LEX FORI INTERNATIONAL LAWYERS
THE PLACE FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW

THREE STORIES ABOUT HOW TO LOSE MONEY THE EASY WAY

• 1 - TOP MODEL
• 2 - 30 EUROS AN HOUR
• 3 - CLIMBING THE PYRAMID

1 - TOP MODEL

Helga had never been very good at school and now at 18, the only diploma she had was the one she had received for taking the second prize at the annual "cake baking" contest of her community centre.

Her parents, both unemployed, kept asking her when she was getting a job. Apart from a few hours washing dishes in a restaurant she had been unable to find any work.

Then, one day, she spotted an ad in a women's magazine:

Helga's friends were always making compliments about her looks, so she thought "Why not me ?". After all, a lot of the models she had seen in magazines weren't all that beautiful and they were making millions.

The school building looked a bit run down and the classrooms were very small, but the man who introduced himself as the director of the school was very charming. "With a figure like yours you could soon be making a thousand a week" he told her.

The price of the course seemed a bit expensive: 1.000 euros for one week. But the director told her that he would get her involved in a swimsuit catalogue.

The photography would take place in the Bahamas of all places ! Helga could make as much as 3.000 euros all expenses paid.

Helga managed to get her favourite aunt to lend her the money. The course didn't seem like much : walking with a book on your head, looking at videos of fashion shows. In fact, most of the time was spent chatting with the other girls as several classes were cancelled at the last minute.

Helga was very pleased to receive an official fashion model diploma at the end of the week.

Three weeks later she was still waiting to start her career and complained to the director. He explained to her that she missed several opportunities because he didn't have any proper photographs of her to show the modelling agencies.

After paying 500 euros (lent by her boyfriend) to have snapshots of herself taken, and waiting another 3 weeks Helga started to get impatient.

She asked her uncle, a former policeman, to accompany her to the school. Much to their amazement they found construction workers busy tearing down the building.

Helga is now working at a local McDonald's trying to earn enough to reimburse her aunt.

2 - 30 EUROS AN HOUR

Maria wasn't able to hold a regular job. With three young children she wasn't able to leave her home and she didn't have anyone to help or money to pay for a babysitter.

When she saw an ad pasted on a board in her local supermarket "Work at home and make up to 30 euros an hour" she thought she had found a solution.

She called a mobile phone number and a very nice lady told her that all she needed was to know to read and follow simple instructions.

All she had to do was to register as a homeworker for a fee of 50 euros which would be refunded upon completion of her first work assignment. She could select the type of work she wanted to do (craft work, assembly work, packing, envelope filling and typing) and she would receive a free homeworker magazine.

Maria didn't have the 50 euros, but she managed to persuade a sympathetic social worker to give her the money under the pretence of buying baby clothes.

When the box arrived Maria had to pay 10 euros for postage. Still Maria was thrilled to start her first "home job". She spent most of the night stuffing and labelling envelopes. The next morning after paying another 10 euros for postage she proudly mailed her work.

After three weeks, Maria, having heard nothing from the homeworking company called them. The nice lady wasn't as nice as the first time and told her that her work was very poor and that there was no reason to pay for it.

However she could give Maria another try. This time Maria would have to string beads. The beads were very precious and Maria would have pay a 100 euros deposit to make sure she returned them.

Maria used the foulest language she could think of and hung up.

Maria never told any of her friends what had happened for fear they would laugh at her.

3 - CLIMBING THE PYRAMID

Eric hated his job as a supply clerk.

He spent most of his hours in a dark basement. He wanted to be in the open air and meet new people. So when Peggy, a girl he had met at a party, told him about an interesting business opportunity he wanted to know more. Peggy took him to a meeting in well known luxury hotel.

There a charismatic man in an elegant Italian suit was talking to a group of about 50 people.

He called on Peggy to present their latest product a tax guide. Peggy beamed and told the group "with this guide I earn more and I pay less taxes". Then more people got up and told the group how many guides they had sold during the post month. Every time one had given his sales figures everyone chanted "He's a winner, he has what it takes".

Eric was very impressed. Everyone seemed so dynamic and happy. He was even more impressed by the private meeting that he had with the man in the Italian suit. The man was very friendly and pleasant.

Eric was told that he would receive about 1000 euros, the first month, in commissions on his sales of the tax guide and other products. Then after that, he would be expected to recruit new distributors from which he would start receiving commissions on the purchases they made . And when those distributors started to recruit their own sub-distributors, money would start pouring in. All he had to do was to recruit 5 of his friends as distributors who would in turn recruit 5 of their friends and pretty soon, as sure as 5 x 5 x 5 = 125, he would have more than a hundred people bringing in commissions for him.

Three months later things were not going as well as he had expected. Eric had 300 copies of the tax guide in his living room of which he had only sold 10. None of his friends wanted to be distributors. The Bank manager kept calling him about the overdraft in his account due to the purchase of the tax guides.

Eric decided to complain to the man in the Italian suit. The man explained very convincingly that Eric's sales technique was at fault. Eric admitted that he had never received any training in his area. The man immediately signed him up at a weekend retreat where he would learn the secrets of a good sales pitch.

Eric still works in the windowless basement. After having spent 500 euros for the weekend retreat, 200 euros for the "How to sell, sell and sell" tapes, 50 euros for the "1001 ways to sell" book, 400 euros for the "International selling" seminar and 350 euros for the telephone selling tutorial, he uses the tax guides as furniture since most of it had to be sold to pay his debts.

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