Arise Work From Home Review: Legitimate Job or Business Opportunity?

If you’ve been looking for a work-from-home opportunity for any length of time, you have probably come across something called Arise Work From Home, which is a network of home-based micro call centers. Many people have strong feelings about Arise, and today I’d like to offer my own opinions.

As someone who’s been working from home since 2007, I’ve seen a lot in the work-at-home universe. In fact, my work-at-home journey actually started at Arise. So what do I think? Let’s discuss. If your background is in technical support, sales, or customer service, pay special attention.

What Does Arise Offer?

The most important thing to get clear is this: you are not becoming an employee of Arise. Instead, you will be your own boss and are basically buying into an organization that establishes a working relationship with clients, does your invoicing and payment collection, and offers you the training and software needed to complete your job. When you join the Arise platform, you’re an independent contractor – for the most part – running your own show.

The main thing that sets people off when they learn the specifics about Arise is the startup costs. It’s pretty common for people to say that any work-from-home setup that requires you to pay to get started is a scam. And while this is true in many cases (hence the popularity of the advice), it’s definitely not 100% true across the board. Arise is one of the (few) legitimate exceptions, in my opinion.

How It Works

To get started with Arise, you’ll need to do a few things. First, you need to go through a registration process, which includes an application, and pass a basic skills assessment, which consists of some questions and a voice assessment. Assuming you make it through, you’ll have to order and pass a background check and sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Next, you go through the certification course. Once you have passed the training courses, you’ll need to incorporate a business in your state. I recommend using an LLC formation service like Bizee or IncAuthority since they only charge the state filing fee. You’ll also need to set up a separate bank account to use solely for receiving your Arise payments.

In addition, you’ll need the typical home office setup — a computer, a dedicated phone line or a VOIP line, a quality headset, and a high-speed internet connection. Needless to say, since you’re taking customer service calls, a space in your home with minimal background noise is important.

These might seem high-maintenance and unreasonable, but really, they’re best practices for when you become a legitimate independent business owner, and they’ll protect you, Arise, and your clients in the long run.

Once you’re set up, you’ll be eligible to start taking on clients. You will need to take additional training before you can start working for individual clients. Training costs are typically $50 to $250 depending on the complexity and length. Training is unpaid and may last several weeks.

Arise says your startup costs should be around $250 to $70 0, with a twice-monthly platform fee of $19.75.

Once you get to work, you’re generally paid for the time you actually spend with customers, not the time you’re “on the clock.” That tends to work out to hourly rates in the ballpark of $10-$20, depending on the client. Payments are made every two weeks by direct deposit.

Pros of Arise Virtual Services

These are a few of the great things about working with Arise:

• They bring the clients to you. The hardest part when you work for yourself is to find your own clients. With Arise, you don’t have to worry about that part — you just need to set your working hours, accept your job offers, and get paid.
• Arise is well established with a good reputation. Many companies turn to Arise because their contractors (you!) are highly trained, equipped well, and great additions to their companies.
• You can pick and choose your clients. This is one of the great things about working for yourself. And with Arise, you can have multiple clients.
• The business requirements set you up completely legitimately. They might seem a pain, but it’s actually a very good thing. By being set up as an LLC and having a separate business account for your finances, you’re forced to keep your business money separate from your personal money — which will make this part of your taxes much easier and be an extreme benefit if you ever have to deal with the IRS. LLCs also offer some tax benefits that other self-employment setups don’t offer. Talk to a tax professional to get any questions answered. But trust me — the tax savings will almost definitely pay off for you if you stick with it in the long run!
• They have all the training you need available. There’s no guesswork about your qualifications or how to be qualified.
• You can hire people to work under you. Many Arise IBOs do this and take a cut of that person’s earnings. I would not recommend this without first speaking with a professional who can advise you of any legalities you need to be aware of. After all, it wouldn’t be Arise on the hook if something goes awry. That person is contracting with you.
• It’s working from home. With Arise, you can set your own working hours, which gives you access to a flexible schedule of your choosing. This makes it perfect for stay-at-home moms, military spouses, or people in retirement. You can even work the third shift if that’s what’s best for you — and often this means extra incentives from the companies that hire you. Just keep in mind that once you agree to a work schedule, you need to stick with it. No mid-day naps when you’re supposed to be on the clock from 10 am to 5 pm!

Cons of Arise Work from Home

Arise most definitely isn’t for everyone. Here are some reasons you should think twice before jumping in:

• Training costs money. This is one of the reasons Arise gets a bad reputation — they charge for their training. But in most work-for-yourself settings — which this is — there isn’t free training, either. On the other hand, this isn’t training you can use to further your work-at-home career outside of Arise. It’s only good for working with that one client. Most other customer service companies will train you for free. In many cases, they will pay you for your time. Arise training is unpaid and usually runs for several weeks.
• There are recurring fees, too. They aren’t much — about $40/month — but you do have to pay a monthly fee to remain a part of Arise. They say it’s for their “infrastructure,” meaning their software and overhead/admin costs.
• Startup seems complicated. It’s not rocket science, but it’s also not like you just go and incorporate a business and have a phone line installed in your house every day. It takes a real commitment to the job you’ll be doing for the up-front investments of time, energy, and money to pay off.
• The rates are low when you figure in the costs. Most people report hourly earnings of around $10 to $14 per hour. That’s comparable to most remote customer service agent opportunities, but you have to keep in mind you are also paying a monthly fee plus training costs.
• It’s only available in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. If you live anywhere else, you won’t be able to work for Arise. There may be some state exclusions as well.
• The work can be seasonal. Such is the nature of call center work, but know that sometimes your clients will come and go. There will generally be speaking probably be work available for you all year, but you might not always have interesting work available.
• There will still be some control over your schedule. One thing I didn’t like about Arise that caused me to quickly establish my virtual assistant business was that I was still not entirely in control of my schedule. Arise isn’t much different from other work-at-home virtual call center jobs. Each client usually has a minimum number of hours you need to work each week. Some of those hours will probably be required weekend or evening hours. If you are last to the shift bid, you may not have the flexibility you desire. And, if you have more than one client, those hours requirements can add up.

Ultimately, what Arise does is set you up with your own business. If that’s not something you want, Arise probably isn’t the right opportunity for you.

Is Arise Work At Home Legit

While having to pay for an opportunity isn’t ideal, at least the Arise Work From Home program appears to be legitimate. While my experiences were mostly positive and were my launch pad, it is worth noting that customer reviews from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) are not the best. I’m sure you get more people complaining if they had a bad experience than if it is good, but it is worth looking over the reviews to see if there are any themes. However, after 27 years in business, Arise Virtual Solutions has an A+ rating, but a customer review of 1.33/5. Trustpilot has some customer feedback too with a 1.8/5. There are only 3 positive reviews out of 28.

Is Arise Right for You?

The bottom line of working from home with Arise Virtual Solutions is this: It only makes sense as a long-term commitment. It is a legitimate business opportunity. If you’re just looking for a way to make some money on the side, it’s probably not a great option for you and you’d be better off looking for a remote job with a traditional call center (or pursuing something else entirely). But if you’re truly committed to a work-at-home job that can become a true, long-term career, you like the idea of working in customer service, and you’re open to the thought of owning your own business and assuming all the responsibilities that come with it, Arise can be a great place for you.

And, if you’re like me, Arise can be a catapult to take your newly established business and accomplish great things entirely on your own.

If you would prefer a more traditional position, check out these posts:

• Work-at-Home Employee Positions
• Work-at-Home Customer Service Jobs

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About Angie Nelson

Angie Nelson began working from home in 2007 when she figured out how to take her future into her own hands and escape the corporate cubicle farm. Angie’s goal is sharing her passion for home business, personal finance, telecommuting, and entrepreneurship, and her work has been featured on Recruiter, FlexJobs and Business News Daily.