Scam AlertDetermining if that work-at-home opportunity is legit

QUESTION:I am constantlyhearing about work-at-home opportunities that sound promising, butwhen I check them out with the Better Business Bureau, they alwaysturn out to be scams. Are there any legitimate work-at-homeopportunities out there?

ANSWER:One of the lessonswe learned while writingHome Businesses You Can Buy(Tarcher) is that legitimate franchises and business opportunitiesare as interested in the kind of representative you would make fortheir company as they are in selling you on a franchise or businessopportunity package. That is because they expect to make money fromyour ongoing efforts, not just from the initial sale.

Despite receiving thousands of pieces of junk mail over theyears, we can't remember ever seeing one from a solid,legitimate business opportunity. We always forward get-rich-quickoffers to the FTC's complaint section (uce@ftc.gov). Because we live inCalifornia, where spam must always be labeled as an "ADV"(for "advertisement"), we also send them to the site thathandles complaints for the California attorney general (caspam@cadoj.samspade.org),who then takes court action against state-based spammers.

FAST FACT:The Better BusinessBureau receives more inquiries about the legitimacy of work-at-homeopportunities than about any other type of business, reaching ahigh of 461,202 such inquiries in 2001. Source: Better Business Bureau

So yes, legitimate opportunities to work at home do really existout there, but they'll be advertised according to their type ofbusiness, not by the fact that the work can be done at home. Inaddition, they won't spam you; on the contrary, you'llusually be the one to seek them out. Some advertise in magazineslike this one; others can be found in various books and directoriesdescribing franchises and business opportunities, and almost allhave Web sites.

The work of many franchises and most business opportunities canbe done at home, so search for lists of companies online. But thencheck out their history and the experience of other peopleparticipating in the franchise or business opportunity before youactually invest.

	RED FLAGS
	Pretty good signs abusiness opportunity is really a work-at-home scam: It sounds too good to be true("Earn $2,000 Weekly Stuffing Envelopes atHome!"). You're promised hugeearnings("If you're not earning $1,000 per hour,you're selling yourself short!") for an unbelievably smallamount of easy work ("We want 100 lazy people who dream ofmaking lots of money without working!"). You feel pressure to decide or makepayment immediately. You find unresolved complaintsatwww.bbb.org, the Better Business Bureau'sservice to help you check out specific companies. You're required to pay for a"job."If payment is required for a work-at-home job,it's either a scam or an illegitimate businessopportunity. Your state requires businessopportunity vendorsto provide lists of previous buyers of thebusinessopportunity, and the company you're interested indoesn't include one.

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Paul and Sarah Edwards' most recent book isTheEntrepreneurial Parent. Send them your start-up businessquestions atwww.workingfromhome.comor in care of狗万官方.