Welcome to my Powur MLM Review.
You probably came to this page because you wonder if Powur is a scam, pyramid scheme, or legitimate MLM.
No need to worry you’re in the right place for the answers to these questions.
Over the last few years, I’ve been busy creating reviews about all kinds of online products.
Some turned out to be fake others were legit ways to make money online but in the process, I learned how to spot scams.
In this post, I’ll show you absolutely everything you need to know about Powur Solar and after reading it you’ll know exactly if you should give it a chance.
I think it’s important to state that I’m in no way associated with Powur Solar. This review is based on personal research, online testimonials, and MLM statistics. That being said, all conclusions drawn in this post are opinions.
Powur Solar Review Overview
Name: Powur
Website: Powur.com
Founder: Jonathan Budd
Business Type: Solar Panel MLM Program
Earning Potential: High
Risk: High
Price: $99 + $175/ month
Summary:
Powur is a company that distributes solar panels. They partner up with different solar companies and use the MLm model to distribute their products. They also have an affiliate program that supports their MLM program.
Powur is a legitimate MLM but isn’t the easiest MLM program to earn money with. I honestly think most people are going to have a hard time with the MLM program. I could only think of 2 exceptions that’d excel with their MLM program.
That being said, the Powur affiliate program seems very promising if you know what you’re doing. If you’re interested in learning how I came to this conclusion
Similar to: Q-Sciences, Unicity, Lifevantage, Young Living, Avon, Thrivent
Recommended: No
Interested in learning how I earn +$100 a day with the help of simple websites
even someone with zero experience can make?
Take a look at this 100% free step-by-step course.
What is Powur?
Powur Solar was founded in 2014 as a network marketing company with a focus on promoting and selling solar energy systems.
The company used a multi-level marketing (MLM) model, where independent representatives could earn commissions by selling solar installations to people.
The company’s headquarters was located in Murrieta, California, USA. Its co-founder and acting CEO at this time is Jonathan Budd.
Jonathan Budd is a renowned entrepreneur and marketer who gained recognition in the network marketing industry.
Jonathan Budd is said to be known for his expertise in online marketing strategies and his ability to build successful teams and businesses using social media and Internet marketing techniques.
At 26, he was considered one of the youngest success stories in the history of direct sales, earning his first $10,000,000 by that time.
Jonathan Budd was involved in various ventures and personal development projects, his mission was to empower and inspire individuals to achieve their goals and unlock their potential.
He founded Empowered Entrepreneurs to teach others the principles of entrepreneurship and modern-day marketing. This organization has served nearly 100,000 customers since then.
Powur Solar was also one of the ventures he co-founded, which focused on promoting solar energy solutions through a multi-level marketing model.
Learn more in this short video, where Jonathan explains what Solar is all about.
How does Powur work?
Powur is a company that collaborates with solar panel manufacturers and independent consultants to distribute solar panels. They don’t manufacture these solar panels, they only work as a middleman.
Instead of hiring a team of salesmen that work on a salary they use independent sellers and affiliates to get sales.
These independent sellers and affiliates earn commissions on every sale and can even earn residual income based on the performance of their team dependent on their membership type.
Is Powur an MLM?
Yes. It’s safe to assume that Powur is an MLM company.
A big part of how Powur independent sellers get compensates is by:
- Selling the products for a commission
- Recruiting people to earn bonuses.
- Earning commissions based on the performance of your recruits
Any company that compensates sellers in this way is considered a multi-level marketing company.
What is MLM?
MLM (a.k.a network marketing or direct selling) stands for multi-level marketing.
According to Wikipedia, multi-level marketing is a marketing strategy for selling products or services where the revenue is derived from a non-salaried workforce.
As a part of this workforce, you sell the products from the company, and/or recruit people to do the same thing. This group of people you recruit will work under you and is referred to as your downline.
The bigger your downline is the more money you can earn passively (technically speaking) because you’re getting paid a percentage based on the performance of your downline.
This also means the person that recruited you which is called your upline is making money based on your performance.
The act of recruiting turns an MLM company into a pyramid-shaped organization where the first people to join make the most and are on the top of the pyramid and those last to join are at the bottom.
Source: Wikipedia
MLMs have been around for a long time. There are Multi-level marketing companies active today that were founded in the 1950s. MLM has a lot in common with pyramid schemes, so scammers often use MLM to disguise their pyramid schemes.
Is it absolutely necessary to recruit people? No.
You can also stick to just selling products you can order at wholesale price (most likely a 20-25% discount) and re-sell to make a profit.
This is easier said than done for multiple reasons which is why most members focus on recruiting others so they can earn more money.
Powur Memberships: Enterprise and Ambassadors
Power Enterprise: The Independent Sellers
The main membership you can sign-up for is Powur Enterprise membership or its Pro version.
This is for people interested in earning money selling solar panels and receiving bonuses for building a team. These memberships make it possible to earn residual income and partner up with other sellers and ambassadors.
Project management assistant
The power enterprise memberships make it possible to build a team. Unlike most businesses with an MLM program, this team doesn’t solely consist of independent sellers to train.
You can also hire staff assistants to help you with the management tasks that need to be done as an independent seller. Everyone on your team also signs a contract with you that details the length of the job and how much money they’ll earn.
Powur seems to be unlike any other MLM program I have encountered and also comes with some unique benefits.
Some of the benefits of Powur are:
- Build & Grow Your Team with Powur
- Customize Lead Generator Compensation
- Customize Project Offer Compensation
- Set Organization Margins
- Compensation & Bonuses Distributed to Your Team
- Direct Access to Powur’s Project Management Team
- Offer Projects to Closers on the Powur Platform
- Create Proposals and Legal Contracts
- Receive your share of the revenue from any referrals
- Train Your Team with Powur University
- Leverage Powur’s Discounted Solar Goods
- View All Details of Projects Your Org Owns
- Easy Financing for Your Homeowners
- Online Marketing Tools to Capture More Leads
What is the difference between Powur Enterprise and Powur Enterprise Pro?
The two memberships both make it possible to earn commissions and create teams to maximize your earnings. The biggest difference between the two memberships is who you can add to your teams.
The Enterprise Pro memberships make it possible to not only add ambassadors and staff members but also other independent sellers.
You can partner up with them and create your own agreements when it comes to how money is being split with every sale.
At the moment, they’re still experimenting with both memberships but their aim is to have the Pro version as their main and only membership in the future.
Powur Ambassadors: The Powur Affiliate Program
Those interested in earning money but don’t want to financially invest in the MLm program can become Powur Ambassadors. As a Powur Ambassador, you’re basically an affiliate marketer.
You won’t do the selling but you’ll refer potential buyers to the independent sellers and you’ll earn a commission every time you bring in what is called a qualified customer for an appointment or installation.
A qualified appointment (A weekly commission)
The definition of an appointment is a homeowner submitted through the Powur Platform to a Powur Solar Provider, who meets with the provider via A) in-home consultation or B) over the phone, to review a custom solar proposal for their home.
An installation ( A monthly commission)
The date a customer’s system was installed on their home.
The commission comes out of a portion of the money the independent seller makes which means you won’t be earning as much as an independent seller per sale but you’ll also deal with less financial risk.
How to join Powur
There are multiple memberships available because you can either join as an independent seller or an ambassador.
In the case of an independent seller:
You have to be referred by another licensed independent seller.
After that, you can become a Powur independent seller by following these 3 steps.
Step 1: Sign-up
Step 2: Pay the onboarding costs and utility bill
Step 3: Recieve training & Get a license
For at least your first 3 sales you’ll be accompanied by an independent seller from a higher tier. This independent seller will show you the ropes and will take a 50/50 split of your commissions.
After these 3 sales, you’re allowed to sell on your own and receive full commission on all of your sales.
If you want to join their affiliate program, you can register as an affiliate a.k.a. an ambassador for free on their website.
Is Powur a pyramid scheme?
To answer this question we need to know what a pyramid scheme is.
What is a pyramid scheme?
A pyramid scheme is a type of scam where people are promised money for joining the scheme and recruiting other people instead of selling products and services.
No selling of a product or service is involved whatsoever.
So you might be wondering where the money comes from.
The people that join are expected to pay a one-time or a monthly fee and in exchange for that, they get a percentage of the fee of everyone they recruit after.
The remaining money goes to the creators at the top of the pyramid.
The problem with this model is from a mathematical standpoint it’s impossible for everyone to make money because you simply run out of people.
Take a look at this picture below showing how it’s impossible for everyone to earn money.
Source: Wikipedia
As you can see, in this pyramid model it’s required to recruit 6 people. You’ll notice from the 12th level and further, it’s not possible anymore for everyone to earn money.
The 2.2 Billion people on the 12th level need 13.1 billion recruits in total for them all to make money which is more people than there are currently on Earth.
At the point that people can’t be recruited anymore, the pyramid collapses because not enough money is coming in to pay members and sustain the pyramid.
Looking at the description of what a pyramid scheme is, the Powur MLM program can’t be classified as a pyramid scheme from a legal perspective. Powur Solar products have given people a method to make money without recruiting people.
That being said, there are pyramid schemes that disguise themselves as MLM companies because MLMs also use a pyramid structure but they sell products and services.
These pyramid schemes offer products that are almost impossible to sell with the goal of pushing you to recruit people because you supposedly can get higher commissions.
From that point on it’s the same as a traditional pyramid scheme.
Powur also doesn’t seem to fit in the category of a pyramid scheme in disguise since all their bonuses are based on sales.
Who can benefit from Powur Solar?
Who would benefit from joining the Powur MLM program:
- Expert salesmen
- Expert recruiters
- People that already have an audience
Who shouldn’t join the Powur MLM program:
- People that hate sales jobs.
- People that hate recruiting
- People that don’t have the budget for it
- People that expect to earn passive income
- People that expect to earn a full-time income
Powur Solar products
Powur is a middleman that distributes solar panels originating from solar panel manufacturers such as Tesla’s Solar City which provides low-cost solar panels.
There are no additional products aside from the solar panels that you’ll be selling as an independent seller.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- You can choose your “upline”
- A lot of guidance when you’re starting out
- High commission rates
- The possibility to become a shareholder
Cons
- Expensive products It’s far from an impulse purchase
- Pay to play
- Location dependent
Powur Company Compensation Plan
Powur has a compensation plan (or what they call a revenue sharing plan) that is similar to traditional MLM companies but also has a few things included in the plan I don’t see often in MLM companies.
I could spend the entire afternoon coming up with a post explaining every little thing of the compensation plan but I think it’d be a better idea to leave this video here.
In this video from the official Powur YouTube channel, the top Powur independent Seller is explaining how the compensation plan works and how independent sellers can take advantage of it.
How much does it cost to join Powur?
How much it costs depends on what type of membership you’re planning to get. After attending a presentation, this is what I learned about the prices.
- Powur Enterprises – $175 (per month)
- Powur Enterprises Pro – $350 (per month)
- Onboarding cost – $99
- Utility bill – $49 (per month) back office, etc
In a year at the lowest, you’ll invest $2.787 to join Powur and stay eligible for commissions.
You’ll also have to pay administration fees for adding staff to your team. You’ve 3 types of staff members you can recruit to your team/
- staff role member is $25 per month
- Adding Lead generators is $25 per month
- Adding Sellers is $50 per month (Only available for Enterprise Pro)
To make money with Powur you’ll definitely have to “pay to play”.
It’s not the type of opportunity I recommend getting into without having a big budget. Solar Panels fall without a doubt in the high-risk, high-reward category.
You can earn a lot of money but at the same time, you’ll also be investing a lot of money with no guarantee of earning it back.
How to earn with Powur Solar
5 ways of earning money with Powur Solar as you can see, in the image below.
What I like about the methods for earning money with Powur Solar is that for the majority this is all based on selling real products.
Yes, you can boost your sales by recruiting ambassadors for example but they aren’t obligated to invest in a way that loses them money. You can also partner up with other independent sellers but the most the upline can get out of that is a 50/50 split.
A big red flag of a pyramid scheme is that the upline can earn more per sale than the person in their downline making the actual sale. It’s clear that this isn’t the case with Powur.
Can you really earn money as a Powur Solar Independent seller?
The way the sellers explain it in their presentations makes it sound like a piece of cake but is it really as easy as it sounds?
I believe the best opportunities involve products or services you’d use yourself.
So ask yourself if someone came to you and talked to you about the benefits of solar panels would you immediately grab the chance to have them installed?
Solar panels aren’t exactly an impulse purchase.
According to a Forbes article, the cost of solar panels ranges from $3500 to $35.000 dependent on the size of your house.
You also have to take into account that people might be in the middle of other energy contracts.
You’ll be dealing with a very specific niche which is homeowners. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing because it allows you to have a lot of clarity on how to approach the sales process but it also limits you.
If you combine this with the costs of staying eligible for commissions it’d be easy to lose money if you aren’t careful.
I do think you could make money with Powur Solar but you’d have to be very deliberate in every step you take.
How you’re attracting the right people and the sales process they’d have to go through should be top-notch
Succeeding with Personal sales is possible but earning residual income with your downline is a different story.
Your recruits would also have to be expert salesmen to start earning residual income.
The people with the skills to consistently sell solar panels appear every blue moon and there aren’t a lot of them.
I wouldn’t count on earning residual commissions, to be honest.
Why aren’t people earning decent money with MLM companies like Powur?
I have summed up the reasons why it’s hard to make money with Powur and MLM companies in general into 3 points. As a Powur independent seller, you’ll have to deal with the first 2 points mentioned below.
1. MLM companies are often associated with pyramid schemes
MLMs have a pyramid recruiting structure that you often have to join to be able to make decent money or at the very least not lose money. The problem is a lot of pyramid schemes disguise themselves as MLM programs making it difficult to differentiate the two.
This is the biggest problem why most distributors have a difficult time recruiting people. The moment people hear about how you can make money by recruiting people red flags appear in most people’s minds.
This isn’t good for your sales.
2. You have to consistently invest your money to earn commissions
You’re only eligible for bonuses and commissions if you buy their products. The bigger the bonuses, the more product you have to buy. You do get discounts but if you can’t sell the products I can see you easily fall into a financial deficit (which happens to the majority of distributors of MLM companies).
3. The price of the product often isn’t aligned with the market
It’s hard for a multi-level marketer to sell products because most MLM products tend to be a lot more expensive than similar products sold by non-MLM companies. This means even if you’re really good at recruiting your downline still needs to sell those same expensive products for you to make decent money.
You can see that translated in these statistics I found about Multi-level Marketing.
- Nearly half (47%) of MLM participants reported that they lost money.
- One in four (27%) MLM participants reported that they broke even (made no money).
- MLM participants are 7% more likely to declare bankruptcy during their lifetime.
- Direct sales have risen 79% in the last decade, but MLM participants continue to lose money.
- 90 – 99% of distributors in multilevel marketing only receive a couple of hundred dollars in commission per year.
- Out of the 33,000 interviewed, 90 people made enough money to cover the costs of building their businesses.
- 50% of the people who start a network marketing enterprise abandoned it in the first year.
Sources:
FTC
AARP
Jobsinmarketing.io
What I like about Powur Solar:
- High Payouts with the COGS Model (70/30 split)
- Solid affiliate program
- Powur works with established companies
What I don’t like about Powur Solar:
- Powur Solar’s “Pay to Play” business model comes with high financial risk.
- You’re limited to targeting home owners
- Solar Panels are expensive making them hard to sell
Verdict
Is Powur A Scam or a Legitimate MLM?
Powur isn’t a scam. It is a legitimate MLM company but succeeding as an independent seller is extremely hard for most people.
Powur Alternative: How to earn +100/day commission without recruiting or selling products
Are you interested in earning money without monthly quotas, recruiting, or selling products?
If yes, then I might have something for you. It’s the method I have been using since 2018 to earn money right from my laptop.
It’s called affiliate marketing.
I’ve tried a lot of different methods in the past, and I spent most of my days reviewing all types of “make money/Business” opportunities.
I can say without a doubt this is the best way to earn money without huge financial risk.
Affiliate marketing is similar to the method used in the business opportunity above but there are a few significant differences.
Unlike Multi-Level Marketing:
- There’s no need to recruit people (and possibly lose valuable relationships)
- You don’t have to sell products (and sound like sleazy salesmen to earn money)
- You don’t have quotas that require you to purchase products every month
- You don’t have an upline (that next to the company also takes a piece of the pie)
No previous experience in online marketing, no problem.
It’s by far the simplest method to earn meaningful money online and even turn it into a full-time income.
Thanks to this method acquired simple affiliate websites that can bring in +$100/day without me selling products or networking with possible recruits.
If you’re interested in learning how I did it take a look at this 100% Free Step-by-step Affiliate Marketing training that’ll teach you everything you need to know.
Important* This is not a superficial guide or a starter training that leads to a premium course that you need to pay for.
It’s a Free A to Z course that you can use to set up your affiliate business and start earning money online.
That’s all for today.
I hope this course was of value to you.
If you have had experience with Powur or MLM companies in general, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
