Is Watkins a viable business opportunity or a Failing Business?
By Bill Fletcher
The company was founded by J. R. Watkins in Plainview, Minnesota, who began selling liniment in 1868 door-to-door the 
southeastern part of the state. The company moved to Winona in 1885 and added a number of products to its lineup. Baking materials including pepper and vanilla extract were added in 1895. J. R. Watkins died in 1911.
By the 1940s, Watkins was the largest direct-sales company in the world, but soon began to decline. The demographics and buying habits of the United States had major shifts in the following decades, and the company did not keep pace. Watkins filed for bankruptcy protection in the 1970s, and was purchased by Minneapolis investor Irwin L. Jacobs in 1978.
Independent Sales Reps
Watkins Incorporated largely relies on an independent sales force of 25,000 people to distribute its products. This sales force sells the products using various methods, including the Internet, person to person, trade shows, party planning, and fund-raising. In order to increase overall awareness for the brand, the company has begun offering a select number of products in national retail outlets.
Watkins Inc. Competes With Distributors
One of the marketing avenues the company took was to offer some of the products to large retailers. While I personally disagree with this approach because the company is now competing with me, the impact on the independent sales reps is minimal.
Wal-Mart has started carrying about 20 Watkins products in 2003. Other nationwide stores such as Walgreens, Target, Hy-Vee, Pick ’N Save are now carrying select items. Particularly spices, extracts and some personal care products. For the distributor, these are the core products.
The reception from the retail community has been strong. A new all-natural line of personal care products were introduced to the retail community in the spring of 2008 and has quickly gained market share against Burt’s Bees and others. A new home cleaning line that is all-natural debuted at Target and rolled out nationally in the 2nd half of 2008.
The sizes of the spice and extract line offered to the retail community are different than that offered to the consumer via the independent representative which allows the independent representative to maintain an advantage in their marketplace.
Birth of the “Watkins Man”
Watkins was founded on the “door-to-door” direct sales model. J.R. Watkins started delivering liniment door-to-door by wagon. 
The door-to-door model worked successfully for almost 90 years. With the exception of the World War years, most housewives could be found at home, not at work. Thus, there was usually always someone at home to call on during the daytime hours. This was long before the arrival of personal computers, so online sales were out of the question. America did not outsource its labor-intensive jobs to foreign countries. Manual labor could be found everywhere you went, particularly in rural areas. Thus, the door-to-door, farm-to-farm, plant-to-plant sales model was an ideal way to market Watkins products.
Mr. Watkins company was not only the first international direct sales company in the world, but for many years it was the largest direct sales company in the world. His direct sales force grew to become an American institution. “Watkins Men” became part of Americana, transcending from selling Watkins products from wagons in the 1800’s to selling Watkins products from paneled trucks, vans and station wagons in the 1900’s.
The New Watkins
From the early start as the “Watkins Man”, distributors can now move into the “online” sales. Many have website and blogs in addition to offering trade shows, home parties and a business opportunity.
Watkins has kept pace with the MLM or network marketing business. They offer good support and the products are well know. The issue is that they are well known by the ‘Older” generation. Trying to get the younger generation is the challenge. With so many network marketing companies to choose from, Watkins is just one more.
What is going for them is longevity, name and a good compensation plan.
Can you make money selling or distributing the products. According to many associates the answer is YES. Can you fail? And again the answer is YES.
Like any home based business, success comes from knowing the products, the ability to find other distributors and training. The successful Watkins distributor will “work” at the business.
The most common reason why they are successful is they take the business opportunity seriously and start working at building their Watkins business right away. Anyone can dream about making a six-figure income working at home, but the major difference between those that succeed and those that don’t is not their education level, or the number of years of business experience and it’s not because they have a wider circle of friends, it’s the attitude and mindset that sets the successful people from those who are not.
I like the fact that they kept the “old look” to the product line even with all the new products.
The compensation plan
Watkins has various plans to either save money on the purchase of the products or to make money on growing a business.
The Four Ways to Save and Earn Money with Watkins
- 25% to 39% discount on items you order for yourself.
- 25% to 39% profit on sales to your customers.
- 5% to 10% bonus profit on the total sales volume generated by your entire downline sales group.
- Special programs for extra bonuses or prizes.
Summery
Like any home based business or business opportunity, success and failure is based upon the individual. Along with the Fuller Brush company, Watkins is one of the oldest direct selling companies.
The products are well known. I personally like the packaging. While I don’t use all the products, the ones we do use are very good.
If you are looking at starting a home based business and interested in earning money through sponsoring people in your downline, Watkins is defiantly one to consider.
But again, to be successful will require “work”. If you are not willing to put in the effort into building a network marketing business, no matter which one you choose, it will fail.
Thanks for reading
–-Bill
PS: If you are struggling with your Watkins business and would like to grow your home based business or get more leads and customers we can help with that. Find out more from my good friend Brian on the FREE video. CLICK HERE
