Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello everyone! Hello Craig-thanks for the advice! I`m new to StartupNation so please bear with me. I`m very impressed with all the info. & kindness this site & people have to offer, so it may be of no surprise that I will be asking alot of stupid questions here, but I have to start somewhere you know. A big part of starting a business or finding a business to start is doing research. When you don`t know what you don`t know, it can make the research process very difficult & time consuming, which brings me to StartupNation! Seems I`ve been finding no trustworthy review sites or businesses on the net. Every review sites top 2 or 3 is a scam on other review sites & it seems with all the links on these sites that their only purpose is for PPC(pay per click). There are people even saying the BBB is a scam. To make matters worse, Gov. sites don`t seem to have any listings of legitimate businesses. Whats a guy to do? I`ve heard that a person can research a business on Google but how does one go about doing that? Is there a link or do you have to type in a certain phrase to find out if a business is legit? I`ve tried the Online Business Bureau & the BBB, but am not having any luck. Is there any trustworthy sites that to go  find this information from or is this whole internet business thing a big scam. I know there are people out there running Home Based Businesses but how do I go about finding a legitimate/honest HBB? Any help would be appreciated as I know there are alot of people out there wondering the same! Thankyou for your time & consideration!
Darrin

What I do when I go to do business with a company on the Internet is I look for a phone number, an address and contact information.  If I can`t call the business up and talk to them or if they are local to me even visit them, I likely won`t do business with them.

The trick is to find a business that gives you as much contact information as possible.  If it`s a larger purchase see if you can hunt down previous customers either directly through the vendor OR even better use google to see if you can dig up information.




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The biggest problem in any new type of market is the scams and predators. Right now, listening to the radio commercials for Internet Speedway, you`d think that anyone can make millions simply by sleeping.....and buying their software package.

On the other hand, this same problem comes into play with the stock market and investment opportunities, and that market`s been around for a whole lot longer than the Internet and Web-based opportunities. So: How do investors determine the credibility of an offering or company?

Reputation, prospectus`, and hard facts and/or figures. Over time, various respected organizations have come to see a business opportunity in providing this type of accurate, credible information. You could create a business doing just that, but I believe I`ve seen a few sites that focus particularly on which businesses are scams.

Another good place for this type of research is the Google "Groups." Those are mostly forums and Internet groups, where people have no invested interest at all, for the most part, in any particular item or service. They`ll usually have a pretty unbiased opinion of almost anything.

What sort of business are you trying to get into, build, or find out about? Do you have some particular examples of what looks enticing right at the moment, but that you can`t analyze to your own satisfaction?

Darrin:

Most Home Based Business websites I`ve seen are scams, pure and simple.

If you want to work from home, your best bet is identify a skill or craft that is in demand AND you can do from home. A great way to get ideas scam-free would be to go to the library and look for books on the topic (or a book store, of course).

If someone asks you for money in order to help you start a home based business, I can`t imagine that it is legit.

Let`s be careful out there! Good luck!



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When you say "legit", do you mean legally registered to do business?  If so,

Here`s what I do...

1. Figure out in what state the business is most likely registered....(you could ask them, guess by where they`re doing business, or try the most popular states for registrations; Delaware, Nevada, Texas, Florida)
2. Go to that states Secretary of State website.
3. To find a business registered with the Secretary of State look around the SOS site for a `Business Services` menu, tab or link.  On many of the state sites this will lead you to a link to a business entity search box.  Some SOS sites may word their links differently but on most it will be, `Business Entity Search` or simply `business search`.
4. Enter the name of the business into that search and see what info is available on that business or name.
5. Many times you`ll be able to get FREE access to their actual filed paperwork in the form of a .pdf.

This may take a little bit of detective work considering many internet companies are LLCs operating DBA`s (Doing Business As) under other names.  However, if this is the case and they are registered properly the actual business entity will be shown, along with the registered agent and their contact information as well as `Fictitious Name` filings or DBA registrations.

Okay, so what?  Just because a business is registered that doesn`t mean they conduct business in a legitimate manner.  That`s where Googling comes in handy, as mentioned above.  Contacting the business via telephone and inquiring about their product and/or services and getting a feeling for their responsiveness and level of professionalism is always a good idea.  Also, ask them for references.  There are MANY home-operated web businesses which are completely legitimate from a legal standpoint that also provide quality products and services.

If you`re still not convinced you could also check with their state taxing agency`s web site in pretty much the same way as the five steps above.

If everything looks good, give them a try.  As with any new transaction situations.... start small.  This will give `em a chance to prove themselves, their products and their services, and allow you to limit your risk.

But do beware of those selling home-based business packages and MLM programs. So many of those are scams....... legally registered scams.  Don`t pay one red cent to get into a home-based business package or MLM program!  Do your own thing.  It can be well worth the journey.

Darrin,

Depending on what type of hbb you are looking at and yes there are hundreds if not thousands, and yes there are plenty of scams out there,although yet there are plenty of legit ones too.

One option you can ty is www.whois.sc here you will find the details of the registered site, a physical address and possibly a phone number.

Try searching youtube also for a particular business, as everyone seems to be getting on the free youtube advertising bandwagon nowadays.

I am a firm believer in you get what you need too, not what you want...one day when you least expect it a business mite find you as opposed to you finding a business.

Good luck hunting.

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Hello Everyone! I just wanted to say THANKYOU for everybodys input & advice on my questions asked the other day! All of your advice is very helpful in my research & I will keep everyone posted on my findings & decision. Again, Thank You very much!
Darrin