Direct Selling Entrepreneur Workshop

Did you know that more than 20 million individuals in the U.S. are involved in direct selling? The direct sales channel is more often recognized by the company brands in the industry than as a proven method for low-barrier-to-entry self-employment. The Direct Selling Entrepreneur initiative by the Direct Selling Education Foundation seeks to increase the awareness of direct selling as an entrepreneurship strategy and a viable pathway for any individual to start their own business.

Direct selling is a business model that offers entrepreneurial opportunities to individuals as independent contractors to market and/or sell products and services, typically outside of a fixed retail establishment, through one-to-one selling, in-home product demonstrations or online. Compensation is ultimately based on sales and may be earned based on personal sales and/or the sales of others in their sales organizations.

The Direct Selling Entrepreneur Workshop initiative offers colleges, business development organizations, and other educational partners a set of flexible workshop formats and accompanying free materials that can be delivered in flexible workshop formats or embedded into for-credit courses, providing entrepreneurship education and resources in collaboration with national leaders in the direct selling industry. We have developed three workshop formats that can fit a variety of venues and audiences.

View the complete overview in this downloadable PDF.

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