|
Shop at Home with Richmont Direct
By Kellie Underhill
| Beth Rossit displays some merchandise |
|
| Click to Enlarge |
Meet
Beth Rossit. She
has a wonderful home business where she meets interesting people, tries great new products
and sets her own work goals and hours.
Beth is an Independent Direct Sales Consultant for Richmont Direct.
| Click to Enlarge |
|
| With Richmont Creations you can put your own photos on items like this charm bracelet. |
When she decided she wanted to start her own business, Beth researched
on the Internet, looking specifically for opportunities she hadn’t heard of that weren’t already available in
New Brunswick. When she stumbled onto Richmont Direct she knew it was for her.
“I wanted a home-based business where I was in business for myself
but not by myself,” Beth recalls. “So, that appealed to me. I wasn’t starting something up all by myself.
It was a low start-up cost.”
| Click to Enlarge |
|
| Beth carries lots of high quality jewelry like these earrings. |
She’s been in business since March.
The biggest part of what Beth does involves going to people’s homes
for product demonstrations or home parties. She shows her merchandise to customers and the hosts or hostesses earn
free products by having a party.
She currently has four product lines.
One is a line of cookware, entertaining supplies and bakeware called “A
World of Cooking.” This line features products from Sur la Table, a company that’s been around since 1972.
“It just happens to be Oprah Winfrey’s favourite kitchen store,”
Beth says. “So she promotes it on her show a lot.”
|
| Feelings of Christmas |
“Feelings of Christmas” is a nice line of Christmas collectibles,
decorations and ornaments.
“The gentleman in charge of putting our catalogue together is Wayne
Manus,” Beth says. “And he’s decorated the White House for the past five years.”
|
| Ross-Simons Jewelry and Collectibles |
“Jewelry Gift & Collectibles” is a line by Ross-Simons, a
very reputable jewellery retailer that’s been around since 1952.
One of the most innovative product lines is “Richmont Creations.”
“We can take any picture image, as long as it’s not copyrighted,
and put it on a wide variety of products,” Beth explains. “We have your typical mugs and t-shirts. But we also
do ceramic tiles, porcelain plates, aprons, tote bags, jewellery, license plates, all sorts of things.”
“What makes us different is we use a trademarked process called PlasmaJet
and it permanently embeds the photo on whatever it’s going on. So, it’s guaranteed to never crack, fade or peel.”
| Click to Enlarge |
|
| Buy this bracelet online, part of Beth's Ross-Simons Jewelry and Collectibles product line. |
Richmont Direct offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all their products.
“Merchandise can be returned for exchange or refund within one full
year of purchase,” Beth says. “There aren’t too many companies out there that offer that kind of a guarantee.
They really stand behind the quality of their product.”
| Click to Enlarge |
|
| Strawberry holder from Beth's "A World of Cooking" product line. |
The newest feature in Beth’s business is her online shopping cart that allows customers to browse her catalogues, make purchases and have products
shipped right to their door, all with the click on the mouse from the privacy of their own homes.
| Click to Enlarge |
|
| Angel knick-knack from Beth's "Feelings of Christmas" product line. |
Along with being a shop at home consultant, Beth is now a Team Leader.
“I’m working to become a manager,” she says. “There’s
a lot of opportunity for career advancement right now because it’s basically a ground floor opportunity. To my knowledge
there are only three consultants in all of New Brunswick. And I’m not certain if there are any in Nova Scotia and PEI.
I know there are a few in Newfoundland. So, it’s really really ground floor out here in Eastern Canada.”
| Click to Enlarge |
|
| Coasters from Richmont Creations. |
She says it’s a good time to get into this business because the demand
is huge. She can hardly keep up with all the parties she’s having.
Interested people can sign up to be consultants under Beth.
“Actually, just from people finding my website, I’ve signed
up a lady out in British Columbia and one in Saskatchewan,” she says. “There are no territories with Richmont
Direct. We’re in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico and we’re free to recruit or sell to anyone in those countries.”
| Click to Enlarge |
|
| A sampling of products available when you shop at home with Beth. |
She says there are many advantages to having a home-based business like
hers.
“There’s no inventory with this business because it’s
direct sales. So you’re just placing orders as you sell the product, there’s no up front investment in inventory,”
she says. “You save on your rent and everything else by not having a storefront.”
| Click to Enlarge |
|
| Turn cherished images into living art. |
For the time being Beth has kept her regular job.
“But I do have intentions of making this full-time. I’m pretty
much devoting full-time hours,” she laughs. “If I wasn’t working the other job I’d be able to spend
even more time with my family. It’s something we can do together as a family. They’re not coming to the parties
with me but when the orders come in they help sort them. I get a lot of support from my husband and my family.”
| Click to Enlarge |
|
| Using the trademarked PlasmaJet process, put your images on pretty much anything, including puzzles |
She says the secret to balancing her business with home life and another
job is family support and a love of what she does.
“It’s kind of not work to me,” she says. “So I
enjoy it. It’s really working out for me. To me, you have to like something, you have to believe in the product to be
able to sell it and to be successful with it”
| Click to Enlarge |
|
| Personalized items like this ornament make great Christmas gifts. |
Kellie Underhill is the editor of Bread 'n Molasses. Her writing
credits include The Moncton Times-Transcript, The Brunswick Business Journal, The Atlantic Chamber Journal and The Reader
magazine. Send comments about this article to editor@breadnmolasses.com.
Back to Business
|
