The purpose of this article is to provide an independent review of the USANA business opportunity. Please keep in mind that I am in no way affiliated with USANA, nor have I ever been affiliated with the company in the past. In addition, the name is a registered trademark.
This information in this article was collected from the company’s website, through articles, interviews with current/former distributors and from independent research. All references are cited in the article. My goal is to provide a non-biased review of the company so you can make an educated decision as to whether or not USANA is right for you.
About the Company
What is USANA? And how does it work? USANA is a network marketing company that manufactures health and wellness products. It uses the multi-level marketing business model for distributing its products. This means that the company manufactures the products and has an independent sales force that sells the products face-to-face through word-of-mouth advertising. In return, the company compensates distributors with commissions from their personal sales and team’s sales.
Currently, USANA is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of health and wellness products. The company headquarters is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The company was founded in 1992 by Dr. Myron Wentz. Dr. Wentz is a very successful entrepreneur. He has received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Award and the Albert Einstein Award. He is very committed to improving people’s wellness and making the world a better and safer place.
Since the company first started, it has grown rapidly. In 1996 it became a publicly traded company on the stock market. In 1998, it hit $100 million in annual sales. In 2006 it surpassed $350 million in annual sales. As of 2009, more than 130 distributors were part of the million dollar club. And as of 2015 that number is even larger. The company employs approximately 1,000 people world-wide, and does business in 15 different countries. As you can see, the USANA business is a fast-growing company with phenomenal success.
The Products
The company manufactures approximately 50 different products. Some of the product lines include vitamins, skin care, weight loss and diet, meal replacement shakes, shampoos, skin care, shower gel, body wash and more! If you visit their website, the product categories are broken down into the following categories:
- Total body health
- Brain and never health
- Immune healthy
- Eye health
- Healthy weight
- Men’s health
- Bone and joint health
- Heart health
- Digestive health
- Healthy energy
- Healthy liver function
- Women’s health
From what I found online, some of their best selling products include:
- Nutri-meal Shakes
- USANA Reset
- Hepasil DTX Liver Protector
- BioMega Omega-3 Fish Oil
If you would like to learn more about their products, check out this link.
How to Make Money
USANA utilizes a binary compensation plan. According to its website, there are six different ways to earn money with the company. I’ll cover each way in brief detail below.
First and foremost, you get paid to find retail customers, also called preferred customers. You need people to sell the products to. These are people who buy the products, but don’t do the business. When you sell products to retail customers, you keep the wholesale-retail difference for each product. In many cases, that is an immediate 10% profit. You can sell products by sending people to your personal website, in person or at home parties.
The next way you earn money is in the weekly commissions. You can earn up to 20% on the accumulated weekly sales volume in your group. This is the volume from anyone you have personally referred, anyone they have referred, and so forth.
The next way to earn money is via the life time matching bonus. This is an ongoing bonus you receive for each person that you personally sponsor who achieves Premier Pacesetter or Premier Platinum Pacesetter. In other words, you get an extra bonus for helping the people you sponsor succeed.
Next, the company offers great incentives such as travel, cars and extra cash. These incentives vary each year. Basically, the company is always offering creative ways to reward their top performers.
You can also earn money via a leadership bonus. The company puts aside three percent of its volume each month and pays that bonus to people in the company who have reached the rank of Gold Director and above.
The final way to earn money is the Elite Bonus. The company pays out approximately ONE MILLION DOLLARS per quarter and it’s divided up among the top producers (disclaimer: visit the company’s website for details).
If I had to sum it all up in a nut shell, you earn money with USANA by finding retail customers, sponsoring distributors and helping your team members do those two activities. Some people earn nothing. Some people earn a part-time income. And some people earn a full-time income with the company. Individual results will vary. See the company’s compensation plan to learn more.
Company Awards
When you visit the company’s website, you will see that they’ve received lots of awards. You can tell that they are very committed to the environment, their independent distributors and to children. USANA is very involved with the Children’s Hunger Fund. Here are a few awards they have won in recent years.
- Voted best MLM Company more than 11 times by MLM Insider
- Outside Magazine Best Places to Work
- Progressive Manufacturing 100 Award in Innovation Mastery (2011)
- Stevie Award, Best International Convention
Here’s a complete list of their company awards.
USANA Success Stories & Top Earners
After doing some research online, I found a large list of people who have achieved tremendous success with USANA. Some of their most successful distributors include:
- Collette Larsen
- Jeremy Stansfield
- Vincent, Mable and Adrian Chan
- Simon Chan
- Anna Lozano
- Bill and Jenny Huang
- Robert Allen
- Timothy and Delbra Lewis
- Rita Hui
- Bud and Bunny Barth
- Lynne Allen-Johnson
- Susan Waitley
- Larry and Nancy Bunn
You can visit this page to see a detailed list of the company’s success stories.
How to Get Involved
How do you get started in USANA? It’s actually quite simple. You just need to find a USANA distributor to be your sponsor. If you don’t know anyone locally, you can do that by visiting the company’s website. It costs as little as $30 to get started with the company. There are several different options you have when you first sign-up. The total cost will be determined by which “package” you choose.
If you’re thinking about joining the company, I would tell you what I tell everyone. Start out as a retail customer first and try out the products to make sure that you like them. If the products don’t make sense, neither will the business. Most of the people who do well in ANY MLM Company are the people who are passionate about the products.
Reasons to Join USANA
Why should you join USANA? First of all the company has a great reputation. According to its website, it pays out 45% of every dollar in revenue to its distributors. Additionally, it has been rated “Best Company” in “Network Marketing Today” and “The MLM Insider Magazine” for ten years. That’s right folks: TEN YEARS. No other company can say that. Also, the company has a great leadership team, strong financial backing and consistent growth. These are all important things to look for when evaluating a network marketing company.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, I think the USANA business is a viable business opportunity for just about anyone. The secret to success is to find a good sponsor with a good training and leads system. Next, you need to get lots of retail customers. After you build a large customer base you should focus on duplicating yourself by sponsoring new distributors into the USANA business. As you sponsor people, focus your efforts on helping them succeed. If you can do that consistently for a few years you will build a large and profitable business.
On a side note, if you’ve ever been in USANA as a customer or distributor I would love to hear from you. Please share your story with the rest of our community by leaving a comment below. Thanks.
Connect with USANA
Chuck Holmes
20+ Year Network Marketing Professional
Top Earner & Top Recruiter
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
P.S. Learn how to grow a successful network marketing business. Secret tips, training, and practical ideas. Free training delivered by email.
As Diamond mentioned, I too am not familiar with USANA. From your review of the great reputation they have, I will have to try some of their products.
It moves me that the company has a special caring for children. As a strong advocate for the safety of children, it grabs my heart strings when I see companies who realize that children are our future.
It is a great thing that they have been rated best MLM company for 10 years. That alone shows they are a strong company that rewards their people well. Thank you for sharing this independent review Chuck.
Yes, USANA is a great company.
It is so odd to me that I haven’t heard of this company before. And with such a positive reputation I can’t imagine why I never heard of it. The fact that the company has received such high accolades for 10 years (a feat in this industry) and that they pay 45% of every dollar in revenue makes this company seem like a great one to consider if looking for a company to partner with as a distributor. I’ve got to take some time to learn more about this company and how they’ve achieved such success.
USANA is a great company and very popular.