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Business.
商業。
Avon in South Africa.
雅芳在南非。
Cosmetic difference.
化妝行業帶來的改變。
Lipstick changes lives south of the Limpopo.
唇膏改變了南林波波省人們的生活。
FOR years Alice Mthini scraped by as a domestic servant. Becoming an "Avon lady" in 2009 changed everything. Discovering a talent for selling, she persuaded other ladies to part with 10,000 rand ($1,190) for Avon's make up and fashion accessories in her first month. She now earns enough to send her children to a private school. She has bought herself a laptop and a car (although she has yet to learn how to drive it). "Avon is my life," she grins.
愛麗絲·麥菲尼（Alice Mthini，音譯）是一名家政女傭，多年來，一直以此勉強維持生計。2009年，愛麗絲被聘為"雅芳小姐"。這，改變了她的一切。漸漸地，她發掘出自己的銷售才能，在就職的第一個月內便成功說服一些女性顧客消費10,000蘭特（1190美元）購買雅芳的化妝品和時尚飾品。她現在的收入已足夠讓她的孩子上私立學校了。她還給自己買了一臺筆記本電腦和一輛車——雖然她還未學會駕車。"雅芳讓我有了現在的生活，"她咧嘴笑道。
The world's biggest direct seller of cosmetics has had little to cheer about of late. Bad management and poor investments caused its share price to plunge. But in South Africa, it is doing well. "You go to a doctor's room and everyone has got a brochure," says Eunice Maseko, another of Avon's many ladies in South Africa. "You start to think, where am I going to sell?" she laughs.
這家全球最大的化妝品直銷商最近卻高興不起來。由于管理不善和投資失策，其股價大幅下跌。但在南非，它經營得還不錯。"你去診所里面（看看），每個人手里都拿著一本手冊，"尤妮斯·馬瑟科（Eunice Maseko，音譯）說道，她也是一名雅芳在南非國內的銷售小姐。"（然后）你就會開始想，該往哪兒銷呢？"她笑著說。
The trick for direct-sales companies such as Avon is not getting people to buy your products, but getting people to sell them. That may be easier in a country where more than a quarter of women are unemployed and formal jobs are scarce, even for educated jobseekers.
雅芳這一類直銷公司的策略不是吸引人們來購買自己的產品，而是通過招徠人手來進行銷售。這類策略，在像南非這樣的國家實行起來應該更為容易。南非有25%以上的女性處于失業狀態，且由于正式的工作崗位非常稀缺，就連受過教育的求職者都很難找到一份正式工作。
Avon does not demand any formal qualifications; only a warm smile and a start-up fee of 75 rand. The firm, which has been operating in South Africa since 1996, is coy about how many people flog its wares there. But it says that in 2011 its sales in South Africa increased by a glossy 29%, whereas its global sales grew by a drabber 1%.
雅芳公司并不要求任何的正式資歷，只要求有熱情的笑容和一筆75蘭特的開辦費用。早在1996年，這家公司就已進駐南非。而當被問到在南非有多少人在推廣其產品時，它總是閃爍其辭。但它表示在2011年，該公司在南非的銷售成績斐然，增加了29%，而全球銷售情況卻相對慘淡，只增加了1%。
Most of those peddling Avon's products are black women. Researchers at Oxford University recently published a three-year study of Avon ladies in South Africa. They found that their incomes were above average for black women in their communities, and close to that of an average black South African man.
那些推銷雅芳產品的女性多數是黑人。牛津大學的研究人員最近公布了一項為期三年的關于南非雅芳（直銷）女性的研究成果。他們發現，這些女性的收入高于其所屬社區的其他黑人女性的平均收入，且接近于南非國內黑人男性的平均收入。
In rural areas, where many roads have no names and houses no numbers, Avon delivers merchandise to post offices so that reps can pick them up. Where there is no bank nearby, Avon organises payment through the post office or a big retailer. The company's credit checks have been eased to allow for the fact that few customers have any formal credit history or income. Avon has devised a rating system that takes account of small indices of permanence and responsibility, such as a mobile phone number or a formal address.
在農村地區，那里的道路沒有路名，房子也沒有門號。（于是）雅芳公司把貨品運到郵局里，以便直銷人員領取。若附近沒有銀行，雅芳公司就通過郵局或某個大型零售商來支付款項。事實上，由于雅芳公司的大多數客戶都沒有正式的信貸記錄或者收入，這使得該公司更容易通過信貸審查。雅芳公司制定了一套評級系統，記錄了各項固定可靠的詳細數據，例如手機號碼或者正式地址。
Linda Scott, one of the Oxford project's leaders, says that reps spoke of Avon in semi-religious terms, using words like "salvation". South of the Limpopo, it seems, lipstick changes lives.
琳達·斯科特（Linda Scott，音譯）是牛津大學研究項目的帶頭人之一，她表示，那些直銷人員談起雅芳公司總會用到一些有宗教色彩的詞，比如"救世"。 看來，在南林波波省這個地方，唇膏真的能改變生活。
