Small Businesses: The 2 most commonly expressed fears.
I am frequently asked questions about doing business on the internet. The following 2 are the most common and the most scary.
Question 1: How true are the stories of identity theft? How can it be avoided? How can I protect my customers and myself online?
Answer: The stories are mostly true. The most common form of identity theft is called “phishing”. It happens when someone gets lured into buying something online and asked for a credit card to pay. It is usually something relatively cheap like a $9.95 eBook or CD or something like that.
The buyer uses his or her credit card. Not only is their card suddenly maxed out, but their bank accounts are cleaned out as well. Always buy from a company that either uses PayPal or ClickBank. Both use 128 bit encryption which means extremely high security for the transaction. Also, if a vendor has one of these accounts, they have been checked out to be legitimate.
If you operate a small business online, make sure to get a PayPal merchant account. Both you and your customers will be glad you did. If you buy from highly regarded companies like Amazon.com and so forth, their systems will protect you also.
Question 2: Is there any money to be made out there with small businesses?
Answer: Despite the current world wide financial debacle, there is plenty of money out there. Don’t believe me? Here is one of the best small business ideas to boost your morale. The next time you are at a family gathering, the bridge club gatherings or the kid’s baseball game, look at the people there.
Those you know very likely have debts, many have a great deal of debt, but most have valid credit cards. They maybe couldn’t buy a $2000 stereo, but almost all of them could easily buy a $39.95 eBook or some other relatively low priced item if it would give them pleasure, would enrich their lives or cure a problem they went on the internet to find a solution for.
If you are building a list of small business ideas, keep this example in mind. Don’t listen to the news, listen to what you can observe for yourself.
If you are thinking of starting a small business, there is plenty of business out there unless you want to sell private jets online.
Can you see why there is legitimate concern, but also how danger can be easily eliminated?