Joining a business you have to be careful that it is legitimate. You will run into some that are not, and have to cut your losses and move on. You can make money on-line and there is a right way and wrong. **Learning all you can before jumping into a business. **Background **How long in Business Anyone else with other ideas please comment and give ideas. Shari

Hi Shari,

Yes, you have to be careful, more so today in a recession as the scammers always seem to pray on those most in need, and there are millions facing unemployment, bankrunptcy and foreclosures, so the best advice is be extra careful in this economic mess we are all in.

I always research everything first, and I prefer free to join businesses over the ones requiring an investment or purchase, expecially in this kind of market.  As more people are looking for an extra income these days, it is no doubt a good time to be in your own home based business.

I work only online now, and have been in my own businesses for decades, but having been through the economic ups and downs, I am glad I work solely online now with the low overhead and no employee postion which suits me just fine.  Most traditional businesses are feeling the recession and I remember well this is not a fun time to own a high overhead business.

I run several businesses and I would never consider going back to a traditional business again.  I focus on recession proof businesses, those that are not impacted by the economy.  If you focus on recession proof businesses, you can easily survive a recession, and in many cases even thrive as I am seeing.  One of my most recent additions is perfect given the high rate of bankruptcies, foreclosures and unemployment rising, so this new mortgage free homes business is perfectly positioned for explosive growth. 

My best advice is to research those businesses that do not get impacted by the recession and economic pressures we are all feeling.  We all have to live somewhere, basics are always recession proof.

Success to all, Mike  

Shari, a good place to start is to check with the Better Business Bureau. You could also check with Alexa, to see what kind of a rating is associated with their website. Most start ups who are in pre-launch have no background to check on. About the only way to check on those is to find out who the owners are, whether they have a legitimate business address and contact numbers, and whether they respond to your queries.

Sadly, the BBB is useless for all they do is field complaints, and then see how you respond.  Scammers can be members of BBB for a price, and they are not checked out one bit, they just cash the check, and by the time the first complaints come in, the scammers are long gone.

As to Alexa, this is nothing more than a means to check web traffic, but there are many legitimate businesses who will not rank on Alexa for years, if ever, but that does not mean they are scams, just a new business.  I have been ranked on Alexa with one of my businesses in top 500K, but what does that mean?  Nothing to many, only that my site has had several million hits, but what is a hit worth when it comes to a businesses integrity or reputation?  Sadly, not much.

The best way to research a company is to do a search on the internet with names of owners, managers, etc., and if they have a scammers past, it will come up, if not, you are atleast half way safe.  Forums are set up to identify scammers, and I have maintained a data base for ten years on scammers, and if you research it you will find it, but don't ever take another persons word, do you own due diligence.

Success to all, Mike