Protect Yourself
In the past several years, work from home businesses have become
increasingly popular. Many people are drawn to the benefits of a
home based business, such as being your own boss, setting your
own hours, and the tax benefits you can receive. However, many
of these home based business opportunities are scams. Before you
get involved in a homebiz, as with any other serious business
venture, you should carefully research the company and its
product or service.
To start with, read through the company's website. See what
claims they make as to the amount of money you can reasonably
expect to make, and the opportunities for advancing yourself.
You want to become familiar with the product or service the
company offers. Speak to as many of the company's independent
contractors as possible, to see how they feel about the product
or service, as well as the business opportunity. They will be
able to give you a lot of insight about the home business. Also,
speak to current and former customers of the company to get
their opinions of the product or service, and to find out what
kinds of experiences they have had when dealing with the company.
After this step has been completed, you should check the
company's record with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB can
tell you how many complaints the company has received within a
specific amount of time, exactly what types of complaints have
been filed against the company, and how many of these complaints
have been resolved, both successfully and unsuccessfully.
Knowing how the company responds to these complaints and how
they treat their customers and prospective or current
contractors is very important in helping to determine if this is
a company you would like to work with.