Boresha Review: Weight loss coffee and autoships

Boresha was founded in 2007 and are based out of California in the US.

As per the Boresha website, ‘in the Swahili language Boresha means “to make excellent”‘.

Heading up Boresha is co-founder George Najjar (right), who also serves as President and CEO.

George’s story is very unique. Educated and working as an engineer, he soon realized that he was not fulfilled.

He began searching for a better financial, spiritual, emotional and lifestyle journey and had the good fortune of discovering a direct selling opportunity.

He was astounded to learn that the credentials he had worked so hard to obtain were not necessary for him to build a business. So began George’s new journey into the world of direct selling.

Other than the above bio, which is sourced from the Boresha website, there doesn’t seem to be much information on Najjar available online.

Whether or not he was involved in other MLM companies prior to launching Boresha is unclear.

Of note is that in 2014 Boresha parted ways with its Master Distributor, Joseph (Joey) W. Boswell.

The separation didn’t go well, with Boswell filing a lawsuit against Boresha on April 29th, 2014.

On or about March 13, 2014, Boswell and Boresha entered into a contract entitled Memorandum of Understanding.

The final MOU was drafted by Boresha and presented to Boswell for his approval and signature.

Paragraph 3 of said MOU states: “…the purpose of this agreement is to fully and finally resolve any and all possible issues and claims whatsoever he aforementioned said parties have or may have against each other…”

In said agreement … Boresha agreed to pay Boswell and/or pay on his behalf a total of $573,700.

On or about April 10, 2014, Boresha caused the $150,000 transferred to Boswell and deposited into his wife’s account for his benefit to be wrongfully debited from said account.

No idea what beef these two had against eachother, but for whatever reason Boresha began transferring funds as per the MOU to Boswell – and then reneged.

The MOU required the $573,700 settlement to be made within fifteen days of the MOU signing, which didn’t happen.

Boresha, by failing to pay the $573,700 within 15 days of Joseph Juliano signing the MOU on March 18, 2014, are in breach of said agreement … of the MOU.

The lawsuit also names Cornerstone Marketing as a defendant, which appears to be a marketing firm Boswell had a 50% profit stake in.

Joseph Juliano is credited as a Master Distributor of Boresha’s, so I’m thinking he and Boswell were likely the two top earners in the company through Cornerstone Marketing.

Concluded Boswell in his lawsuit:

The behavior of Boresha offends general acceptable standards of decency and morality and has caused severe emotional distress to Boswell, has manifested itself in Boswell by causing great emotional pain and suffering, including loss of sleep, agitation, embarrassment, ridicule, loss of appetite, extreme anxiety and depression.

As per the case docket, Boresha won a dismissal in November 2014.

The terms of the signed MOU stated that

any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the breach thereof, shall be settled through confidential arbitration. The Parties waive rights to trial by jury or to any Court.

This saw the filing of an agreed Order of Dismissal on the 10th of November 2014, with both parties agreeing that, as per the MOU, the matter should be settled through arbitration.

Given that this arbitration was to be confidential, whether or not Boresha ultimately paid Boswell the disputed $573,700 and Cornerstone Marketing 50% of its profit is unclear.

In a press-release issued by Boresha on April 26th, 2014:

Mr. Boswell’s departure was not related in any way to the company’s operational or financial performance, both of which remain strong.

Read on for a full review of the Boresha MLM business opportunity.

The Boresha Product Line

Boresha’s flagship product is its weight loss coffee, Lean.

Yes, it really is as good as it sounds. Better actually, because it is good for you, too.

You get the full-bodied flavor of infrared-roasted, fresh-brewed coffee packed with powerful weight-control ingredients.

A catalyst product within the 7-to-7 Nutrition and Lifestyle Guide, Boresha Lean coffee is the only patent-pending slimming coffee containing Slendrinol, a patent-pending blend of science-based ingredients.

Other products Boresha market include:

• Slim – “a great tasting, refreshing mango-peach-flavored tea mix you can enjoy while on the go”
• Fit – “a great tasting, rejuvenating lemonade-flavored beverage with an amazing triple-action formula”
• Sweet – “a low-glycemic sweetener”

Unfortunately Boresha do not provide retail pricing on their website.

An online store is present on the Boresha website, however if a visitor clicks on the store link a Boresha affiliate referral code must be entered before retail pricing is revealed.

The Boresha Compensation Plan

The Boresha compensation plan pays affiliates to make retail sales, with residual commissions paid out via a binary compensation structure.

A matching bonus is tracked through a unilevel team, with additional performance-based bonuses also available.

Commission Qualification

In order to qualify for MLM commissions, Boresha affiliates must maintain at least 50 PV a month and personally recruit and maintain at least two affiliates (each must generate a minimum 50 PV a month).

PV stands for “Personal Volume” and is sales volume generated by retail product orders and a Boresha affiliate’s own purchases.

Boresha Affiliate Ranks

There are fourteen affiliate ranks within the Boresha compensation plan.

Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:

• Marketing Consultant – sign up as a Boresha affiliate and “place an initial order of at least 50 PV”
• Diamond – remain commission qualified (one recruited affiliates must be a Marketing Consultant) and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 150 GV
• Executive Diamond – remain commission qualified and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 350 GV
• Coordinator – remain commission qualified, have two unilevel legs that contain an Executive Diamond or higher ranked affiliate and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 1500 GV
• Executive Coordinator – remain commission qualified, have three unilevel legs that contain an Executive Diamond or higher ranked affiliate and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 3000 GV
• Director – remain commission qualified, have four unilevel legs that contain an Executive Diamond or higher ranked affiliate (one must be Coordinator or higher) and a total monthly downline volume of at least 5000 GV
• Executive Director – remain commission qualified, maintain three unilevel legs with an Executive Diamond or higher ranked affiliate, one with a Coordinator or higher and one with an Executive Coordinator or higher, and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 10,000 GV
• Diamond Director – remain commission qualified, maintain four unilevel legs with an Executive Diamond or higher ranked affiliate, one with an Executive Coordinator or higher and one with an Executive Director or higher, and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 20,000 GV
• Regional Vice President – remain commission qualified, maintain five unilevel legs with an Executive Diamond or higher ranked affiliate, one with a Director or higher and one with an Executive Director or higher, and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 40,000 GV
• Ambassador – remain commission qualified, maintain five unilevel legs with an Executive Diamond or higher ranked affiliate, two with an Executive Director or higher and one with a Diamond Director or higher, and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 80,000 GV
• Senior Ambassador – remain commission qualified, maintain six unilevel legs with an Executive Diamond or higher ranked affiliate, two with a Diamond Director or higher and one with a Regional Vice President or higher, and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 250,000 GV
• National Ambassador – remain commission qualified, maintain six unilevel legs with an Executive Diamond or higher ranked affiliate, two with a Diamond Director or higher and two with a Regional Vice President or higher, and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 600,000 GV
• Global Ambassador – remain commission qualified, maintain six unilevel legs with an Executive Diamond or higher ranked affiliate, two with a Diamond Director or higher and three with a Regional Vice President or higher, and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 1,000,000 GV
• Diamond Ambassador – remain commission qualified, maintain six unilevel legs with an Executive Diamond or higher ranked affiliate, two with a Diamond Director or higher and four with a Regional Vice President or higher, and have a total monthly downline volume of at least 2,000,000 GV

Retail Commissions

Retail commissions are offered on the sale of Boresha products to retail customers as follows:

• Lean – $20
• Slim – $15
• Fit – $18
• Sweet (12oz jar) – $7
• Sweet (30 single-serve sticks) – $4
• Sweet (50 single-serve sticks) – $8

Recruitment Commissions

Boresha affiliates are paid $150 to recruit new affiliates who sign up with a Business Builder Pack ($499).

Recruitment commissions are also paid when a newly recruited affiliates signs up and placed a product order.

How much of a recruitment commission is paid out is determined by how big the placed order is:

• 100 to 199 PV = $20
• 200 to 299 PV = $40
• 300 to 599 PV = $80
• over 600 PV = $120

Residual Commissions

Residual commissions in Boresha are paid out via a binary compensation structure.

A binary compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a binary team, split into two sides (left and right):

Positions in the binary are filled via the direct and indirect recruitment of new affiliates, with each new level generated by multiplying the previous level’s positions by two.

Sales volume is tracked on both sides of the binary (including affiliate purchases), with a percentage commission paid out monthly on the weaker side’s volume.

How much of a percentage is paid out is determined by how much sales volume a Boresha affiliate generated that month:

• 50 to 174 PV = 10%
• 175 or more PV = 15%

Matching Bonus

Boresha affiliates are able to earn a matching bonus on residual commissions earned by their downline, paid out via a unilevel compensation structure.

A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1):

If any level 1 affiliates go on to recruit new affiliates of their own, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team.

If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.

Boresha cap payable unilevel levels at eight, with how many levels an affiliate can earn on determined by their affiliate rank:

• Director and Executive – level 1
• Executive Director – levels 1 and 2
• Diamond Director – levels 1 to 3
• Regional Vice President – levels 1 to 4
• Ambassador – levels 1 to 5
• Senior Ambassador – levels 1 to 6
• National Ambassador – levels 1 to 7
• Global Ambassador – levels 1 to 8

Note that Boresha’s compensation plan documentation does not disclose the exact matching bonus percentages paid out.

Rank Achievement Bonus

Upon a  Boresha affiliate qualifying at the Coordinator or higher rank within specific timeframes, the following bonuses are awarded:

• Coordinator (within 4 weeks) – $500 and a Mini iPad
• Director (within 12 weeks) – $2000 and a “2-day Distributor Director school in San Francisco”
• Regional Vice President (within 9 months) – $10,000, “2-day Distributor RVP school in San Francisco”, an “incentive trip vacation for two” and a new BMW 5-series luxury car (once qualified for six consecutive months)
• Ambassador (within 12 months) – $20,000, “2-day Distributor Ambassador school in San Fransicso”, an “incentive trip vacation for two”, a new BMW 7-series luxury car (once qualified for six consecutive months) and “convention training”

If the above ranks are achieved outside of the specified timeframes, then the cash bonuses above are reduced as follows:

• Coordinator – $100
• Director – $300
• Regional Vice President – $2000
• Ambassador – $5000

Business Builder Pool

To qualify for shares in the Business Builder Pool, a Boresha affiliate must join the company with a Business Builder Pack ($499).

As per the Boresha compensation plan documentation, $40 from every Business Builder Pack sold to a new affiliate is placed in the Business Builder Pool.

The Business Builder Pool is paid out monthly through shares. The explicit requirements to obtain shares is not disclosed, with Boresha’s compensation plan material only stating:

The percentage of the bonus paid is based on the number of shared earned for that month for recruiting new distributors and customers.

I imagine though that there is a minimum spend required for each new customer and affiliate recruited, before a share in the Business Builder Pool is issued.

Ambassador Bonus Pool

The Ambassador Bonus Pool consists of 1% of Boresha’s company-wide sales volume.

Each week a Boresha affiliate qualifies at the Ambassador or higher rank, they qualify for one share in the Ambassador Bonus Pool.

The pool itself is paid out quarterly, with affiliate shares resetting after each bonus payout.

Joining Boresha

Affiliate membership with Boresha is $99.

Affiliates can optionally choose to sign up with a Business Builder Pack, which costs $499.

Signing up with a Business Builder Pack qualifies an affiliate to earn in the Business Builder Pool. There is no other way to qualify for this bonus commission.

Conclusion

Despite a readily retailable product line, the core of the Boresha MLM opportunity appears to be signing up for $499, placing a monthly autoship order and recruiting others who do the same.

This qualifies an affiliate to earn commissions (once two affiliates have been recruited), opens up the entire compensation plan and requires no retail sales to be made.

Chain recruitment is entirely possible, with Boresha affiliates earning a direct commission per Business Builder Pack affiliate recruited.

Autoship is also a problem, with Boresha describing it as ‘the best way to guarantee you will consistently maintain an active status‘.

Active status of course being part of commission qualification.

Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but in MLM an affiliate’s own purchase of product should never be the “best way” to qualify for commissions.

It encourages autoship recruitment and draws affiliate focus away from retail. Why would they bother doing something that isn’t “the best way” to ensure they get paid?

Furthermore, Boresha’s B-Free-With-3 removes the cost of affiliate autoship, upon recruitment of three autoship affiliates.

Retail customers on autoship also count, but as per the aforementioned lack of focus on retail within the compensation plan (no retail pricing is another example), that an affiliate will qualify with retail autoships over affiliate recruitment seems slim.

Coffee is a pretty competitive marketplace, both inside the MLM industry and out. And my gut tells me that outside of Boresha affiliate autoship activity, there’s probably not much happening.

By all means verify this yourself though as a potential affiliate, by asking your prospective upline as to what their retail sales activity is month on month versus that of volume generated by affiliate autoships.

Be sure to also ask what their own autoship volume is each month, what products they purchase through it and whether this sounds like legitimate customer activity.

Otherwise you might very well be looking at monthly purchases being made just to qualify for commissions each month.

This is important to clarify before you sign on the dotted line, as it’s likely what you yourself will be doing if you pursue a Boresha business.

 

Update 11th June 2016 – Citing a “continued decrease of sales”, Boresha’s MLM opportunity collapsed on May 27th, 2016.