Tuesday, January 20, 2015

I'll start out by saying that I don't think what Smart Circle is doing is a scam because everything they do is legal. They're just a very shady and deceitful company and a borderline pyramid scheme. I worked for the company for about a year and got to see most of the ins and outs of the business. In my time with the company I was lied to and encouraged to lie all in the name of an "opportunity" that is really just a carrot on the end of a stick to keep you doing a sh**ty job for sh**ty pay for as long as possible.

If you're reading this you're probably already a past or present Smart Circle employee. All of the offices in their program go by different names and don't really advertise who their parent company is because of the negative reputation that Smart Circle has built.  For this reason most people have never heard of Smart Circle.

The Smart Circle higher-ups are rich because they have developed a system where they cannot possibly lose. The people who lose are the reps and even many of the owners. If you are one of the very few sales reps who become an owner, you set up your office with your own money. Smart Circle invests no money into your success yet takes a percentage of your profits.

If you take a job in a Smart Circle office the first thing you're likely to notice is that everyone there is very young, including the owner. In my time with the company I only met a handful of people over the age of 30. The atmosphere is very cultish with ritualistic shouting and clapping. This cult element is to get you excited to sell and keep you loyal to the company for as long as possible.

The job itself is just soliciting products either door to door or inside of retail stores depending on which program you work for. You annoy many people while "working the law of averages". You are also encouraged to stretch the truth a lot to get sales. I can think of about 5 different outright lies that I was encouraged to tell customers to get sales.

It's very long hours for very little pay. Employees work about 10 hours a day, 6 days a week with no overtime. The pay scale is about as clear as mud and meant to confuse you so you don't realize when you're being ripped off. 

 If you're reading this and you are a current employee, don't invest too much of yourself into this pyramid scheme. Get what experience you can from it and leave. Take it from somebody who is now out of Smart Circle that despite what you have been brainwashed to believe, there are much better opportunities out there. Don't drink thekool-aid.