Complaint Review: Institute For Independent Business IIB - Parsippany New Jersey

I'm not an owner or an employee of the Institute for Independent Business. I am, though, an Associate. Accrediting with the IIB is one of the best decisions I've made. I did it five years ago, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. There are no ongoing fees, no percentages of income to pay or anything like that - this reference to 20% came about through someone who evidently misunderstood the Minimum Income Guarantee program that the Institute offers.

I'm writing from Australia, so things may be different here. But I found that the quality of the network the Institute gives me has been fantastic.

If you are reading about the Institute for Independent Business then probably you are considering it as an option. I'd strongly encourage you to do your own research and due diligence. Frankly, I'm not impressed by this website, which gives uninformed people a platform to parade their prejudices and leaves visitors wondering if perhaps there's no smoke without fire.

Have some people accredited with the Institute and then regretted their decision? Hell yeah. Then again, tell me ANY major decision that no-one who took it ever regretted.

Would I recommend the IIB? Not necessarily. It's certainly not for everyone, and I'm pretty certain that the people who have written about it here in such confident and ignorant terms would not be suitable. It wouldn't work for them, and they'd end up disappointed. Maybe, though, you're not like them. In which case: do your due diligence - and that means looking into it a bit more thoroughly than googling or even looking at the IIB website, which isn't great - but that doesn't reallyl matter because our clients don't "buy" the IIB: they "buy" us.

In my opinion from the reports here, my own research, reading about the IIB on the internet and what others have to say in a number of internet locations and discussions with a variety of IIB members, you'd do better to save your money, or if you are running your own business, use it to market your product or services--invest in your self and your business.  As a consumer, I'd rather buy services from someone who has used their financial assets to market their business or to purchase better equipment in order to provide better business or service than to spend higher prices on a company who spent $20,000 plus to a company who accredits them.  Better yet, attend college for that same money and get an advanced degree.  In my opinion, your money would be better spent doing something else constructive with it.

This certainly seems to be a scam. As an ex-pat British citizen now living in the US I take exception to the comments about the UK being riddled with scams. Since moving here four years ago, my wife and I have been the direct victims of around 10 scam companies ranging from the IIB, to those unidentifiable charges you discover on your bank statement that were not authorized, to legitimate companies surreptitiously charging you monthly for a silent service hidden in the small print. In all my decades in the UK I hadn't once been the victim of any such scam, nor even heard of such scams.

The US has far less business litigation compared to the UK. This is one of the effects of deregulation and free market, and while these philosophies have good and bad qualities, they allow these companies to leak through the cracks. Tough UK regulations make it more expensive and confusing to operate businesses in the UK, but it also means better business practices for the consumer and employees.

In other words, there's a reason the IIB left the UK to come to the US.

The rest of the article seems in order, but the allegations about the UK are a complete fabrication that are referenced purely by hearsay.

Right then, let's get to it from the start 1 Any one who is stupid enough not to do due dilligence and research before spending a large sum of money is plain stupid! 2 Having spent that money to not then put into practice the processes and procedures taught is plain stupid! 3 Having spent all that money to not then take advantage of the wide range of FREE support and advice that is available, and regularly promoted across the network is plain stupid! 4 To come on a one sided, Gerry Springer, style website like this and have a moan instead of asking fellow Associates and the incredibly knowledgeable support people around the network for help is plain stupid! I have been an IIB Associate for a number of years and I have to tell you than when I started I stumbled about and had serious doubts about my ability to succeed. However I did not whinge, I got on the phone to my mentor, I called the course tutors and I got in touch with fellow Associates who live in my region. The result? Today I earn a fantastic living (since the so called recession started by income has increased because business owners need help and support mor than ever). I have to work three days a week which is a bit of pain but you can't have everything can you? This morning on our mass email system there were twenty or so requests for products, services and guidance for Associates' clients. From as close to home as the next town and as far away as Sydney, Australia. In the course of a day there will be a hundred or so. Every day of the eyar regardless of holidays, recession or whatever else the world throws at as. In conclusion, to all those ne' do wells get up of your fat backside and start using the network of brilliant people that you paid to join. We are ready and waiting for your call! To ignore this would be.... PLAIN STUPID!

I have been accredited by the IIB for nearly three years. I had been out of the workforce for family reasons for two years before and had lost my network. IIB provided an instant network of trusted and knowledgeable business people world wide.IIB always stated the case that as an accredited associate, you were stictly independent and that no royalties or commissions werer payable. The up front cost? Try developing such a network yourself for this cost. It would be impossible. I have been involved in business ventures, consulting contracts and social interaction in the past two years that would never have been available to me without the IIB relationship. Those who criticise the IIB would do well to perform proper due diligence, understand that no one will offer them success without hard work, and to think about the fact that it would be unlikely that so many successful business people could all be so wrong.

There has been a spate of these negative comments abut the IIB as if one has spawned the rest. The complainers are usually afraid to identify themselves which is rather cowardly and makes their comments most suspect as if one person has put his mates up to creating false trouble. 1. My name is David Goyder and I am a Fellow of the IIB. 2. I have been associated for some ten years. 3. I have enjoyed a most satisfactory stipend from my IIB activity. 4. The IIB is a supportive network that promotes individual success and through the 'band of brothers' principle allows us to help and support each other. 5. The IIB stresses the principle that individuals have control over their destiny (the Great American Philosophy) and can do anything they set their mind upon. Individuals are not held back by anything but their unwillingness to work hard and be personally responsible and rewarded for their efforts. 6. The IIB will not compensate for laziness, defeatism, blame the other person sort of behaviour. It is not an employer, to carry irresponsible incompetent morons who probably cannot hold down a job anyway. It is not for the get rich quick crowd, the conmen, fraudsters and the one who want a quick and easy way to a fortune, usually someone elses's! 7. The IIB is for hardworking, thinking individuals who want to control their destiny, who are competent to do so and who do not give a d**n about the whiners!! AND have you noticed, it is only the jealous failures who whine? Shame on them!! Cheers, a Happy associate of the IIB David Goyder

There has been a spate of these negative comments abut the IIB as if one has spawned the rest. The complainers are usually afraid to identify themselves which is rather cowardly and makes their comments most suspect as if one person has put his mates up to creating false trouble. 1. My name is David Goyder and I am a Fellow of the IIB. 2. I have been associated for some ten years. 3. I have enjoyed a most satisfactory stipend from my IIB activity. 4. The IIB is a supportive network that promotes individual success and through the 'band of brothers' principle allows us to help and support each other. 5. The IIB stresses the principle that individuals have control over their destiny (the Great American Philosophy) and can do anything they set their mind upon. Individuals are not held back by anything but their unwillingness to work hard and be personally responsible and rewarded for their efforts. 6. The IIB will not compensate for laziness, defeatism, blame the other person sort of behaviour. It is not an employer, to carry irresponsible incompetent morons who probably cannot hold down a job anyway. It is not for the get rich quick crowd, the conmen, fraudsters and the one who want a quick and easy way to a fortune, usually someone elses's! 7. The IIB is for hardworking, thinking individuals who want to control their destiny, who are competent to do so and who do not give a d**n about the whiners!! AND have you noticed, it is only the jealous failures who whine? Shame on them!! Cheers, a Happy associate of the IIB David Goyder

There has been a spate of these negative comments abut the IIB as if one has spawned the rest. The complainers are usually afraid to identify themselves which is rather cowardly and makes their comments most suspect as if one person has put his mates up to creating false trouble. 1. My name is David Goyder and I am a Fellow of the IIB. 2. I have been associated for some ten years. 3. I have enjoyed a most satisfactory stipend from my IIB activity. 4. The IIB is a supportive network that promotes individual success and through the 'band of brothers' principle allows us to help and support each other. 5. The IIB stresses the principle that individuals have control over their destiny (the Great American Philosophy) and can do anything they set their mind upon. Individuals are not held back by anything but their unwillingness to work hard and be personally responsible and rewarded for their efforts. 6. The IIB will not compensate for laziness, defeatism, blame the other person sort of behaviour. It is not an employer, to carry irresponsible incompetent morons who probably cannot hold down a job anyway. It is not for the get rich quick crowd, the conmen, fraudsters and the one who want a quick and easy way to a fortune, usually someone elses's! 7. The IIB is for hardworking, thinking individuals who want to control their destiny, who are competent to do so and who do not give a d**n about the whiners!! AND have you noticed, it is only the jealous failures who whine? Shame on them!! Cheers, a Happy associate of the IIB David Goyder

There has been a spate of these negative comments abut the IIB as if one has spawned the rest. The complainers are usually afraid to identify themselves which is rather cowardly and makes their comments most suspect as if one person has put his mates up to creating false trouble. 1. My name is David Goyder and I am a Fellow of the IIB. 2. I have been associated for some ten years. 3. I have enjoyed a most satisfactory stipend from my IIB activity. 4. The IIB is a supportive network that promotes individual success and through the 'band of brothers' principle allows us to help and support each other. 5. The IIB stresses the principle that individuals have control over their destiny (the Great American Philosophy) and can do anything they set their mind upon. Individuals are not held back by anything but their unwillingness to work hard and be personally responsible and rewarded for their efforts. 6. The IIB will not compensate for laziness, defeatism, blame the other person sort of behaviour. It is not an employer, to carry irresponsible incompetent morons who probably cannot hold down a job anyway. It is not for the get rich quick crowd, the conmen, fraudsters and the one who want a quick and easy way to a fortune, usually someone elses's! 7. The IIB is for hardworking, thinking individuals who want to control their destiny, who are competent to do so and who do not give a d**n about the whiners!! AND have you noticed, it is only the jealous failures who whine? Shame on them!! Cheers, a Happy associate of the IIB David Goyder

I have been an Accredited Associate of the Institute for Independent Business for over three years and have a successful practice advising business owners for small to medium businesses. As such, I DO have an inside track on the IIB and the process to become an Accedited Associate - unlike Steve from NC. Prior to receiving my accreditation, I was a successful business leader for various large corporations. Like many associates, I made a career change so as to work for myself and the feeling of building my own company and being independent. Often, as an employee, I dreamed of consulting and so I responded to an ad on CareerBuilder.com. The IIB screened and selected my resume out of hundreds received and I was invited to an informational session. At that session, I was informed about what the IIB was - a not-for-profit international accreditation body for senior executives dedicated to research and training of these senior executives to help small and medium businesses. Given I enjoy helping others, and saw a need in the small to medium business are, I enrolled to become accredited. I paid just over $18,000 to attend an extensive six day training class (residential business school) which covered everything from how to manage my own business to how to engage with small to medium business owners and help them dramatically improve their business. This training was invaluable! Where else can you receive a formula for success for starting a business? Additionally, I received a three month one-on-one mentoring from an IIB associate and since have received over 1000 hours of free education to support my success in my business. One option for newly accredited associates presented at the class was the "Guarantee" program. The IIB guarantees associates a minimum of $60,000 earned for the first year, less an administration fee. I chose NOT to partake of that program because all of the techiques and actions were provided to us associates anyway so I felt I could simply follow the process on my own and forego paying the administration fee. Since joining, I have built my business into a six figure income and am continuing to grow. This has not been without WORK, however! In fact, it takes a lot of work! Prospecting and closing of clients requires dilligence and perseverance. Many just don't have the make up nor the skills for this. I have to say, however, any associates I have know who failed did not follow the business advice the IIB residential business school gave! You will see a dozen or so reports on here from people who attended an informational meeting. Their reports are dead wrong. They are reporting based on partial information and no experience! Further, they present their cases as "informed" when indeed they are giving opinions only. The second class of report on here are from associates who were not successful. As I said previously, these associated DID NOT follow the IIB advice on starting their business. Their improv cost them success! It is worth noting that not a single IIB client has reported here at RipoffReports! Of the tens of thousands of completely clients of Accedited Associates of the IIB worldwide that are out there, not a single complaint? That says a lot for the organization and its associates! Associate in pa butler, Pennsylvania

I have one comment to all concerned. I have not and have never been asked nor have any contracts that require me to pay 20% of my fees to the IIB. It does not happen and am amazed that the the Rip OFF editors would allow such fraudulent statements to stand. I would be very wary of any firm that requires a 20% kick back and anyone who would make such claims about an organization he/she is not part of.

I have one comment to all concerned. I have not and have never been asked nor have any contracts that require me to pay 20% of my fees to the IIB. It does not happen and am amazed that the the Rip OFF editors would allow such fraudulent statements to stand. I would be very wary of any firm that requires a 20% kick back and anyone who would make such claims about an organization he/she is not part of.

I have one comment to all concerned. I have not and have never been asked nor have any contracts that require me to pay 20% of my fees to the IIB. It does not happen and am amazed that the the Rip OFF editors would allow such fraudulent statements to stand. I would be very wary of any firm that requires a 20% kick back and anyone who would make such claims about an organization he/she is not part of.

I have one comment to all concerned. I have not and have never been asked nor have any contracts that require me to pay 20% of my fees to the IIB. It does not happen and am amazed that the the Rip OFF editors would allow such fraudulent statements to stand. I would be very wary of any firm that requires a 20% kick back and anyone who would make such claims about an organization he/she is not part of.

To "Concerned", I can only say one thing...you have won any award I have ever seen for completely analyzing a model from a brief seminar and fabricating non-truths from your analysis. You should really find better uses of your time. Speaking of better uses of time, I can't believe I am responding to this to tell you the truth. However, since you have launched a Patriot missile at the organization which accredited me over 4 years ago, I must take a bit of my time. I apologize for taking so long to do this but I just recently came across this website. I AM a former President of 2 companies once of which is still listed on the NYSE and I actually could have continued in our wonderful American workforce that today is laying off people by the thousands. Rather, I am now working with small business clients, helping them steer their businesses through this economic mess and having great fun doing so. My decision 4 years ago may seem desperate to you perhaps but, right now, it could be characterized as a smart decision - at least my wife thinks so. This model is certainly a CHOICE, and I assume one could be desperate if one has fallen on hard times or has not managed one's affairs properly. If so, the IIB income guarantee could be a good choice. I don't recall if your analysis captured that fact which, to me, is a huge factor and should be included in any complete analysis. Enough of my opinion - I do have one more thing to cover though for anyone out there wasting your time reading all of this stuff posted on ripoffreport.com. Although the author "Concerned" does not want you to know who he is, I am not afraid of revealing myself and speaking with you. I will sign this as SeeSoClearly which happens to be the same name I use on eBay. Feel free to log into eBay, send me an email, and if you have received 100% positive feedback for your activities there as I have for over 5 years, I will be happy to speak with you. Just send me your contact information and I will call you. How about that for an offer....just a bit better than "Concerned" offered you! A great 2009 to all! SeeSoClearly

To "Concerned", I can only say one thing...you have won any award I have ever seen for completely analyzing a model from a brief seminar and fabricating non-truths from your analysis. You should really find better uses of your time. Speaking of better uses of time, I can't believe I am responding to this to tell you the truth. However, since you have launched a Patriot missile at the organization which accredited me over 4 years ago, I must take a bit of my time. I apologize for taking so long to do this but I just recently came across this website. I AM a former President of 2 companies once of which is still listed on the NYSE and I actually could have continued in our wonderful American workforce that today is laying off people by the thousands. Rather, I am now working with small business clients, helping them steer their businesses through this economic mess and having great fun doing so. My decision 4 years ago may seem desperate to you perhaps but, right now, it could be characterized as a smart decision - at least my wife thinks so. This model is certainly a CHOICE, and I assume one could be desperate if one has fallen on hard times or has not managed one's affairs properly. If so, the IIB income guarantee could be a good choice. I don't recall if your analysis captured that fact which, to me, is a huge factor and should be included in any complete analysis. Enough of my opinion - I do have one more thing to cover though for anyone out there wasting your time reading all of this stuff posted on ripoffreport.com. Although the author "Concerned" does not want you to know who he is, I am not afraid of revealing myself and speaking with you. I will sign this as SeeSoClearly which happens to be the same name I use on eBay. Feel free to log into eBay, send me an email, and if you have received 100% positive feedback for your activities there as I have for over 5 years, I will be happy to speak with you. Just send me your contact information and I will call you. How about that for an offer....just a bit better than "Concerned" offered you! A great 2009 to all! SeeSoClearly

To "Concerned", I can only say one thing...you have won any award I have ever seen for completely analyzing a model from a brief seminar and fabricating non-truths from your analysis. You should really find better uses of your time. Speaking of better uses of time, I can't believe I am responding to this to tell you the truth. However, since you have launched a Patriot missile at the organization which accredited me over 4 years ago, I must take a bit of my time. I apologize for taking so long to do this but I just recently came across this website. I AM a former President of 2 companies once of which is still listed on the NYSE and I actually could have continued in our wonderful American workforce that today is laying off people by the thousands. Rather, I am now working with small business clients, helping them steer their businesses through this economic mess and having great fun doing so. My decision 4 years ago may seem desperate to you perhaps but, right now, it could be characterized as a smart decision - at least my wife thinks so. This model is certainly a CHOICE, and I assume one could be desperate if one has fallen on hard times or has not managed one's affairs properly. If so, the IIB income guarantee could be a good choice. I don't recall if your analysis captured that fact which, to me, is a huge factor and should be included in any complete analysis. Enough of my opinion - I do have one more thing to cover though for anyone out there wasting your time reading all of this stuff posted on ripoffreport.com. Although the author "Concerned" does not want you to know who he is, I am not afraid of revealing myself and speaking with you. I will sign this as SeeSoClearly which happens to be the same name I use on eBay. Feel free to log into eBay, send me an email, and if you have received 100% positive feedback for your activities there as I have for over 5 years, I will be happy to speak with you. Just send me your contact information and I will call you. How about that for an offer....just a bit better than "Concerned" offered you! A great 2009 to all! SeeSoClearly

To "Concerned", I can only say one thing...you have won any award I have ever seen for completely analyzing a model from a brief seminar and fabricating non-truths from your analysis. You should really find better uses of your time. Speaking of better uses of time, I can't believe I am responding to this to tell you the truth. However, since you have launched a Patriot missile at the organization which accredited me over 4 years ago, I must take a bit of my time. I apologize for taking so long to do this but I just recently came across this website. I AM a former President of 2 companies once of which is still listed on the NYSE and I actually could have continued in our wonderful American workforce that today is laying off people by the thousands. Rather, I am now working with small business clients, helping them steer their businesses through this economic mess and having great fun doing so. My decision 4 years ago may seem desperate to you perhaps but, right now, it could be characterized as a smart decision - at least my wife thinks so. This model is certainly a CHOICE, and I assume one could be desperate if one has fallen on hard times or has not managed one's affairs properly. If so, the IIB income guarantee could be a good choice. I don't recall if your analysis captured that fact which, to me, is a huge factor and should be included in any complete analysis. Enough of my opinion - I do have one more thing to cover though for anyone out there wasting your time reading all of this stuff posted on ripoffreport.com. Although the author "Concerned" does not want you to know who he is, I am not afraid of revealing myself and speaking with you. I will sign this as SeeSoClearly which happens to be the same name I use on eBay. Feel free to log into eBay, send me an email, and if you have received 100% positive feedback for your activities there as I have for over 5 years, I will be happy to speak with you. Just send me your contact information and I will call you. How about that for an offer....just a bit better than "Concerned" offered you! A great 2009 to all! SeeSoClearly

IIB Institute for Independent Business I have read with interest some of the articles placed here and feel that I must add my own comments. I joined the IIB 6 years ago and have had a very different experience to some of the contributors. I came from a large corporate background and had no experience whatsoever of dealing with small and medium sized businesses or of independent consultancy. The IIB gave me 3 vital things. The first was access to the market via leads generated by the telemarketing operation. These leads did vary however overall I closed around 1 in 6 of the leads into clients or projects. I have to say that I was delighted with that result which did accord with what I had been told during the selection process. The second benefit that accreditation to the IIB gave me was a methodology that allowed me to accurately assess potential clients needs. This proved to be vital in gaining new clients. It also ensured that I only took clients who I could genuinely help. The third and most important benefit was the Business Support Program and access to specialists via the network. This meant that I could offer a credible and powerful solution to my clients needs with me acting as the generalist and using specialists where required. Offering a service as a one man band is neither effective nor long term stable. Whist I cannot speak for everyone my own return from investing in the IIB training and accreditation has been huge not only in financial terms but also in delivering a high level of service to my clients and in having a large group of other associates to talk with and get advice and support. Overall I have been very pleased with the return on my investment and I believe so have the vast majority of those associates who I deal with on a day to day basis.

I'm a 3-year IIB "executive associate," (i.e., member). I notice that most of the negative comments are by people who have considered joining the IIB, but did not do so. Thus, they are looking from the outside in. It is easy to see they really don't know what they're talking about. Prior to joining the IIB, I tried to set myself up as an independent consultant, and didn't have much luck. Although a very experienced businessman in the marketing and start-up arena, I just didn't know how to structure my business to make money. This is where the IIB came in. First, they do check to see if you have at least minimal business experience. At my recruiting meeting I saw them turn a 40-something person down--some one who had only 15 years experience in a single, narrow field. The week-long meeting is essentially a very structured sales-training course: how to sell your services. This is by far the most difficult aspect of being a consultant. ANY experienced businessman can help just about any company with its myriad problems. But getting them to pay for it is the hard part. EVERYONE of the 40 or so new IB member in my class--not a dummy among them--thought the sales training was absolutely terrific. Are there problems with the IIB? Of course. (Show me an organization that doesn't have them.) The company is run by a sclerotic, autocratic cabal that hasn't had a new thought in 20 years. But so what? THEY are not getting you the business--YOU are getting yourself the new business that you need to survive. And they have richly showed you how to do it. The $350/yr essentially pays for access to a private message board in which associates can ask for help, advertise services or special deals, etc., etc. It is very handy, and another source of business--particularly if your client has a requirement that you can't personally fill. Many locations have regional associations ($75/yr--which IIB matches) where IIBers meet to discuss issues, problems, new ideas and to hear speakers describing services that might be of interest to their clients. It's a great place to network, and to not feel so alone in a one-man shop. So, is the IIB an easy street to wealth and riches--certainly not. And if you're not reasonable adept at selling yourself, you'll have problems no matter what skills you bring to the table. For the rest of us--the IIB show us how best to showcase our skills, and that is a pretty good deal.

I am neither an owner of or employee of the IIB and therefore do not represent the IIB. As a technical matter, there is no owner of the IIB, as it is a non-profit organization. I am, however, accredited by the IIB as an advisor to small and medium size enterprises (SME's). Yes, I am one of those middle age people who paid the $20 K (actually $18,900 at the time I became accredited), to go through the credentialing, education and accreditation process. If, two plus years later, I felt that I had been conned or scammed, I would certainly want to report it. I am writing to rebut this report as I feel that there is some serious misinformation as well as unsupported innuendo contained therein. The most glaring piece of misinformation is the statement that the IIB gets a royalty of 20% of the fees charged to an Associate's clients and further misstatement that the recruiters get a percentage of those earnings. This is absolutely false. I pay no part of the fees that I charge to my clients to either the IIB or to those who recruit (if you choose to call it that) for the IIB. My business revenue is my business revenue. As stated above, I paid a fee of $18,900 to go through the education, accreditation and mentoring process. That fee also included 10 warm leads of local business owners in my geographic area who had indicated a desire for a free meeting to discuss challenges or problems with their business. Since then, the only fee I have paid to the IIB is a $350.00/year to subscribe to the central website and mass email system which pays for itself 50-fold, when it comes to how it benefits me in the management of my practice and directly benefits my clients. I also voluntarily pay nominal dues to belong to my regional group which meets monthly and provides ongoing professional development opportunities. The false statements, referenced above, are critical in that they mislead the reader into believing that the IIB is operating as a consulting franchise or worse, still, a pyramid scheme. It is neither. Picking up on another statement or question about why the IIB does not employ it's business advisors, this is because the IIB is not in the business of providing advisory services. That is not part of their non-profit mission. Their purpose is to research best practices and provide education and accreditation to business advisors who are committed to working with SME's. They further provide ongoing support by linking us accredited advisors together through their central website and mass email system and providing on-going professional development materials and opportunities. Lastly they provide us with a code of ethics and a code of conduct along with a structure for enforcing the codes and adjudicating matters related to those codes. To address the question of why one would want to pay $20K to the IIB rather than invest it in their own business, I can only say that for me, it was an investment in my own business. For someone who already has a successful consulting practice, there may not be as much benefit. For those of us who were or are transitioning from being business owners or executives to business advisors, the process can be extremely worthwhile and continued association with the IIB, far outweighs the ongoing cost of $350/year. Most of us who are IIB accredited, will readily admit to being middle-aged or above. In fact, most of us are proud of the fact that we've been around the track many times and amassed much real world business experience before becoming business advisors. I personally resent the inference that because we choose to make this transition late in our careers, that we must be failures or mis-fits who have had some difficulties in our lives. Speak for yourself, sir. Most of the Associates that I know, either owned their own businesses and chose to sell them or pass them along or they held executive level management positions in other organizations. The reasons why one chooses to make a decision to become a business advisor are varied. This generalization and characterization is most unfair and unfounded. The statement about not working with retail stores or restaurants is also not true. While such businesses may not be the central focus of the IIB, those IIB accredited advisors who have the background and experience to advise in these areas do so on a regular basis. To my knowledge, the IIB, as an organization, does nothing to discourage this. My final point is that if the writer of this report has all of the facts and has done all of the analysis, as he claims he has, how can he have made so many mis-statements?

I am neither an owner of or employee of the IIB and therefore do not represent the IIB. As a technical matter, there is no owner of the IIB, as it is a non-profit organization. I am, however, accredited by the IIB as an advisor to small and medium size enterprises (SME's). Yes, I am one of those middle age people who paid the $20 K (actually $18,900 at the time I became accredited), to go through the credentialing, education and accreditation process. If, two plus years later, I felt that I had been conned or scammed, I would certainly want to report it. I am writing to rebut this report as I feel that there is some serious misinformation as well as unsupported innuendo contained therein. The most glaring piece of misinformation is the statement that the IIB gets a royalty of 20% of the fees charged to an Associate's clients and further misstatement that the recruiters get a percentage of those earnings. This is absolutely false. I pay no part of the fees that I charge to my clients to either the IIB or to those who recruit (if you choose to call it that) for the IIB. My business revenue is my business revenue. As stated above, I paid a fee of $18,900 to go through the education, accreditation and mentoring process. That fee also included 10 warm leads of local business owners in my geographic area who had indicated a desire for a free meeting to discuss challenges or problems with their business. Since then, the only fee I have paid to the IIB is a $350.00/year to subscribe to the central website and mass email system which pays for itself 50-fold, when it comes to how it benefits me in the management of my practice and directly benefits my clients. I also voluntarily pay nominal dues to belong to my regional group which meets monthly and provides ongoing professional development opportunities. The false statements, referenced above, are critical in that they mislead the reader into believing that the IIB is operating as a consulting franchise or worse, still, a pyramid scheme. It is neither. Picking up on another statement or question about why the IIB does not employ it's business advisors, this is because the IIB is not in the business of providing advisory services. That is not part of their non-profit mission. Their purpose is to research best practices and provide education and accreditation to business advisors who are committed to working with SME's. They further provide ongoing support by linking us accredited advisors together through their central website and mass email system and providing on-going professional development materials and opportunities. Lastly they provide us with a code of ethics and a code of conduct along with a structure for enforcing the codes and adjudicating matters related to those codes. To address the question of why one would want to pay $20K to the IIB rather than invest it in their own business, I can only say that for me, it was an investment in my own business. For someone who already has a successful consulting practice, there may not be as much benefit. For those of us who were or are transitioning from being business owners or executives to business advisors, the process can be extremely worthwhile and continued association with the IIB, far outweighs the ongoing cost of $350/year. Most of us who are IIB accredited, will readily admit to being middle-aged or above. In fact, most of us are proud of the fact that we've been around the track many times and amassed much real world business experience before becoming business advisors. I personally resent the inference that because we choose to make this transition late in our careers, that we must be failures or mis-fits who have had some difficulties in our lives. Speak for yourself, sir. Most of the Associates that I know, either owned their own businesses and chose to sell them or pass them along or they held executive level management positions in other organizations. The reasons why one chooses to make a decision to become a business advisor are varied. This generalization and characterization is most unfair and unfounded. The statement about not working with retail stores or restaurants is also not true. While such businesses may not be the central focus of the IIB, those IIB accredited advisors who have the background and experience to advise in these areas do so on a regular basis. To my knowledge, the IIB, as an organization, does nothing to discourage this. My final point is that if the writer of this report has all of the facts and has done all of the analysis, as he claims he has, how can he have made so many mis-statements?

I am neither an owner of or employee of the IIB and therefore do not represent the IIB. As a technical matter, there is no owner of the IIB, as it is a non-profit organization. I am, however, accredited by the IIB as an advisor to small and medium size enterprises (SME's). Yes, I am one of those middle age people who paid the $20 K (actually $18,900 at the time I became accredited), to go through the credentialing, education and accreditation process. If, two plus years later, I felt that I had been conned or scammed, I would certainly want to report it. I am writing to rebut this report as I feel that there is some serious misinformation as well as unsupported innuendo contained therein. The most glaring piece of misinformation is the statement that the IIB gets a royalty of 20% of the fees charged to an Associate's clients and further misstatement that the recruiters get a percentage of those earnings. This is absolutely false. I pay no part of the fees that I charge to my clients to either the IIB or to those who recruit (if you choose to call it that) for the IIB. My business revenue is my business revenue. As stated above, I paid a fee of $18,900 to go through the education, accreditation and mentoring process. That fee also included 10 warm leads of local business owners in my geographic area who had indicated a desire for a free meeting to discuss challenges or problems with their business. Since then, the only fee I have paid to the IIB is a $350.00/year to subscribe to the central website and mass email system which pays for itself 50-fold, when it comes to how it benefits me in the management of my practice and directly benefits my clients. I also voluntarily pay nominal dues to belong to my regional group which meets monthly and provides ongoing professional development opportunities. The false statements, referenced above, are critical in that they mislead the reader into believing that the IIB is operating as a consulting franchise or worse, still, a pyramid scheme. It is neither. Picking up on another statement or question about why the IIB does not employ it's business advisors, this is because the IIB is not in the business of providing advisory services. That is not part of their non-profit mission. Their purpose is to research best practices and provide education and accreditation to business advisors who are committed to working with SME's. They further provide ongoing support by linking us accredited advisors together through their central website and mass email system and providing on-going professional development materials and opportunities. Lastly they provide us with a code of ethics and a code of conduct along with a structure for enforcing the codes and adjudicating matters related to those codes. To address the question of why one would want to pay $20K to the IIB rather than invest it in their own business, I can only say that for me, it was an investment in my own business. For someone who already has a successful consulting practice, there may not be as much benefit. For those of us who were or are transitioning from being business owners or executives to business advisors, the process can be extremely worthwhile and continued association with the IIB, far outweighs the ongoing cost of $350/year. Most of us who are IIB accredited, will readily admit to being middle-aged or above. In fact, most of us are proud of the fact that we've been around the track many times and amassed much real world business experience before becoming business advisors. I personally resent the inference that because we choose to make this transition late in our careers, that we must be failures or mis-fits who have had some difficulties in our lives. Speak for yourself, sir. Most of the Associates that I know, either owned their own businesses and chose to sell them or pass them along or they held executive level management positions in other organizations. The reasons why one chooses to make a decision to become a business advisor are varied. This generalization and characterization is most unfair and unfounded. The statement about not working with retail stores or restaurants is also not true. While such businesses may not be the central focus of the IIB, those IIB accredited advisors who have the background and experience to advise in these areas do so on a regular basis. To my knowledge, the IIB, as an organization, does nothing to discourage this. My final point is that if the writer of this report has all of the facts and has done all of the analysis, as he claims he has, how can he have made so many mis-statements?

Scams like this can be detected by examining the website. An obvious lack of detail is the first sign of a pyramid or MLM-style scam. The entire business model of IIB is based on their massive ads for "associates" promising six-figure incomes, but IIB MAKES ITS REVENUE from charging the associate $20k+ without promising qualified lead generation and without obligation on their part to deliver ANYTHING. IIB doesn't care if the associates make money, like a pyramid scam, they only care about RECRUITING at $20k a pop, that's their profit. And they pay facilitators to recruit more in geographic regions. IIB boasts about 5,000 associates -- but note none of the businesses "helped" are listed or represented by testimonials. This is a classic scam based in the UK for a reason -- here it's called fraud. ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE you get pulled into a 3-hour "info" meeting, and when they won't answer your questions up front, you can smell the rat.

I have looked at the IIB both from a customer standpoint and as a potential consultant. I did not choose them on either occasion, but I believe that they are an honest and reputable organisation. Whether they offer value for money is another question, but as they say DYOR.

We appreciate the opportunity to provide a response to the report posted on Rip-off Reports regarding the Institute for Independent Business (IIB). The IIB is a global organization headquartered in Watford, UK, that serves an international network of over 4,000 accredited independent business consultancy professionals. Additional information about the Institute can be found at www.iib.ws. Seeking IIB accreditation is not for everyone, which is why we provide detailed orientation seminars and request that individuals who are interested and qualified to apply conduct due diligence and seriously evaluate whether becoming an IIB Associate meets their own business and professional goals. Many senior business executives are extremely qualified to provide valuable consulting services to the business community, but the level of their potential individual success may be limited by the the breadth of their own expertise and the depth of their professional networks. Anyone currently involved in or considering entering the field of business consultancy must carefully evaluate their own goals and objectives. If a global network of highly qualified business resources and access to a wealth of intellectual capital of senior business executives is an important factor in this evaluation, affiliation with the IIB should be considered. The IIB offers the Consultancy Business Development Program (CBDP) to qualified individuals who desire to operate as independent consultants. There is an enrollment fee for those who are accepted into the program and an annual renewal fee to retain an active IIB affiliation. There are no other required fees the Institute benefits in the long run only through the success of the accredited Associates and the continued value that they provide to the network. Thank you

We appreciate the opportunity to provide a response to the report posted on Rip-off Reports regarding the Institute for Independent Business (IIB). The IIB is a global organization headquartered in Watford, UK, that serves an international network of over 4,000 accredited independent business consultancy professionals. Additional information about the Institute can be found at www.iib.ws. Seeking IIB accreditation is not for everyone, which is why we provide detailed orientation seminars and request that individuals who are interested and qualified to apply conduct due diligence and seriously evaluate whether becoming an IIB Associate meets their own business and professional goals. Many senior business executives are extremely qualified to provide valuable consulting services to the business community, but the level of their potential individual success may be limited by the the breadth of their own expertise and the depth of their professional networks. Anyone currently involved in or considering entering the field of business consultancy must carefully evaluate their own goals and objectives. If a global network of highly qualified business resources and access to a wealth of intellectual capital of senior business executives is an important factor in this evaluation, affiliation with the IIB should be considered. The IIB offers the Consultancy Business Development Program (CBDP) to qualified individuals who desire to operate as independent consultants. There is an enrollment fee for those who are accepted into the program and an annual renewal fee to retain an active IIB affiliation. There are no other required fees the Institute benefits in the long run only through the success of the accredited Associates and the continued value that they provide to the network. Thank you

We appreciate the opportunity to provide a response to the report posted on Rip-off Reports regarding the Institute for Independent Business (IIB). The IIB is a global organization headquartered in Watford, UK, that serves an international network of over 4,000 accredited independent business consultancy professionals. Additional information about the Institute can be found at www.iib.ws. Seeking IIB accreditation is not for everyone, which is why we provide detailed orientation seminars and request that individuals who are interested and qualified to apply conduct due diligence and seriously evaluate whether becoming an IIB Associate meets their own business and professional goals. Many senior business executives are extremely qualified to provide valuable consulting services to the business community, but the level of their potential individual success may be limited by the the breadth of their own expertise and the depth of their professional networks. Anyone currently involved in or considering entering the field of business consultancy must carefully evaluate their own goals and objectives. If a global network of highly qualified business resources and access to a wealth of intellectual capital of senior business executives is an important factor in this evaluation, affiliation with the IIB should be considered. The IIB offers the Consultancy Business Development Program (CBDP) to qualified individuals who desire to operate as independent consultants. There is an enrollment fee for those who are accepted into the program and an annual renewal fee to retain an active IIB affiliation. There are no other required fees the Institute benefits in the long run only through the success of the accredited Associates and the continued value that they provide to the network. Thank you

We appreciate the opportunity to provide a response to the report posted on Rip-off Reports regarding the Institute for Independent Business (IIB). The IIB is a global organization headquartered in Watford, UK, that serves an international network of over 4,000 accredited independent business consultancy professionals. Additional information about the Institute can be found at www.iib.ws. Seeking IIB accreditation is not for everyone, which is why we provide detailed orientation seminars and request that individuals who are interested and qualified to apply conduct due diligence and seriously evaluate whether becoming an IIB Associate meets their own business and professional goals. Many senior business executives are extremely qualified to provide valuable consulting services to the business community, but the level of their potential individual success may be limited by the the breadth of their own expertise and the depth of their professional networks. Anyone currently involved in or considering entering the field of business consultancy must carefully evaluate their own goals and objectives. If a global network of highly qualified business resources and access to a wealth of intellectual capital of senior business executives is an important factor in this evaluation, affiliation with the IIB should be considered. The IIB offers the Consultancy Business Development Program (CBDP) to qualified individuals who desire to operate as independent consultants. There is an enrollment fee for those who are accepted into the program and an annual renewal fee to retain an active IIB affiliation. There are no other required fees the Institute benefits in the long run only through the success of the accredited Associates and the continued value that they provide to the network. Thank you