Mary Kay Myth #3: You can start your own business for only $100.

Almost true. The starter kit is $100, plus tax and shipping, so technically, it’s almost $120. But that’s not a biggie. The biggie comes with the other stuff a smart business woman needs.

Your director wants to set you up for success, and she will tell you that her job is to give you her best advice, so she will talk about business cards, a website & product reorder labels. You can get the business kit, and that saves some money on ordering those items separately, but it still adds up.

She will talk with you about attending her meetings because she is so busy, she can’t really train everyone in her unit individually, and the training at the meetings is fabulous! And she will ask you to bring a couple of friends with you, so you can work smart and not hard. She will talk about you doing a power start, and earning your pearls of sharing. And then she will talk about inventory.

Generally, you will be given a sheet of paper with a little “quiz” on it to determine what you want from your business. Once you add up the numbers for your answers, there will be a suggested inventory package to help you achieve this goal. Dollars will not be mentioned. The smallest package will be a 600, on up to 3600. Depending on your goals.

The largest package will be discussed first, even though that may not be the suggested one for YOUR goals. You will be told about all of the freebies you can earn with each of the higher inventory levels, and the star prizes you will receive. As she goes down the list of inventory packages, you may notice her voice tone going down to match. There will be some sadness as you reach the bottom of the list, maybe even a head-shaking, as she explains that a 600 is essentially a personal use package, with little free stuff.

You will be told that it doesn’t matter to her what package you choose, but her experience has been that her customers do not want to wait, and Mary Kay herself said “You can’t sell from an empty wagon.” While she is saying numbers and you are hearing money, there’s a bit of a disconnect.

She will encourage you to stretch and to believe in your ability. She will discuss financing options, and may even hand you a card with a banker’s name on it for your convenience. She will have more options than you have objections, and will wear you down.

You will learn that personal debt is bad, and business debt is good. Your product is your personal ATM, you make half of what you sell, and you can have this paid off before you know it because the product just flies off the shelf and sells itself. Besides, there is a 90% buy back guarantee, so this is essentially a risk-proof decision.

When you can finally get a word in and explain that you prefer that people pay up front and then you order as needed, she may furrow her brow a bit and tell you, confidentially, that she has never seen anyone have any success doing their business this way, but, if that is what you want to do…

There will be no free product, you know, and she knows lots of people who will buy from someone else if their consultant doesn’t carry an inventory. She just wants to set you up for success. After all, would you buy a dress from a store that just had pictures of the clothes instead of the actual items? Of course not. And you are a business owner!

So, your $100 decision that may not change your financial picture, but just could change your life, is not entirely accurate, or then again, maybe it is.