Sam Ovens – Consulting Accelerator – Review

Sam Ovens, and his Consultancy Accelerator program, is a guy who’s been repeatedly appearing in my Facebook news feed for months now.

I looked into him last year, and personally, I’m not interested. Not interested in lining his pocket further that is. Despite having a side business in a consultancy related field myself.

Maybe I’d get that ton of value that’s always touted by these young gurus, but the price, and lack of verifiable detail for all their claims of past success, always turns me off. The trust just isn’t there if you’re not transparent or caught out in a fib.

And the unpalatable truth is, a lot of these young guys – Sam is twenty-six-years-old – became “gurus” not so much from building successful businesses (outwith selling info products on how to build successful businesses), but by taking courses from other young gurus on how to make money from becoming a guru who sells courses on how you can become a guru.

Sam Ovens kinda, largely, falls into this category. And yes, that was a one sentence paragraph above that Charles Dickens would be proud of.

I make the point because Sam did actually have success with something more than just a digital product and some padded out webinars.

Sam was the guy behind SnapInspect, an app for property management companies to checkout properties using mobile technology. I’ve read that Sam ran out of money developing that app, and that was what led him to fan out into consulting, which funded its completion.

Apparently he made a hefty bit of coin selling the app, which is a very real, and very quantifiable product/service. Getting it noticed, and people to buy into it, would’ve built skills and real experience in marketing, traffic driven ads, Facebook advertising, sales pitches etc. And apparently Sam got companies to buy into his product before he even had it built. It must’ve all transpired into a profitable business before anyone else wanted to buy Sam’s hard work and perseverance in building it up.

But instead of repeatedly doing that sort of work for the next, say, ten or fifteen years with repeated success, and thus a proven formula, Sam decided to step into the guru role, and make money off of selling the dream on how to be a successful consultant yourself.

I reckon it must’ve seemed a lot easier, and a lot less stressful, than trying to build another successful business product or service from the ground up, what with no guarantees, and from the way Sam tells it, how close he came to the financial precipice.

However, Sam was a graduate of Dane Maxwell’s The Foundation, a company that teaches you to do what Sam did – build a software business out of nothing with no software design experience yourself.

A lot of folks who take that course probably don’t make Jack Skeet from it, much like folks who buy the weight loss program, and it’s not cheap as The Foundation currently comes in around $5,000. That’s gone up over the years too, and they purposefully try to create that scarcity/value impression by (apparently) not accepting everyone who wants to join this course. You know, like they’re doing you a favour letting you give ’em your $5k.

Actually it’s a tactic Timothy Marc uses in his Secret Society Mastermind… which reminds me greatly of The Foundation in other ways too now that I’ve said it.

But anyway, I think it occurred to Sam that like the old adage goes, that the people who really get rich are the ones who sell those digging for gold, the tools with which to dig for gold. Because Sam has long since stepped out of creating software, and started selling a consultancy info program on how to be a successful consultant.

With of course all the usual Dick Whittington elements of being broke, no money in his bank account (or at least a minimal amount) and then going to a six figure sum within a year. Which is the time period typically touted in these rags to riches stories. Like Tai Lopez, all Sam is missing in his tale, is his belongings tied in cloth, swinging from a stick slung over his shoulder, and a cat padding along beside him.

And speaking of Tai Lopez, him and Sam Ovens are good friends, or at least business partners of sorts, because they both promote each other.

Sam promises to teach the skills to get high ticket customers paying for your consulting skills, whatever it may be you’re consulting in.

But I don’t believe all consultancy is of a sameness or can implement a (high pressure) sales strategy in the same way. Maybe a lot can, but not all. That’s just my personal opinion, though.

Like all these programs, Sam skates right up to the edge of saying he guarantees success, but the small print specifically makes the disclaimer that he most definitely can’t. This is standard fare in these sorts of courses or info products like I’ve said before.

But let’s look at how easy it is to get your money back if you’re not happy. We’re told that is guaranteed, and no risk. If you’re a reputable business with a great product, that’s got to be an easy promise to keep if you mean it. Not everyone will be happy because you can never please everyone, but if you’re pleasing the majority then providing the odd refund isn’t going to be such a hit on your business, and it’s all good for your rep too – that you keep to your word re your “guarantees.”

And how much is it that you’d like back if you’re not happy? Currently it’s $1,997. So just a snip under $2k.

A quick look through review sites for Sam Ovens reveals a ream of similar complaints regarding a failure to issue refunds, zero communication to the request, deliberate stalling until the thirty day guarantee expires, and just simply flat out being ignored with no acknowledgement.

That doesn’t really instil confidence in handing over your money. As one reviewer noted, when you calculate the sort of money this program pulls in, you’d think they’d at least put some of that to a dedicated support team – or even one person.

Perhaps even put some money to the website. I mean, that’s internet circa 2001. And the link, when you enter your email address, takes you to nothing, it just refreshes the same screen and bounces back at you.

What of the actual content itself? Well, like I said at the start of this article, I wasn’t interested for the asking price, so I can’t comment.

Others have, and I can summarise.

I’m not going to deny and argue with the great reviews that do exist for Sam Ovens and his course. From what I’ve read in the positive comments, the advice is solid, it isn’t worthless. If you implement it and persevere, learn from your mistakes, dedicate yourself to the success of your business… it could work for you.

But there’s nothing you can’t find for free on the net or in the library. There’s no “secret sauce” that only Sam Ovens is privy to.

It all comes down to the individual. Do you need a personal trainer? Would you really credit your personal trainer with your transformation? Because it was always in you. Some people do need that push however, and I won’t say coaching services are without worth, but remember, you’re the one quite literally doing the heavy lifting for the results, and it’s the trainer that’s really reaping the rewards of your hard work.

It can be that having paid $$$$ you’re more likely to really commit to that heavy lifting, because $2,000 is no small sum, and that investment will give you the kick up the rear you’ve been missing, along with a practical step-by-step program to implement.

Me, doing my own personal risk assessment, frequently find these programs wanting in terms of potential return. Not quite as bad as purchasing a lottery ticket, but it’s sort of similar in terms of what you might get back re return for your investment. The most likely outcome for a great number of people is not much. Of course some will do very well, but the reality is that the odds are against you. Against you in terms of your own commitment and perseverance, because you’re not going to be enjoying these touted five figure months within a few weeks, or even a few months

These gurus all claim to be doing this for the people who want to breakout of the nine-to-five job, that they know the pain, and are here selflessly to help. For $2,000 or more.

Of course they charge that not because they need the money, but to weed out the dabblers: they just want those who are going to commit.

Hmm. Okay.

Like I say, these programs can work, maybe Sam Ovens does, but he’s not transparent with the all the details of his own background, he hangs out with hucksters like Tai Lopez, and the review feedback isn’t good. Neither is the website. All of that out-tallies the ‘pro’ column for me in a good vs bad checklist.

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Not everyone wants to bet big on black or red for the payoff that may come with the boldness. There is a safer, albeit slower, route to make money online. Like the diet or gym, you’re going to need to stick with it, think long term, and be patient to see results.

If you have perseverance, and want to approach things a bit more realistically, then checkout Wealthy Affiliate. They provide a step-by-step course on how to make money from affiliate marketing. It doesn’t cost $$$$, there’s a monthly or annual fee, and you get everything you need, including the tools to do keyword research and build your websites.

You don’t need to spend anything to join and look around, no credit card for “verification purposes,” you get a week of membership access, which is more than enough time to go through the site and decide if you’re going to stay.

Wealthy Affiliate is the best one-stop resource that I’ve found thus far that provides realistic instruction on the process of making money online. You can read my review here.

A few grand is a heck of an investment to make, and most folks looking to make money online don’t have it, which is why they’re looking at this business. Don’t go getting yourself into financial trouble chasing the dream, you don’t need to spend that sort of money to start tapping into the pipeline of money that flows through the internet.

As I say, checkout Wealthy Affiliate. I’m on the inside, I’m not recommending something I’m not part of, and I have a very large and well attuned ‘scammer siren’ in my nervous system.

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Recommended further reading (that doesn’t cost four figures):

Online Business Startup

The entrepreneur’s guide to launching a fast, lean and profitable online venture.

By Robin Waite