Don't trust anything that sounds too good to be true - it almost certainly is. Many advertised opportunities are unfortunately little more than scams. Do your research, talk to someone you trust, and don’t get hoodwinked into anything if you have even the slightest little niggle of worry about it!

Don't trust an opportunity that promises the world for "as little as 30 minutes a day" or similar. It really isn’t possible to get rich with 30 minutes a day, or even one hour a day! Developing your own business takes hard work and commitment, and you will get out of it what you put into it.

Don't trust an opportunity which wants substantial money up front. Yes, you will have to invest in your business. But throwing a lot of money at an opportunity without first dipping your toe in the water and making sure that the business is feasible, legal and works for you is just silly – and no honest business opportunity is going to expect you to do so. The exception is possibly a franchise opportunity, where the franchisor can obviously ask for payment up front (for which he will provide an exclusive area to operate your franchise, training, support and so on).

Don't trust an opportunity which makes its growth out of YOU buying stock and taking the risks. Some business opportunities (particularly in network marketing) depend on you to provide their growth, by buying stock and selling it on. This is fine as long as it works and you are sure that you can sell it on. You would, after all, be taking on stock if you were running your own retail business. But if you have to commit to taking on a certain amount of stock monthly, even if you haven’t sold your existing stock, you are going to get yourself into trouble quickly. Many opportunities “encourage” you to take on large levels of stock by offering a bigger discount. Well, it doesn’t matter how little you pay for your stock if you can’t sell it – it is all money down the drain for you and in the bank for the company!

Don't go near anything that you would be embarassed to talk about to your friends. We have all had the experience of a friend sheepishly admitting that they have taken on a business opportunity and asking for our support. Some are really very embarrassed about it. If you can’t be genuinely enthusiastic about your new business with your friends and family, who are you kidding?

Don't go near anything if you get even the slightest whiff of wrong-doing - you could land yourself in trouble. Sometimes we try to persuade ourselves that an opportunity is above board, when clearly we feel that there is actually something underhand about it. If you are even the tiniest bit suspicious – avoid, avoid, avoid!

Do your research. Talk to everyone you can about the business opportunity (not just the person selling it to you). Search the internet for reviews: there are a number of websites which provide reviews of opportunities and you can learn a lot from the experiences of other people. Look over the figures carefully, run your own projections, estimate the amount of time you can spend on your new business and the amount of earnings you should get out of it, and work out how much it will realistically cost you to start up. Write a full business plan – a process which should iron out any kinks and ensure that you know exactly what you are doing before you commit yourself, and will also provide you with a blueprint for running your business should you decide to go ahead.

Do give yourself some thinking time or a "cool off" period before you buy into something. I get terribly enthusiastic about some projects and work hard for days on them – then wake up some time later wondering what all the fuss was about! A genuine opportunity will not go away if you wait for a week, two weeks or even a month before you commit, and you can put the cool off time to good use.

Do find out everything you possibly can before you go ahead. Look up the company on the internet and at your local library and examine their accounts if possible. Who is running the company? Who are the directors? If everything gets a bit hazy at the top, it should sound warning bells. A genuine business opportunity will be run by a genuine management team.

Do get excited and go hell-for-leather once you decide to commit! Once you have done your research, cooled yourself off, planned your strategy, and written your business plan – go for it! If you have made up your mind to try that particular business, don’t hold back and put all your efforts into getting established fast. The more good work you put in, the more you will back.

by Lindsay Small

Lindsay Small is a Work At Home Mother who owns and runs a collection of family-friendly websites including W-A-H-M.com - where Work At Home Moms can find information, ideas, inspiration, advice about work at home opportunities, interviews with successful WAHMS and hopefully a laugh or two. Visit http://www.W-A-H-M.com and subscribe to the weekly newsletter by sending an email to W-A-H-M@aweber.com.