans that utilize these products, with their 5&1 plan being the most common.
For maintaining weight and a different diet, they also have the 4&1&1 as well as the 3&3 plans that can cater to your specific wants and/or needs based on age and other factors.
You will also take a short quiz that will tell you what plan best suits you.
As far as food is concerned, you can expect your typical granola bars and shakes but you also have pancakes, mac n cheese, as well as other regular old dishes that you can choose from.
Have I tried them?
Nope, but they sure do look good!
Then again, you will be the one preparing them so also keep in mind that you will be needing to buy some meats and veggies to compliment these dishes.
The Price
To get started with Optavia, you will NEED to purchase a business kit, which is going to cost you $199.
Yeah it comes with a nice little hydroflask, but this does not include the fuelings, so you will need to purchase them separately and that will start at $356.
So if you plan on joining Optavia, be expecting to pay no less than $300 every month on meals, which is definitely not going to work well with households that have more children like myself.
Not the most affordable business for the small guy, but it is what it is.
Want to See How I Make Money Without MLM?
The Compensation Plan
Optavia has three primary income opportunities, which correlate to the three levels of competency in their business plan.
Based on these three things, you are able to earn income through ten different avenues and you can see everything below.
A. Client Support
- Client support commissions
- Team building
- Leadership development
B. Team Building
- Client acquisition bonus
- team growth bonuses
- Fully integrated business coach bonus
C. Leadership Development
- Executive director generation bonuses
- Elite leadership bonuses
For every person you personally sponsor into Optavia, you will earn a 15% commission of their personal volume.
Now obviously a compensation plan for everything mentioned above will require a lot of information, so you can refer to this page for more information but you can also see the little chart below to get a basic idea of what you can expect with your personal referrals.
Pros & Cons of Optavia
Pros:
- Can make you money
- Promotes better health
Cons:
- Kind of pricey
- Requires recruiting to make any money
For those of you not interested in direct selling or network marketing, you might want to try something like Wealthy Affiliate, which involves actual selling of other company’s products to gain a commission but without you having to ask someone to join you so that you can make money.
Who This is For
Anyone really looking to start a network marketing business and who could also use a program to help guide them in to the right direction of losing weight.
You might think that this will be a great fit for anyone looking to improve their health but when you really think about it, all you are being supplied with is food that you can already buy on your own but at a much higher price.
Now with an up-line/coach that will keep you on track, this might just be a worthwhile investment.
If you’re like any normal person, you will lose focus on your exercise routine, your portions are uncontrollable, and that is why you gain weight in the first place.
If you don’t have the money, you are better off downloading a free diet/fitness app, following a routine, and portioning the food you eat.
Add some exercise into the mix and you will lose weight that won’t come back as fast as they do when you consume something involved with weight-loss.
Moderation, moderation, and more moderation is what will get you to stop putting on those unwanted pounds.
Optavia Complaints
Every company always have complaints and that is only because we as humans in the modern world are very quick to call out things we don’t like.
The obvious one would be the monthly price.
If you can’t afford that (and not many can) please don’t get involved with something like this and then complain about it later.
There is also complaints about the customer service being crappy, but I haven’t seen anything negative about the actual products from Optavia, which is a great thing.
Other than that, its members seem happy with the products and most see results, so if you are looking to lose some weight and make some money in the process, I think this will be a great guide for anyone who can afford it.
So is Optavia a Scam?
This is definitely not a scam and is nothing more than a company with weight-loss products that allow the little guy to create a personal business of their own.
Optavia is legit and I would recommend this over any other j-o-b out there.
Add this with some awesome network marketing training and you can definitely become a better network marketer than you think.
There will always be negative reviews about MLM companies but don’t let that stop you form trying to do something differently as that is the only way for you to get ahead.
Optavia might not be for everyone but it is definitely a legitimate company.
Is Optavia Right For You?
There are many things you need to consider before joining Optavia or any other network marketing company for that matter and I would like to highlight some of them for you below so that you can make a wiser decision on your own.
- Can you afford it?
- Are you into the products?
- Is this the niche you want to get involved with?
- Can you commit?
- Why are you thinking about joining Optavia?
These are some of the things you need to think about before joining and you will pretty much tell yourself if Optavia is the right company for you.
Do know that there are hundreds of other MLM companies that YOU can get involved with so don’t let the person talking to you about Optavia get you to join something your’e not really interested in doing.
I have a niece in a company called It Works, which provides those wraps to help you lose weight and she is as skinny as a toothpick.
How that works, I really can’t explain.
Join something that can best suit you and not them.
Make sure you can afford the monthly payments as you are most likely going to have to wait a while before you can start making any money back from your investment.
Finding the best network marketing business is dependent on you and trust me, there is always a product and company that you will love so don’t limit yourself.
Recruiting is the name of the game, so if you can not convince others to join you in this new venture, you might want to go with something like affiliate marketing, which requires 0 recruiting.
Conclusion
Some people may think that MLM is not for everyone, but I think otherwise.
If you want to make network marketing work, then make it work, but don’t try to come up with excuses as to why you can’t make money with MLM.
With programs like My Lead System Pro that offer training on how to kill it within the industry, there is really no excuse as to why anyone can’t make it big in the network marketing world, so get with the program and make it happen.
Other than that, I hope this Optavia review has helped you get a better understanding of what they are about and what they really bring to the table (no pun intended).
Is this company something you see yourself doing as your next business venture?
Only you can decide, so think about things before committing to something that requires quite the investment.
Thanks for reading and good luck!
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I appreciated this blog. It helped me weigh the pros and cons to determine… Where do I go from here
I find the plan VERY expensive, just like Jenny Craig and other programs. My daughter is on it and her month’s worth of food is $400+. Since feeding the three of us normally ran $500 a month, nothing has changed with our grocery bill, but now SHE pays an additional sum almost equal to our normal grocery bill. With that said, the program IS working for her. However, I am trying to find out if it has any bad medical effects, since day before yesterday, she woke up with an infection inside her foot and an eye that was red and swollen and the doctor could find no normal reason for this. To our knowledge, Optavia is the only change made in her living thus far.
Thanks for this review. One clarification, you do not have to buy any fuelings to be a coach. The only required spend is the $199 sign up fee, which provides you with your own website and all the resources you need to support clients and run your business. After that it is $99 annually. If you try the fuelings you will probably want to buy them but it is not a requirement. I have been a coach for 4 years. I am always looking for ways to spend money for tax write-offs since the overhead is next to nothing. There are trainings you can attend but again nothing mandatory.
It also might be worth noting that you do not carry inventory as a coach, people buy online and it is shipped directly to them. They buy their food and your coaching is free to them, there is no additional cost to them for that.
I never intended to be a coach as I started this program as a client. I saw such a huge turn around with my health (severe autoimmune disorder) that I couldn’t help but want to help other people feel better too. The comp plan is awesome and we make good money for helping people but the most rewarding part is being a part of people’s life transformations. Nothing like it. I would do this even if I didn’t get paid. 🙂
Thanks for the clarification Matia!
John, I like your review of Optavia, however there a couple of points I would like to add. My SO is a coach for Optavia so yes I am a little biased, but I try to keep a neutral perspective.
The $300/month price might seem costly, but you’re missing the fact that you wouldn’t be buying groceries, alcohol, or fast food. The Optavia meals replace that. Actually the most popular plan includes one meat/veggies meal per day, so let’s say you’d be spending at least 67%-90% less on groceries each month. Even if you had a big family, you should still be spending less as it’s one less person (you) to feed. Most of my SO’s clients are mothers with multiple children living at home.
The other confusing part is where you said “requires recruiting to make money” but that is incorrect. Your chart shows you can make 31% on direct sales. There is no need to recruit more coaches- although it can certainly boost your potential income.
Anyway thanks for the honest and helpful review! I hope you understand my two clarifications.
Thanks for the clarification Matt!
Love Optavia! My wife is a coach and I am her co-coach!! We both are down about 35lbs and loving the fuelings.
That’s awesome Hugh! How is the overall business side of things going for you?
My wife and I have been on Optavia for a year and be both lost weight. She got to her goal weight, but I did not because I didn’t follow the plan 100% of the time. I also know several other people that have done well on the plan and kept the weight off. However, I biggest problem is the customer service is awful. We continually would get things that we didn’t order and not the things that we did order. They would always give us the options to send it back however, it was a big hassle and then get them to verify that they received took weeks. If we wanted to push our order back because we still had plenty of meals. They would still charge our credit card. You call customer service and it was always the same story. It is already being processed in the warehouse and we will try to stop it. This would NEVER HAPPENED. Order was shipped and credit card charged and now 3 weeks to get the money back in our checking account. This happened on several occasions. Can you lose weight on it, yes? The hassle of dealing with customer service and always having problems with the order and our bank account being charged I decided to cancel my account. Couldn’t afford having $400.00 always out of my budget when they would mess up.
James- That is not at all what I have experienced. I have returned items and was promptly reimbursed. I have always found the customer service people to be helpful and friendly. Not sure why you had so many problems. I had one item missing on one order. When I called in they shipped it immediately and added a bonus to my shipment. I know the company has added a new warehouse in the west and changed the name in July 2017. The main headquarters also moved to a larger building as the company is growing by leaps and bounds. It is understandable that there would be a few glitches during such a massive endeavor. Hang in there!