Friday, July 31, 2009

How's It Goin' eh?

I asked corporate counsel Jonathan Gelfand (who also happens to be the latest recipient of our esteemed corporate recognition "Nice Work Dude!" award for his work fighting product piracy) for an update on our progress to officially launch the Team Beachbody network marketing business into Canada.
Here is his brief summary in an effort to keep our Coaches current, especially those who have been enthusiastically waiting for this expansion:

Multilevel marketing opportunities are stringently regulated in Canada on both a national level as well as a provincial level, with separate approvals needed for every province into which the company seeks to operate. While this does not provide a legal barrier for companies like Beachbody that provide a fair and legal business opportunity, it does mean that it takes a significant amount of time to secure the required permits and approvals.

Accordingly, we have updated our compensation plan, policies and procedures, products and supplements catalog and even marketing materials to ensure that they conform to all Canadian requirements to make our review process as fast as possible.

Even so, we have been told by Canadian regulators that the review process may take as long as 20 months. That process does not include the operational/logistics work that begins once we know we are cleared to proceed.

We do understand that we have many customers and friends in Canada who cannot wait to become successful Beachbody Coaches and we thank you for your patience. While we are pushing this forward aggressively, this process is almost entirely out of our hands while it is being reviewed by the various Canadian regulators.

To clear up any confusion, there is no "pre-registration" or reservation of spots for the Canadian opportunity, as all Coaches in Canada will be presented the same opportunity at the same time. I will continue to provide Carl and the network team with updates on our progress and milestones on our path to complete the Canada registration process. In the meantime, our Legal team can be reached any time at
Compliance@Beachbody.com, and I can be reached directly at jonathan@beachbody.com.

Jonathan Gelfand
General Counsel

7 comments:

Lori Jantzi said...

Hi Carl & Jonathan, Thank you, thank you for keeping us informed. I know you've been all working very hard to make this happen and that much of the delay is out of your control. It'll happen, I truly believe, sooner than later and I know you and I and many other Canadians will be set to go when this officially launches. We're "ready" and "set" and just waiting for the starting pistol to fire...."GO!" Woo Hoo! :)

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for clearly outlining the roadblocks and the realistic timelines...CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Unknown said...

Thanks guys!
Now a quick thought. While the details are being ironed out, why not at least allow Canadians to be involved in the transformation aspect of Beachbody? There are tens of thousands of folks who work just as hard at it up here and would love to tell their story. It's a small step but it makes a few million Canadians feel "involved" and heard?

Just an idea.

Koko

Jeff said...

I was wondering about the time line before we enter Canada. Exciting! Can't wait. What about any other countries? UK, EU, Mexico, India etc. Is there anything lined up that way before Canada?

Jeff said...

Exciting! Any plans for any other countries before Canada?

Anonymous said...

I am totally on board when coaching comes to Canada! I've been sending lots of my friends to my friends/Beachbody Coaches down south and can't wait until this all gets sorted out so I can become of this wonderful organization! Keep up the good work & I hope to attend Summit & meet with you next year!
Nicky, Edmonton Alberta Canada eh!

Julie said...

It has been in excess of a year now since you have given us an update on the progress or lack of progress being made with the Canadian coaching opportunity. Could you let us know a little more about what is happening to this point?