Lilian Mido, 35 is a mother of three and has been a multi-level marketer for close to a decade.
Ms Mido has seen ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ of the marketing model simply referred to as MLM. In her first stop, she sold supplements, with promises of a good return.
She threw in all her might into selling the products, touring different parts of the country, but the returns were nothing to write home about.
Then she moved to another one with its headquarters based in East – Asia and offices here, it was a case of same script different cast. Just when she was about to throw in the towel a year ago, she learnt of Angel Fashion Accessories, a franchised MLM company from South Africa.
Angel has taken the multi-level marketing model a notch higher in the country. Unlike the approach where the marketers nag you half of the time, Angel has improvised a subtle but highly effective way.
Catherine Gakonyo, the local coordinator, explains, “I was in South Africa and I saw a lady wearing amazing jewellery, naturally I inquired.
She produced a catalogue and the cost of the ornaments were amazing. That was the first time I heard about Angel.†She sent several samples of each design to her friend Elizabeth Wachira, who had a soft spot for jewellery, Wachira was to later become her business partner.
With an assortment packed in a box, Ms Wachira approached her family members friends, and women groups to interest them but the sales were not impressive. It is not until she decided to be a walking billboard, that she hit a jack pot.