Due Diligence - Avoid these mistakes!
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Due Diligence - Avoid these mistakes!Given that the aim of the due diligence (DD) process is to reduce your business risk to an acceptable level, what issues should you think about before putting your hard-won funds into a new venture? UPDATE 2007: We are no longer participating in paid surfing. Too many failures. Too many people losing money. Too risky. Suggest you do the same. In this article, let's talk about the DD process for joining an online money-making venture. Maybe it's an autosurf program or a High Yield Investment Program (HYIP) of some sort. We're not talking about the sort of DD you'd do if you were buying a conventional business such as a fast food franchise or a dry cleaning store. Nor is this legal advice, by the way. This article is simply a short due diligence checklist of questions to ask before you, for example, move $100 of your e-gold into their account. Does the site "look trustworthy" to you? Yes, this is a bit of an intuitive thing but if the site looks like the work of an amateur, it's possible that the program isn't well managed either. However, just because a site looks home-made doesn't necessarily mean it's shonky. By the way, the converse does not apply. A fabulous looking site could still be run by a shonk. No physical address, insufficient contact information. When the contact is admin@site.com, who is this person? But when the owner is willing to identify himself/herself by name, that is a significant plus in my book because it allows you to do other investigations -- even if you have to use the Advanced Search capabilities of Google. If you cannot even discover the names of the owner/s or principals of a web-based business, how do you know you can trust them? Why are they hiding their identity? Yes, I know there are troubled people out there who can make life miserable for an owner who publishes his/her address -- and thus there is a need for the principal to protect his/her family. So if they are hiding their identities or location, are there ways to become confident about this business? Yes, so let's look at them.
Public forum. One possible trust factor can be a public discussion forum at their site. Having a forum is a bigger plus if an outsider can either contact those who have written posts or register and post. This helps to assure us that the forum reflects reality and is not just another marketing tool. If the owner does not identify himself at the site, you can still do other Due Diligence via the many public forums. Enter "site.com + forum" or the name of the program and the word forum into Google and see what turns up. You might find enough positive comments from those who know the company. Or you might not. If you come up with nothing, it's brand new (read: unproven). If he has other businesses, go visit them online. In other words, review the previous history of the key players. Support response time? Is there a way to write to the owner or support staff, and if so what is the calibre of their responses? If you're not happy, disengage! If they won't respond to you when you're offering to put money in their pocket, what help will you get when something goes wrong? Recent troubles with database/servers/etc. I should have ignored my contact's recommendations and paid more attention when he told me that they'd had some problems with their servers. I didn't -- and it cost me. Join their mailing list. After one of those "become a millionaire" websites got my attention, I joined the mailing list. It was only then that the name of the owner/promoter was given. A Google search turned up his big effort from last year (which looked very similar to this program, just a tad less hypey). But it also turned out that he'd been quite unpopular at scam.com so no, I didnt join his mouth-watering millionaire maker program. Instead, I saved my money -- and my reputation. Other Due Diligence issues Did you read the Terms & Conditions at their site? And the FAQ. Do you understand how the program works? And many more questions if we were to go on from this DD101. EVEN IF IT PASSES YOUR DD TESTING...If the business fails your DD process, congratulations - you have probably saved yourself both the money and the annoyance of finding out the truth too late. But even if it passes and you proceed with greater confidence, it's still a great idea to remember the conventional investing wisdom. - All the eggs don't go in one basket. - Start small to test the waters. - Watch out for the greed factor. - Don't spend what you cannot afford to lose. Finally, if you're tired of getting RIPPED OFF, why not check out the best investment protection. http://ScamBeater.com explains more. UPDATE 2007: We are no longer participating in paid surfing. Too many failures. Too many people losing money. Too risky. Suggest you do the same.
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RISK NOTICE: In any business and in any investment, there is a degree of risk. If you play big, you can win big - or lose big. So if you cant afford to lose money, you should NOT participate. DISCLAIMER : People who participate in any program, project, business, or venture described at this site do so entirely at their own risk. Participants agree to hold the owners and associates of ThisPaysBIG.com harmless in respect of any losses incurred as a result of their decision to participate. Nothing at this site is to be interpreted as legal, accounting, tax, currency, banking, or investment advice. Anyone seeking such advice should consult a properly qualified and accredited professional. Readers of this site are urged to obey all relevant laws. Any comments regarding participation in any opportunities featured here are void where prohibited by local laws.
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