Alright, so the other day, this whole Standard Process thing crossed my mind. I’d heard the name kicked around, and the question popped up – is Standard Process a pyramid scheme? You know how it is, once a question like that gets in my head, I just gotta poke around and see what’s what. It’s just how I am, always curious about how businesses are structured, especially when people have strong opinions.
First off, I had to refresh my memory on what a pyramid scheme actually is. It’s not just any company where people sell stuff. My understanding, in plain English, is this:
- The main game is recruiting: You make money primarily by signing up other people, who then have to sign up more people.
- Products are often an afterthought: Sometimes the product is overpriced, low quality, or just a token to make it look legit. The real money isn’t in selling the product to actual customers.
- It collapses: Eventually, you run out of people to recruit, and the whole thing falls apart, leaving most people at the bottom with nothing.
So, with that in my back pocket, I started to look into how Standard Process does its thing. I didn’t go super deep like an investigative journalist, but I did my usual routine: checking out what people say, how their products are sold, and what the general structure looks like from the outside.
What I Found Out About Their Setup
The first thing that struck me was who sells Standard Process products. It’s not your average Joe or Jane looking to make a quick buck by hitting up their friends and family at parties. From what I gathered, it’s mainly sold through healthcare practitioners. Think chiropractors, nutritionists, acupuncturists, that sort of professional. These folks recommend or sell the supplements to their actual patients, usually as part of a broader health or treatment plan.
This was a big point for me. It felt different from the classic pyramid model where the pressure is on everyone to become a distributor and build a massive downline of other distributors. Here, it seemed like the practitioners are the primary “distributors,” and their customers are their patients.
Then I thought about the emphasis on product versus recruitment. In a pyramid scheme, the hype is all about the “opportunity” to earn by recruiting. With Standard Process, while I’m sure practitioners make a margin on the products, the conversation I saw (or imagined happening in a clinic) was more about the supplement itself and how it might help the patient. The product is central because the practitioner is, in theory, using their professional judgment to recommend it.
I also considered where the money primarily comes from. In a pyramid scheme, cash flows upwards mainly from new recruits buying in or purchasing large amounts of inventory they can’t sell. With Standard Process, it appears the revenue is generated from actual product sales by these healthcare professionals to their patients – the end consumers. The practitioners buy from Standard Process, and then they sell to their patients. That’s a more traditional sales channel, even if it’s a bit specialized.
My Take on It
So, after mulling it over and looking at how they operate, I didn’t really get the vibe of a pyramid scheme. It felt more like a company that uses a network of qualified healthcare professionals as their sales and distribution channel. They’re selling nutritional supplements, which is a legitimate (though sometimes controversial) product category.
Here’s the distinction I made in my head:
- Pyramid schemes: Focus on recruiting, product is secondary, main income from new people joining.
- Standard Process (as I see it): Focus on product sales to patients through practitioners, income from these sales. The practitioners aren’t primarily focused on recruiting other practitioners to earn big.
Now, this isn’t me saying whether their supplements are good, bad, or indifferent, or whether they’re priced right. That’s a whole other discussion and depends on who you ask! My little investigation was purely about the business model structure. And based on my look-see, calling it a pyramid scheme didn’t quite fit the bill. It’s more of a direct selling model through a specific professional network.
It was an interesting little exercise for me. It’s always good to question things and try to understand the mechanics behind them, especially when terms like “pyramid scheme” get thrown around. For me, this one seemed to lean more towards a specialized, professional-focused distribution strategy. Just my two cents from my own digging!
