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10
Tips for Avoiding Home Business Scams |
by:
Lesley
Spencer |
by Lesley
Spencer, MSc; Founder & President HBWM.com
Inc.
Starting a home business has become a wonderful
and attractive alternative for parents across
the country. With the advent of the Internet,
email and cell phones, working at home has
been a very viable option. No other alternative
allows parents the opportunity to create
their own hours and work around their children's
schedules while earning an income. But before
investing in any home business opportunity,
it is wise to take appropriate steps to
research the opportunity and the company.
Unfortunately, there are deceitful businesses
ready to take advantage of parent's deep
desire to be at home with their children.
These steps will help you to avoid potential
problems:
1. Research the company and always check
them out with the Better Business Bureau
(http://search.bbb.org/search.html) located
in their city.
2. Ask for at least three references of
people they have worked with. Call each
person and ask about his or her experiences
with the company.
3. Be cautious of any company that asks
for money for a work-at-home job
4. Don't be fooled by ads claiming you can
make large amounts of money in short periods
of time. And be cautious of companies that
require you to sign up immediately. If it
sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
5. Avoid those "Type from home scams" that
claim you can earn "$40,000.00 a year typing
from home." As Diana Ennen, author of Virtual
Assistant ~ the Series, Become a Highly
Successful Sought After VA (http://www.VA-TheSeries.com)
states, "These are usually scams. They promise
you a listing of companies looking for home-based
typist and normally these companies aren't
even aware they are on the list and seldom
need help. Starting a secretarial business
at home is a great work-at-home opportunity.
However, you need to do it right and start
one on your own. Our site offers suggestions
at http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com.
6. Get specific information in writing from
the company such as how long they have been
in business, where they are located (not
just a P.O. Box), how many customers they
have, what their refund policy is (read
it thoroughly); how long it takes to get
paid and if there are any restrictions on
payments, etc.
7. If you do invest in a business opportunity,
use your credit card instead of cash. It
may be easier to dispute the charges with
your credit card company rather than trying
to get your money back from a fraudulent
company.
8. Research current scams on web sites such
as ScamBusters at: http://www.scambusters.com.
Report any scams or fraudulent companies
to the Federal Trade Commission http://www.ftc.gov,
your state's Attorney General and the National
Fraud Information Center, PO Box 65868,
Washington, DC 20035, (800) 876-7060.
9. Call the National Fraud Information Center
at (800) 876-7060 for information or visit
their web site at: http://www.fraud.org.
10. Don't invest in any opportunity that
you are not sure about. Instead, find something
that you are interested in and will enjoy
doing. (Do what you love, and the money
will follow.)
About the Author
Lesley Spencer is founder and president
of the HBWM.com, Inc. Network which
includes: http://www.HomeBasedWorkingMoms.com,
http://www.WorkAtHomeKit.com,
http://www.edirectoryofhomebasedcareers.com,
http://www.momsworkathomesite.com, http://www.HBWMconferences.com,
http://www.HBWMcanada.com and http://www.HireMyMom.com
(coming soon!). |
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