Switching MLM Companies With Your Team: A Step-by-Step Plan Without Conflict

A leader with a team can switch to another MLM company without conflict by following this order: first read the contract, then calculate your losses and gains, compare the terms of the new projects, talk openly with your team, and only then handle the exit and the entry paperwork. The main rule: do nothing behind anyone's back, and sign nothing until the previous check is finished.

Below are five steps and a "situation - what to do" table for cases when things don't go to plan. The move is your personal decision, but a team is made of real people and their trust, so order matters more than speed here.

Step 1. Reread your current contract: restrictions, deadlines, notices

First, get out the contract you signed when you joined, along with every attachment: the company rules, the partner policy, the compensation plan terms. Important clauses often sit not in the contract itself but in the rules it refers to. We covered which clauses to read in the article Your Agreement With a Network Marketing Company.

Write down five things on a sheet of paper: how and within what period the contract can be terminated; whether you must notify the company in writing and how far in advance; whether you are barred from working with other companies while the contract is in force; whether there is a limit on inviting your partners to another company after you leave, and for how long; and what happens to unpaid commissions and accumulated points after you exit.

Separately, find the wording about "poaching," "competing activity" and "confidential information." It determines what you are allowed to tell your team and which data you must not take with you. A list of customers and partners exported from the company's back office may count as the company's information, while your personal contacts do not, but the line can be blurry.

Laws and contract terms differ from country to country, and a court may not recognize some restrictions as valid. So if your contract contains restrictions and the stakes are high, show the document to a lawyer who works with contracts in your country. That is cheaper than a dispute after the move. As of November 2026 this is the general principle, but always confirm with a lawyer before you decide.

Step 2. Work out exactly what you lose and what you gain

Leaders often compare only the figures in a new project's offer: the bonus and the percentage. But you stand to lose more than that, and you need to count it before any conversations. Split your current income into two parts: what depends on you personally (your own sales, your own coaching) and what comes from the structure and may not follow you.

A hypothetical example. Say you earn $1,500 a month. Of that, $500 is your personal sales and activity bonuses, and $1,000 is payouts from the structure's volume. After you move, some people will stay in the old company: some won't want to change products, some are tied to their customers. If, say, about half come along, your income from the group in the new company will at first be roughly half of what it was, and that is normal for a start.

Also count the intangibles: accumulated ranks that will reset to zero; a customer base tied to the product; the time it takes to teach the team a new product and a new plan. Write down how many months you are ready to work on reduced income. If you don't have a cushion of three to six months, postpone the move or negotiate firmer payout guarantees.

Ask yourself honestly about the reason, too. If you are leaving because of burnout or a conflict rather than because of the terms, a new company won't fix the problem. We go into this in the article Why MLM Leaders Leave Their Company.

Step 3. Compare the offers: bonus, percentage, fixed pay and what the project expects

Offers from different projects are usually written in different styles: one stresses the bonus, another the percentage, a third the "prospects." To compare them fairly, bring everything to one scheme: what you get once, what you get monthly, for how long, what it depends on, and what the project expects from you in return.

A transfer bonus is a one-time sum. It covers your losses at the start but says nothing about the quality of the company. A percentage of the structure's volume depends on how many people actually follow you. Fixed monthly pay gives predictability during the adaptation period, but it is usually limited in time. Each option is covered in detail in the articles Transfer Bonus for a Leader, Percentage of Team Volume and Fixed Pay for a Leader.

A hypothetical six-month calculation. A project offers a one-time bonus of $2,000, fixed pay of $1,000 a month for half a year, and 2% of the volume of the team that moves. Suppose the volume of the part that moves is $10,000 a month, so the percentage brings in $200. Over six months: 6 × ($1,000 + $200) + $2,000 = $9,200, or about $1,530 a month on average. But once the fixed pay ends, only the percentage remains, about $200 plus whatever the volume grows by. So the key question is not "how much in the first months" but "what happens in month seven."

Separately, list what the project expects: a volume target, a minimum number of people in the team, launch deadlines, mandatory personal purchases. If a condition sounds like "bring people in, and buy in for a certain amount to qualify," that is a reason to stop and check the company using the article How to Check an MLM Company Before You Join. Participants buying to meet a qualification rather than for their own use is a sign of a pyramid scheme.

To make offers easy to compare, projects on LeaderPitch send their terms in one format: bonus, percentage, fixed pay and what the project expects from the leader. You can also leave your profile anonymous: your name and contacts are shown only after you agree.

Step 4. Talk to your team openly and in advance

Your team should not learn about your move from a group chat or from third parties. Start with the closest people on your first line, then tell everyone else. Say it plainly: what you decided, why, what changes for them and what doesn't. Don't ask anyone to decide in a day, and don't pressure them: everyone decides for themselves, and for some, staying is a reasonable choice.

Prepare in advance for the three questions almost everyone will ask. What happens to my points and savings? Who will mentor me if I stay? Do I have to pay or buy anything in the new company? Answer only with what you know from the contract and the new project's terms, not with what you were promised verbally.

Don't take away people's chance to stay in peace. Someone who stays is not a traitor, and your relationship with them can go on. A leader you can still talk to normally after they leave keeps their reputation, and in network marketing reputation outlives any company. For more on working with your team's trust, see the article How to Keep Your Team in Network Marketing.

Step 5. Handle the exit and the entry in the right order

The order of actions here is strict, because both your payouts and the risk of a contract dispute depend on it. Below is a checklist you can keep in front of you.

1. Check the new contract before you sign. Read it in full, including the rules and attachments, and make sure verbal promises are written down.
2. Wait until your obligations to the current company end. If the contract bans parallel work, don't start a second business until the notice periods have expired.
3. Notify your current company in writing. Do it in the form and within the period stated in the contract, and keep proof of receipt.
4. Settle accounts. Find out which payouts and points are owed to you, and don't leave until you understand what you will receive and when.
5. Sign the new contract after you leave. Put the terms of the move, the bonus and the fixed pay in writing: what is paid, when, and under what condition.
6. Invite people only in the open. Give those who want to move links to the new terms and leave the decision to them, staying within the restrictions in your contract.

The most common mistake is to start working with the new company first and think about the contract later. Another is to take exports from the back office with you. Other typical slip-ups are collected in the article Six Mistakes Leaders Make When Switching Companies.

Situation - what to do: some people stay, the company objects, promises don't hold up

The table lists the most common cases after a move and a sensible response to each.

If a project promised one thing and the document says another, believe the document. If a project has broken its terms, any LeaderPitch member can report it: a moderator checks each blacklist entry, and other leaders can then see the warning.