Evaluating Home-Based Business Opportunities
How do you determine whether a home-based business opportunity is legitimate or a scam? And once you do identify legitimate home-based business opportunities, how do you tell which one is right for you?Below are listed 10 simple questions to ask that will give you clear and definitive answers to those two important questions:
1. How many years has the company been in business? Reputable home-based businesses are usually not fly-by-night operations. Most scams eventually get recognized for what they are, and fall by the wayside.
2. Are the income expectations reasonable and unlimited? A legitimate opportunity will not usually profess to get you rich quick. And a good home-based business opportunity will never impose any limits on how much you can earn.
3. Is it free to join? You shouldn't have to pay any money to sign up for a home-based business opportunity - not unless it's an optional way to obtain some sort of assistance in setting up, building, and/or growing your business.
4. Is the company affiliated with any reputable organizations that deal with preventing people from being scammed (ie. the Better Business Bureau, Internet Trade Bureau, Federal Trade Commission, Scambusters, or Direct Sellers Association, to name a few).
5. Can you receive unlimited support, training, and resources for help you to succeed in your home-based business efforts? Are mentors available to give you one-on-one guidance?
6. What’s the compensation scale and is the payment system viable? Not all home-based business opportunities are built alike, and even some legitimate ones will offer a less than attractive payment plan. Look around for the best compensation plan you can find, one that allows you to keep the largest percentage of the revenues you bring in.
7. Does the company permit spamming? This is a red flag if ever there was one. No legitimate company permits spamming, and any home-based business opportunity you consider should explicitly warn against such activity on their website and/or in their literature.
8. How many different products or services can you promote? Markets change, and being limited to selling a single product has an extremely short "shelf-life" as businesses go. The more freedom and flexibility you have to sell what's currently in demand, the easier it will be for you to succeed.
9. How big is your "territory"? The only right answer is: the world. Legitimate or not, you may wish to steer clear of opportunities that restrict you to specific markets (whether geographically or demographically based). Since the advent of the internet, we now live in a global marketplace. Don't go backwards in time and start unnecessarily restricting yourself and your potential customer-base.
10. Do you have complete control over your activities? In other words - once you begin, is this your home-based business or simply a work-at-home job for an employer? Both are valid models, but only one is a business. The other's just a job.
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A business is not a magic bullet, and a get-rich-quick scheme is just that - a scheme. Any business that pretends it won't take you time and effort for you to succeed is suspect. Answer the 10 questions above for each home-based business opportunity you are considering, and you will have the best chances of choosing one that works for you.
