For some reason, individuals who are passionately interested in running a home business seem to be prime targets for home business scams. You may have even been the victim of one of these get-rich-quick, or make-thousands-working-from-home scams in your quest to become independent and start your own home business. You can protect yourself by being on the lookout and investigating anything you are considering getting involved with.
The old saying, “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is” is still very good advice. All those spam e-mails that show up in your e-mail inbox or advertisements you see for “work from home” businesses promising big income with “minimal” investment are usually not legitimate. As a rule, people who have been successful with a home-based business have started their own businesses in a more traditional way–direct sales, consulting, freelancing, providing a service, producing and selling a product, etc. Offers that promise a salary for working from home “stuffing envelopes” or doing data entry should be investigated–find out about the company, check with your state department of Justice to see if there are any complaints or reports, and talk to other people who work with them.
The truth is that telecommuting IS on the rise in this country. There are legitimate jobs available for individuals to work from home, but they are not get-rich-quick operations. You should not have to pay money to get information about a job or entrepreneurial opportunity. While direct sales may require you to purchase product at the onset, you should not be paying just hear about a business opportunity.
Trust your instinct and intuition and investigate any new business idea or proposal. Take the extra time to really find out about things before you jump in. Take control of your home business efforts from the very beginning and watch out for all those scams!
See Also: Watch Out for Scams in Your Inbox
Home Business Scams–Avoid Getting Taken