Real Home Based Business Opportunities – Do They Actually Exist?
With the advent of the internet came scores of people looking to come up with the next great idea so they too could cash in on the never ending opportunities now available from the comfort of their own home. Unfortunately, with these honest, hardworking individuals came people promising the world for just a few of your hard earned dollars. And if everyone would only listen to the old saying “You can’t get something for nothing”, we would continue past these scams and actually find the legitimate opportunities. However, with that being said, knowledge about home based business scams is so readily available on the internet, scam artists are having to come up with new and different ways to take your money and give you nothing in return. It has left many people asking “Do real opportunities actually exist”?
The most common home based business scams still continue to be envelope stuffing, craft assembly, and medical billing. These were discussed in a previous article and will not be touched on again. As stated prior, new scams are making their way onto the internet and those who do not do sufficient research are becoming victims of the newest get rich quick schemes. As less and less people fall for envelope stuffing and similar opportunities, scammers have come up with home reshipping, outdated lists, and 900 number scams.
Home reshipping promises great rewards for very little effort, but can actually cost a naïve entrepreneur a hefty amount of money. If you choose to become involved in this opportunity, you are instructed to receive merchandise, repackage and reship it to an address that is generally outside of the United States. For your part, you are paid with a third party check for more than the amount that you are owed. You must then deposit the check into your account and transfer the overpayment amount to a foreign bank account. Unfortunately, the merchandise was purchased with stolen credit cards and the check is fraudulent. You will be out the money that you were promised and you are now required by your bank to pay the amount of the fraudulent check.
The majority of people have, at one time or another, received a chain letter requesting the person forward it to everyone in their mailbox. If you do, you are often promised good luck or a similar prize. You are most likely very familiar with these. However, some scammers, in order to get advertisements out to as many people as possible, promise money to those that forward their materials. Unfortunately, after forwarding multiple advertisements to their friends and family members (probably irritating them in the process) no money is ever received. Yet another scam.
Unfortunately, these final two scams do not even give a person a chance to research a specific opportunity prior to paying money. In the first scam, a person is asked to call a 900 number in order to find out more information about a possible home based business opportunity. What they receive is a recording that never actually gives any information and a large phone bill with an expensive charge for the call. This company makes their money from charging people for the informational call.
It is easy to fall prey to this last opportunity and many have done so. An ad is placed that offers a large list of companies looking for people to work from home. It seems like an excellent opportunity to have your choice of who you work for and what type of job you do. Every stay-at-home mom’s, entrepreneur’s, and college student’s dream, right? You pay the money and eagerly await the arrival of your list. You begin to call the companies on the list and inquire about home based job opportunities. You will find one of two things about these companies. They have either never used home workers or no longer use them. You have just paid a significant amount of money for a list that is completely useless.
This article was not meant to sway a potential entrepreneur away from starting their own home based business. Real opportunities do exist, but it can be difficult to simply look at an advertisement and decide whether or not it is legitimate. It has become imperative that a person do their due diligence prior to giving money to anyone for a business opportunity. It would not be possible for everyone to be satisfied with every opportunity so do not let a few complaints sway you, but beware of an endless amount of complaints about one company. If you see many people complaining about it being a scam, you may want to look into something else.
Aside from doing online research, there are a couple of other ways to protect yourself when you are considering an opportunity. Using a credit card to make a purchase can allow for a dispute if you never receive the promised items. Also, ask the company for references. A legitimate, real home based business should be happy to give you the names and phone numbers of satisfied customers. Lastly, beware of any business that puts a time limit on how long you have to join their company. That’s not to say if a company offers you a discount to join by midnight you should run in the other direction. This is a very common sales tactic. However, if a person tells you that the opportunity will no longer be available if you do not join immediately, you should probably steer clear.
In the end, finding a real home based business opportunity comes down to common sense. Be realistic with your financial goals and ask yourself if the opportunity makes sense. Let’s be honest. What are the chances that a business would pay someone $2 per envelope that is stuffed? This would have you earning as much as a well paid attorney for a job that a business could easily pay minimum wage. Dreams of grandeur often cloud a person’s judgment. While it is important for an entrepreneur to have high financial goals, it is equally important to take calculated risks as opposed to uninformed ones.
Heather A. Carroll, home-based business owner. Visit http://2.alternativeincome4u.com for more information on a real home based business opportunity.
