How to Select a Legitimate Home Business

by Trent Brownrigg

Published on this site: April 15th, 2005 - See more articles from this month...

With an increasing amount of scams on the internet posing as legitimate home businesses it is becoming more and more difficult to find a business opportunity that is not going to take your money and run.

So how do you find a legitimate home business among all the scams and schemes? Below I have listed some things you should definitely look for when selecting a home business opportunity…

Proven Business System - Is there a proven successful business system you can tap into and get up and running very quickly? You don't want to spend all of your time reinventing the wheel or trying to make a bad home business system work.

Length of Time in Business - I would not invest my time, money, and resources into any home business opportunity that has not been successfully in business for at least five years. Most scams, schemes, and other bad business opportunities will not make it to the five year mark. Therefore, you can greatly increase your chances of finding a legitimate home business by staying away from those that have not successfully been around for at least five years.

No Hyped Guarantees - Every home business wants you to think that theirs is the best, so some fluff and hype can pretty much always be expected. However, you need to watch out for the business opportunities that overdue it.

For example, any home business that "guarantees" you will make hundreds, thousands, or even millions of dollars, in any amount of time, is flat out lying to you. There is no way that any business can guarantee you will earn that much and they certainly can't know how long it will take you to do it, if it even is possible.

Credibility – I would not join a business opportunity unless it is in good standing with the Better Business Bureau and other credible organizations. Plus it should have a good reputation with current and previous members. I suggest asking around at forums or doing a search for the name of the business to get some feedback on what others are saying about the company.

Product(s) – Is the product something that people will actually want and use often? Look for a business opportunity with products that are used regularly. This will help you tremendously in getting new customers as well as repeat business from previous customers.

Free to Join – Not every legitimate home business is free. In fact, many are not, but it is definitely a good sign if they at least let you check it out for free to see if it is for you. It is nearly impossible to build a successful home business without some monetary investment, so you will probably have to break into your piggy bank at some point. However, I would definitely be much more skeptical of an opportunity that does not let you have a free trial.

Free Website - You will definitely need to get your own website sometime in the future but when you are just beginning you probably won't have one yet. So the business that you are joining should provide free websites for you to use. Chances are that you won't be able to make changes to these or get them into the search engines, but you can at least send prospects to them.

Compensation Plan – When evaluating the compensation plan of a prospective business opportunity ask yourself these questions; How hard is it to get in profit? Can you earn a full time income with them? Are the income expectations reasonable (not full of hype)? There should be a clear compensation plan and you should earn commissions from your very first sale.

Lead Generation System - Until you get more experienced at marketing it will be very difficult for you to bring in very many leads on your own. Good business opportunities will have a way for you to purchase high quality targeted leads for a fair price.

Resources and Training – Every good home business opportunity should have a resource center that members can go to for support, training, and resources to help them succeed with their home business.

Your questions should be answered quickly and accurately and there should be more than one means to get help. Members should have two or more of the following available to them at all times; upline members, email support, phone support, live chat, or a forum.

Well, there you have it… some very good criteria to help you in selecting a legitimate home business opportunity. Use the above information as well as your own instincts when selecting a home business and you should never get scammed again!

Trent Brownrigg is a successful internet marketer and home business mentor. Visit his website at http://www.work-at-home-jobs-iowa.com and he will personally help you succeed with your own home business. Please subscribe to his "Biz Tips" Newsletter by sending a blank email to: [email protected]