“19 people in my team became millionaires in less than three years, two make more than $2m a year, and one makes more than $4m a year

For a man who left Athens for the United Sates at the age of 26 with not much
more than a dream in his head and a handful of drachma, John Sachtouras has
become one of the great Greek diaspora business stories.
Los Angeles film
company Panthers Films is developing a feature film on his rags to riches story,
with ambitions for it to be the greatest Hollywood tribute to a contemporary
Hellenic hero since Aristotle Onassis.
The 53-year-old
global entrepreneur revealed the secret of his success at a forum in Melbourne last weekend. 
On the eve of his first visit to Victoria, Mr
Sachtouras told Neos Kosmos his motivation for coming down under was to expose
his story – and a new product – to the Australian market and gain new business
partners along the way.
“19 people in my team became millionaires in less
than three years, two make more than $2m a year, and one makes more than $4m a
year,” said the globe-trotting Greek American, who is keen for Australians to
share in the Sachtouras success story.
“I want to make myself available to
Greek Australians – all Australians – to train them, show them, guide them. I
don’t charge anything for this, my income will be derived from their
success.”
A philanthropist as much as a hard-nosed businessman, he says his
mission is not simply commercial success, but a crusade to improve the lives of
those who choose to be part of his global team.
“The secret of success is
determination,” he says. “You need a very high work ethic, and discipline. I
like to form a group and share my knowledge and experience – guide them through
the process.”
He first came across ‘network marketing’ in the late 1980s in
the financial services industry.
Later, working with a company distributing
car immobilisers, Sachtouras tracked down the manufacturer in Panama; four years
on, not only had John acquired a Panamian wife and business partner (Blanca),
but a chain of 67 automotive and security equipment retail outlets in 17
countries in South America.
For Sachtouras, the product’s not central to
success; it’s the art and science of network marketing – the ability to
“multiply yourself with others” that’s the game-changer.
OrGano Gold – a
range of coffee and beverage products – which contain the ingredient Ganoderma,
a mushroom spore used extensively in traditional Asian medicines, is the
business opportunity that Sachtouras will be presenting in Victoria.
Having
been involved in the expansion of OrGano Gold globally since 2009, Sachtouras
says the product, promoted under a health-enhancing banner, is already in 33
countries – Europe, the Americas and Asia, and his worldwide team of
distributors number over 325,000.
With a turnover approaching $1billion,
Sachtouras believes there are rich pickings to be made in Australia by those who
share his vision.
“In Melbourne I’ll be talking about the opportunity that
OrGano Gold provides and about realising dreams and desires, and aligning those
desires with a unique product, “he says.
There’s something decidedly
evangelical about this self-made millionaire. His enthusiasm and commitment to
not just making money himself, but helping realise other people’s ambitions, is
perhaps the real secret of his success.
“I want to show people that by having
faith in God irrespective of your religion, that by keeping the family together,
never giving up on people’s dreams, and despite all the difficulties in the
world, our lives can be magnificent.”
Network marketing is not without its
detractors; along with its success stories, for whatever reason, there are some
whose sales don’t hit the dizzy heights.