Innovative Industries

Tried working here for a long time and only three people actually constantly made more than min. wage.

After I quit I met up with several of the workers who were considered "Managers" and "leaders" I found out Nick Hooge has been cooking the books, lying about what he pays his employees even though he steals money from them under the guise of "You're making me lose money so I'll take it out of your pay" or "You're borrowing money from me whenever I have to pay you min. wage so I'm just taking it back.

No one has ever left his business to become an owner of their own branch either... I've talked to previous employees to find out it was all a scam and they got tired themselves when they were promised to be let in.

Also I've learned several tricks Hooge does to save money besides lying about how much commission one makes and pocketing the extra. He makes people quit instead of firing them and does plenty to make sure you want to quit such as insulting you after a while even when you're above the average salesman or even if your the best one, he will constantly berate you with deconstructive and untrue criticism. If all the managers and partners of Nick Hooge quit on him and spilled their dirty secrets about his illegal and scamming activities and lies.... just what is there to gain from working for him?

And even if he promises you partnership...

don't do it.... I've known three of the people who were promised their own branch and they never got it even after a year.

If this company is so successful, why does their office look like it was just put up weeks ago? Also, if it's such a great place to work, how come they have to relentlessly advertise for job openings, and place ads for jobs that don't really exist?

The reason is this 'company' is following the Multi-Level-Marketing formula set forth by Smart Circle. They place ads daily and multiple times on job search sites such as Indeed, Monster, Career Builder, Craigslist as well as others. The ads state that they are looking for: entry-level managers, public relations managers, business associates, junior marketers, account managers and other professionally-sounding positions. This helps them accomplish two things:

1.). Gives them the appearance of being a big and quickly-growing company.

2.) Casts the biggest net possible in hopes of snaring 'new fish' ie new college and high school grads.

What happens next is where things get devious. You will answer an ad and get an almost immediate response via email or phone, or sometimes both. You will be told to come in for an interview and to dress professionally. You may ask yourself why you would need to be told this. It's because if you drink the first cup of Kool aid you're given, then you will go out and shadow with one of their 'top earners.'

You will arrive at a very small, sparsely-furnished office, and will see quite a few other applicants as well. Now to any logical person, the first thing you would think would be "where are all the departments that they're hiring for located?". Those departments and positions don't exist. The ads that were placed online served their purpose, they got you through the door.

During your interview the 'owner' president', 'director of operations', or whatever he's calling himself this week, will let the cat out of the bag. This 'face-to-face marketing' and 'acquisitions firm' is actually a 'door-to-door/in-store/ sales company. Their advertised weekly pay is actually subject to a 'Clawback.'. What this means is that your 'guaranteed weekly pay' is actually fronted to you and will be taken back from your sales totals. Also unlike other legit sales companies you will not be reimbursed for your gas mileage while working, nor are benefits offered.

At this point you can understand why everyone working there are in their 20's. They don't know any better, and that's what Innovate is banking on. All the kids hear is the 'owner' has only been doing this for six months and now owns his own business, and is making six figures a year. You also won't be paid for their mandatory meetings you have to attend as well

I too applied for a position here even though I was a bit skeptical about the position. They had me pretty fooled with their slick-looking website.

When I went into the office in Sarasota, they had a sign on their office wall that said 'Sharper Advertising.' That was the first sign that something was up. the second was the 'employees' walking around in their cheap Men's Warehouse Suits pretending to be closing business on their cell phones. It was all for show.

Thirdly, they email you and state that they want to make sure you 'dress professionally' for your interview. Does anyone really need to be told that when they go on an interview? I don't think so. Anyways, I had applied for a job in public relations, but was told that you have to start at the ground floor. Basically, this means going door-to-door selling Verizon FiOs. The reason they wanted to make sure you dressed professionally is that they want you to 'shadow' one of their sales people. Once I found out what I was getting into, I walked out of the office.

They use deplorable, shady, business practices and misleading job postings to lure people into their office. When I got home, I did some research online and found that they were linked to Smart Circle. Going to www.ripoffreport.com, I searched for smart circle and saw hundreds of accounts of the same type of practices as this company employs.

Do yourselves a favor and stay away from this company. Better yet, submit a review about them on this site, rip-off report, or any other 'consumer-beware' site.

These companies are one-in-the same. Innovate Industries is located in Clearwater, and Sharper Advertising is located in Sarasota, both are supposedly owned by the same guy: Nick Hooge. I responded to a job listing for an entry-level management training program to get in on the 'ground floor' of a burgeoning business. Within 24 hours I received a phone call from the HR Manager at Innovate Industries stating they were interested in speaking with me. I answered a few questions over the phone and stated that I wasn't interested in a commisson-only sales job. She said I sounded like the perfect candidate and asked if I could come in to the office for an interview.

The next day, I go to the address where the interview is to be conducted. I walk through the door to find a sparsely-furnished office, With one desk with a receptionist and about a half-dozen people that I assume were responding to the same ad as I. Nick came out to get me, and we go back to his office. He starts telling me that although I said I was not interested in a commission-only position, that's all he had at the time (so why did they have advertisements for entry-level managers?) He starts giving me his spiel about how they are a marketing company that big business outsources to, to increase their sales. He said currently they were looking for people to go door-to-door to sell Verizon FiOs Services, and that I would be supplied with leads from people that were looking for this service. I don't know about you, but I get a letter in the mail from Verizon about once a month with great offers on switching to Verizon from Comcast. Not sure why Verizon needs this sort of help.

Anyways, Nick goes on about how he just started 5 months ago in the same position as I did, and now he is the owner of his own business. In fact, if you look at his facebook page, he is calling himself the President of Innovate Industries. He says "I don't usually tell people this, but I feel compelled to let you know that I will make 6 figures this year." So in just one year Nick goes from being a door-to-door sales person to making six figures a year, and the president of his own company?? All the while he is telling me this, he keeps glancing at his monitor...he was clearly reading from a script. After you interview with him, you go on a ride-along with one of his flunkies. I did this and went to a gentleman's house who lived right next to a Verizon Substation. The home owner said that he can't even get Verizon while living right. next. door. to a substation. The rep I was with said he would 'update the database' and let Verizon know. This company doesn't offer any benefits. Not medical, dental, 401K, they also won't reimburse you for mileage as you drive around town. They are part of the Smart Circle pyramid scheme system. If you are on Craigslist, Indeed.com, or Careerbuilder, Look out for them. They will often have vague advertisements stating they need : account managers, entrly-level sales, junior marketers, public-relations people, ARE YOU A SUPERSTAR? DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? ARE YOU JUICED? They are only looking for door-to-door sales person to generate money that will go into THEIR pockets.

You can view the 'president's websites at www.innovateindustries.net and www.sharperadvertisinginc.com