If we were honest imagines James as a street interviewer asking questions to random strangers.

What kind of answers would they give if they were 100% honest ?

This is a new ‘ Live ‘ free to read series I’m adding to the blog.

There isn’t a beginning and there is no ending.

The interview comprises of everyday questions posted to everyday people and this post will be constantly updated when new things come to mind.

Some questions are sexual in nature, while some are just outright ridiculous and meant for comedic relief.

Any resemblance to real people or scenario is purely coincidental.

This is meant to be a work of fiction.

Cheryl 34. Micro business owner.

James : Hi Cheryl , thank you for agreeing to speak with me…. can you tell me what is a micro business…. ? isn’t a business a business…. ?

Cheryl : It’s a fancy name and term we come up with….

James : Why do you do that…. ?

Cheryl : Going into business is very intimidating for many people…. And we want a term which can manage the perspective of how people look at what we do…. this makes it easier for them to accept that it’s not impossible but not easy… and maybe not focus too much on the risk…

James : tell me about your MLM business…..

Cheryl : Fuck you James… it’s not MLM…. It’s microbusiness….

James : I apologise…. Please tell me about this scam…..sorry… I meant business….

Cheryl : Watch your language James… I’m warning you….

James : I apologise… please go on…..

Cheryl : We’re in the business of selling beauty products…. In this case, it’s a shampoo call MiMI….

James : I see….how do you make money ?

Cheryl : I import MIMI from China, at a cost of $3 per bottle…. But the retail price in Singapore is $20….

James : Very good margin…. But that’s not how you make money isn’t it…. ?

Cheryl  : No… I don’t sell to end user like you… I sell it to distributors…. Different level of distributors get my product at different price…. Like this list below….

Director        $9 per bottle

Manager       $12 per bottle

Team leader $14 per bottle

Distributor   $16 per bottle.

Cheryl : The cost price is different for different tiers…. But selling price must be $20….

James : Isn’t this price fixing… ?

Cheryl : Fuck you James… what do you know about business…. This is standardisation….and quality control…

James : Pardon me… please go on…

Cheryl : so the selling price is fixed… and how much you make…. Depends on which level you are at….

James : So a Director will make more per bottle than the lowest tier distributor….

Cheryl : yes correct…. Once you are a higher tier than the lowest, you can sell wholesale and recruit more underlings beneath you….

James : What about you… ?

Cheryl : I sell to everyone in the tier except single purchase to misers like you James…

James: I see, so if you sell to a new distributor….. your profit is the most….

Cheryl : Yes….

James : and less profit if you sell to a director…

Cheryl : yes…. but i still make money….

James : looks like you stand to make the most out of everything….

Cheryl : Any problem with that… ?

James : I see…. so…. How do I become a director…. And how do I become a distributor… ?

Cheryl : It’s very simple how this scam works….

James : Oh….??

Cheryl  : Fuck me… I meant business…. Business you piece of shit…. You are affecting my concentration…

James : Please go on… I’m interested to find out more….

Cheryl : You start off as distributor…. The lowest of the tier…. And the entry point for this micro business is set low….. very low…

James : How low… ?

Cheryl : You just need to take $400 worth of product from me… and you are a authorised distributor….

James : I see… how do you come up with $400 , this figure…. ?

Cheryl : The key is to identify the pain point…. Or the threshold… of how much money a particular group of people I’m targeting is ok to part with…. And these group of people are ignorant housewives and stay at home mums….

James : Why… ? do they make particularly good….ermmm… micro business owners…. ?

Cheryl : No… they’re gullible…

James:  how so… ?

Cheryl : Because where else can you find gullible people who thinks just paying $400, get a few bottle of shampoo and you are on your way to becoming a successful business owner…..? if it is really that easy…. there would be millionaires all over the street….

James : ermmmmm…. ok….

Cheryl : That’s not all., a woman gave up her career… taking care of kids… taking care of the family… she gave it all up and it’s inevitable that she feels she is missing out on something in life…. and I identified what she is missing….

James : A business of her own…? something to fall back on…. something that allows her to regain her dignity…. ?

Cheryl : Yes… $400 is nothing…. Not too much… not too little…. Mind you… before you sprout shit from your mouth again…. I am giving $400 worth of product….to the distributor…. She can sell them… or she can use them on her own… so it’s not a scam…

James : I see… how does she move up the rank… ?

Cheryl : She buys more product from the tier above her… the team leader… and she resells them…. And she repeats… until she clocks $3000 worth of products… then she is promoted to manager… and this goes on an on….different amount depending on the tier she wants to get up to….

James: I see… so it works best for you when then people under you recruit more gullible people to work under them….

Cheryl : That is right….. less work for me…. and more money….

James : I see….. Point taken… please go on…… do you do anything to help entry level distributors ?

Cheryl : Of course…. simple, i pretend to be someone else, and i buy the product from them…. get them to mail it to my mother’s address, or aunt’s address…..thereby creating a fake supply and demand…..

James : That is brilliant….

Cheryl : This boost the confidence of the distributor to commit more money to get more goods….

James : do you think this is wrong… ?

Cheryl : No… Jack Ma bought everything people list up on Ali Baba for the first few weeks until his office is full… look at where he is now….

James: Errr… ok….

Cheryl : So as long the distributor keep selling and buying enough goods and products, she will be promoted…. And each promotion… lowers the cost of the goods she will be selling at $20… thereby making her more money…

James : what about those that don’t sell… ?

Cheryl : If they can’t be bothered to help themselves… too shy to sell ? sucks for them then…. Just take it as you use $400 worth of shampoo,…..who doesn’t use shampoo ? … you everyday also need to use right…

James : I see…. ok… so say if I want to get a bottle of MIMI shampoo…. I cannot buy from you….

Cheryl : No you can’t….

James : I go to…. say your lowest tier distributor….

Cheryl : Yes….

James : And that bottle of MIMI….. that fucking bottle of shampoo’s journey is as follows…. ;

China to Cheryl

Cheryl to Director

Director to Manager

Manager to team leader

Team leader to Distributor

Distributor to James.

James : Am I right… ?

Cheryl : Well…. Yes….

James : fuck me …… a bottle of shampoo… goes through 6 different logistics delivery to get to me…. who the fuck is paying for the courier, the storage….does this supply chain make sense to you…?

Cheryl : What do you know about business James… you know nothing… this is the way it works for all goods…. Where do you get your eggs from…. ?

James : I like the local brand at Lim Chu Kang… I believe the chicken lay the eggs, it gets packed and send to supermarket… there’s no need for middleman that on top of managing households to function as managers and directors or team leaders …..

Cheryl : My… husband… owns a logistics company… ..

James : Oh… I see… and am I right to say… he is … helping… ? or rather… you are helping each other…. ?

Cheryl : Fuck you James… next question…. You are too daft to understand the logic of this business….it’s not for you…

James : seems to me the courier is the one making money……hmmm ok… I’ll change the question…I won’t ask about how inefficient and ridiculous this business model sounds … how do you market your product… ?

Cheryl : social media… I put pictures online of me in branded clothes… carrying branded goods….sometimes I show stacks of money…. And all these needs to come accompanied with a good caption….

James : Captions… ?

Cheryl : Yes… something along the line of ‘ financial freedom’, ‘ business is good’ , ‘ I can work anywhere with a phone’ and so on…. People dig shit like these, especially housewives who stay at home for too long and gets socially isolated…. they like to see pretty pictures…. of me wearing my branded shoes and high heels… looking beautiful while they imagine themselves doing the same…… and i offer them the opportunity to do it…. all for $400…

James : Wow… and… these… pictures of you in branded clothes…carrying branded goods… bags and all… they are real… ? All of it belongs to you…. ?

Cheryl : They are all my bags…. most are real…… it’s necessary…. I need to portray a sense of success in order to reel the distributors in….

James : Wow…. Ok… what about those stacks of money… dollar bills you show off… are those really the amount of money you pull in every day and week… ?

Cheryl : You sound as gullible as the people i work with…. are you crazy… ? of course not…. i withdraw them from the bank…. stack them up… take a few nice photos…. and slowly drip feed them to my followers…. this…. i call business acumen….

James : Well, i guess you don’t want to know what i call it….

Cheryl : You have to understand… the allure of a nice bag… nice clothes… and the promise of financial independence…. After years of being stuck at home taking care of the family…. And the barrier of entry is low….this is very tempting…

James : Do you think it’s fair… for you to take advantage…. Of the other women…. Who sacrificed so much for their family… ? These women… they are mothers, wives, daughters…. they just want to make some extra money to buy things for their family…

Cheryl : Do I look as if I care… ? it’s business James…. You make money… or you don’t…. what law did I break ? are you sure they want to buy things for their family…. they only want to buy branded bags for themselves…. to look good, to feel good…..

James : But… the staged and fake pictures of cash… .. watches….bags and success… surely these are misleading…. ? it gives an impression that if you embark on this.. you would surely end up rich….

Cheryl  : did I ask them to believe me… ? did I ? Did I put a gun to their head to ask them to believe me… ? to believe what they see on the internet… ? Am I taking their money for nothing… ? I gave them the product…!!! $400 dollars worth of cuking shampoo produced in a factory in china…… What do you know…?? fuck back to your shit blog with your shit writing….

James : Calm down… Cheryl.. it’s just a question….

Cheryl : Next question !!

James : So to sum it up… the way you make money… isn’t that much about selling the MIMI shampoo… it’s entrapping these gullible business owners wannabe….who will then commit large sums to rise up the tiers….. in order to position themselves to earn more….. If their stock is stuck… it’s none of your business…. the constant churn of flowing money is what keeps you afloat….

Cheryl : You are right… I never force them to take stock…. I never…. They did it themselves…

James : I see… I see… ok… do people come back to you for refunds… ?

Cheryl : no… I make it a hassle…. Because the pain point is manageable…. The pain point of 400….. how much trouble will you go through to recover 400….and don’t forget…. It’s with products… some people are too lazy to do anything… they expect to just what… put a picture online and expect people to buy from them…. i can’t help lazy people….

James : ok…… you are very pretty Cheryl….

Cheryl : Why thank you….

James : would you say… your looks and your figure… coupled with the way you are presenting your body…. is one of the key to you selling your products…. ?

Cheryl : yes.. of course…

James : So… others who don;t look as good or are not blessed with a nice figure… they are at a disadvantage…

Cheryl : yes… if they don;t know how to package themselves… i can’t help them… there are no ugly women, only lazy women, ever heard of the saying. ?

James : What about those who take thousands of dollars of products…. ?? they committed so much, what if they can’t sell ?

Cheryl : Well.. they can afford the money… and… business is all about taking risk isn’t it…. ? Besides, Shampoo don’t expire…. just use them…. you ever heard of wine investment… ? back then when they were pushing really hard ?? worse come to worse, drink the damm wine.

James: ok.. point taken…i think it will take a while for them to finish all those wine…. but anyway……. So I understand you are launched a new product recently…. NINI face mask…why…

Cheryl : MIMI shampoo is saturated….i’ve already squeezed the immediate circle of gullible business owners wannabe dry… so it’s time to move on to a new product….

James : are your distributors registered ? do you all pay tax and GST for each movement of goods and services….

Cheryl : I am a registered company. everything is done proper… with records…. small distributors… it’s their problem…. i don’t care….

James : Ok… I see…. so… what will you be doing today…. For your marketing… ?

Cheryl : I’m going to the hairdresser…. And make myself look good…. think of more bullshit success stories to sell to more followers….

James : ok can you sum up your business in one sentence… ?

Cheryl : There are many ways to make money…. to start a business…. and if people want to start a business with minimum effort, scrolling through their phone and dreaming of possibilities everyday without hard work….. mine offers the best option at the moment…. 400 and your smart phone is all you need to start….. otherwise, wake the fuck up and start putting in all the effort and hard work other business start up put in… or if you have the asset, start selling your body…..

James : Alright… all the best in your future endeavor….thank you for being honest Cheryl….

Cheryl : And Fuck you for asking questions people don’t James….

…………… End of Interview ………………..

*This is a work of fiction*