Protect Your Small Business Against Crime

Background Checks: How They Can Help Better Protect Your Small Business Against Crime

If you run a small business, you've got a lot of worries. Besides all the normal concerns like competition and pricing and location and customer service... now security has become increasingly important. You face the threat of theft, fraud, embezzlement, scams... the list seems almost endless.

When you're in business, you can run up against...

- Suppliers who provide shoddy goods that you don't discover until after you've paid for them
- Customers whose orders you promptly fill but who wiggle out of paying
- Employees who rob you of everything from supplies and equipment to cash and services.

The Federation of Small Business - a British business group reported that over half (58%) of all small businesses in the UK suffered at least one crime during a recent two year period. They concluded:

"Crime, and the fear of crime, can directly impact on day to day business activities. It can damage a business image, resulting in the loss of existing customers and deterioration in the quality and range of services offered by the business, which will limit turnover (profits) and
restrict business development."

When you run a small business, it's up to you to look out for your company. But how?

Background Search Services on the Web Provide an Economical Answer

Many of the problems that small businesses face in trying to deter crime can be helped with information available on the Internet. You can use 21st Century technology to get the better of the crooks and thieves and scam artists.

But if you're not familiar with whats available, you may not realize all the important things you can find out with a good background checking service.

It used to be expensive to check into someone's background to see if they were hiding anything. You had to hire a private detective or pay big bucks to an investigative agency. Not today - not with Internet databases so readily available to us. Some of the services are free. However, a business will benefit most from the more in-depth background checking services.

These higher quality services usually charge a fee to subscribe, but it's smaller than you'd expect - especially considering the volumes and usefulness of the information they provide. A year of service is often less than what you'd pay to bring in lunch for a staff meeting. Plus, the paid services are kept more up-to-date and are typically faster and easier to use.

Sometimes referred to as Internet Detective sites, or Personal Search sites, the website based services give you the low-down on all kinds of formerly-hidden information.

Here are the types of things you can and should be looking into for the protection of your business...

Criminal Background Checks

Any time your business is dealing with someone you don't know, you should run a quick check to see if they have any history of criminal activity. It's very simple to find out about:

- Criminal Records
- FBI Records
- Prison Records
- Sex Offender Status

You have access to their entire criminal history if there is one. With violence in the workplace such a major issue, a simple criminal check can be a very effective way to avoid problems before they happen.

Background Check for Employment (Pre-Employment Screening)

If you've got a small business, you should be pre-screening each person you consider hiring. No matter how professional, or how harmless, they appear.

A small print shop franchise in Florida hired an especially friendly fellow as their bookkeeper after the owner got too busy to handle it himself. The new employee didn't offer much in the way of references but he sounded like he knew what he was doing and - big plus - he agreed to work cheap. The owner figured he would save money hiring the guy. He figured wrong.

The bookkeeper drained more than a hundred thousand dollars out of the company before they found him out. Turned out he'd previously been charged with embezzlement. Something a criminal background check would have quickly turned up.

Background Check Existing Employees - Make it a Condition of Employment

You shouldn't check only new hires. Over time, employees can develop habits and get involved in activities you'd never suspect. So you should regularly check on existing employees. Note: this is something you should get legal advice for - but generally if it's a condition of employment and you let them know in writing, it's not invading privacy. You entrust employees with company funds or materials that can be stolen, or negotiating and purchasing power that can be abused. Keeping an eye on existing employees is just being prudent.

Too many small business owners think of their company as an extension of their family. They don't want to think ill of the people they give jobs to. Truth is, most employees are trustworthy. They just want to do a good job and get paid fairly - but they see you as the boss, not their daddy. Even in real families, the black sheep will have absolutely no conscience about turning your good will to their good fortune. Don't be so kindly that you end up getting taken for everything you own.

Background Check Each Company or Individual You Do Business With

You should investigate every supplier or contractor who serves your business. If the possibility of harm exists, then you need to know if someone you're in business with is likely to harm you. You can check credit, check backgrounds of the owners and managers, check the company itself for any past criminal or questionable activity.

Also check customers if your dealings with them permit. Most non-retail businesses will have the opportunity to look at their customer's backgrounds for any warning signs. Don't get left without payment for your products or services when a quick look up on the computer can resolve questions.

Check both suppliers and customers out. It's just good business.

Real Estate Business Transactions Are Often Easy Targets for Crime

Real Estate often involves significant investment, both initially and over time. Whether you're a landlord or a tenant, you need to check out those with whom you're doing business. Using a background check service, you can:

- Check Credit and determine if Social Security Numbers provided are valid
- Check Tenants for past problems or criminal activity
- Check Landlords for tenant actions against them or other legal problems

Charity and Other Community Support

Businesses frequently get called on to support their community. Charitable organizations often solicit donations, many times in sizable amounts. Before you give money freely to anyone, be sure they're legitimate by running a background check on their organization and the principals involved. Otherwise the help you think you're providing could turn around and hurt your business.

Final Word

Running a small business is more of a challenge today than ever before. Use online database search services to help you protect your business and keep you, your customers and your employees more secure.

Getting Discount Service?

Getting Discount Service? 

www.reversemobile.com  

Ever had someone tell you about a great friend they have who does excellent plumbing, electrical, or other type of work? Perhaps you are getting a great discount on the service if you hire this friend. Hey, home improvement or repair can really be expensive, so at the hint of a discount most people jump right on it. However, are you really getting what you pay for? Have you asked if this friend is licensed, but you're not completely sure?  

The last thing you want is to pay someone for less-than-perfect service simply because you were told that they were licensed. Many people fall for this all the time. Unfortunately, many victims don't know how to check to see if a contractor is licensed. Then, the contractors come into the home and make the problems worse than they were to begin with, or leave without completing the job. This can be extremely frustrating! Although you're getting a discount, you're still paying for the service, and when it comes up incomplete or botched, it can be very disappointing.  

So, is it worth it to get a discounted price from a friend? It could be. There are genuine and good contractors out there who are very willing to offer a discount for a friend of a friend. You just need to be able to make sure they are licensed and that you aren't going to end up getting the short end of the stick. With websites like www.ReverseMobile.com, you can enter the contractor's cell phone number and find out several things. You can find out the address, name, age, and address history. However, the real gem is finding out whether or not they are licensed.  

This way, you can save that work for someone who is qualified to do it rather than someone who is not. You don't want to end up paying more when you think you're getting a great discount, so simply check to see if the friend's friend is all he is cracked up to be.  

It's extremely easy. By simply entering the cell phone number and then waiting a few seconds, you will be provided with all of the information you need to make an educated decision as to whether or not you should really hire this person. Your goal is to make your home look great and keep your wallet fat. Take serious preventative steps to make sure you're not going to come out with more to pay and more damage to fix. 

Does Your Child Ride the Bus to School?

Being a school bus driver requires a love of children, a desire to see them safely to school and patience above words. There are many school bus drivers who are completely dedicated and who are the best kind of people that you'd ever want to be around. However, there are some that have been hauled into jail after enough parental complaints only to find out that these drivers have had previous crimes and convictions on their records. How they manage to make it through the certification to drive a school bus is really a mystery, however, it happens. No person wants to have a convicted criminal driving their child to school. Your child's best interest comes first.

If you have ever had suspicions of your child's school bus driver, or you simply want to make sure that your child is safe, there are a few things you can do. Introduce yourself to him or her and stand at the bus stop with your child. The first thing this does is lets your bus driver know is that you are dedicated and involved with your child. Most bus drivers appreciate something like this, but if you are dealing with a bad seed, he or she will be wary as well. Find out the name of your bus driver.

Take that name to one of the websites which allows you to do criminal record searches, such as www.investigate123.com. With this name, you can find all sorts of valuable information such as:

• Address – You can find out exactly where this bus driver lives.

• Phone Number – You can get the bus driver's telephone number.

• Criminal Records – You are able to find out whether your child's bus driver has ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor either in your town or nationwide. You can also get access to warrants that may be out on a person or civil court records and arrest records.

• Marriage Certificate

• Death Certificate

• Possibly Additional Information – Some additional information might include immediate family members of the bus driver, neighbors and even information on past jobs. If it is available to the database, you will receive it when you type the name in.

This is important information that you can use in order to find out whether or not your child is in a situation of danger. Should you find something on the bus driver's background report, it is imperative that you go immediately to the police as well as the school. There are laws which protect our children and do not allow convicted criminals to be in a position like that taking care of children. When you inform the proper authority, the bus driver should be taken immediately off of the school bus and dealt with properly. Utilize the tips and advice above in order to make sure that your child is safe, along with the other children that ride to school on your child's bus. You never know when you have the opportunity to save a life.

Beware Online Charities

Many people have large, generous and giving hearts. Many people donate money to online charities to help the needy, those with illnesses, animal activists and more. If you're one of these people, good for you! It is an amazing thing to give what you can to someone who is in need or to research illnesses in the hopes of finding a cure. It is also a wonderful thing to help those who protect animals and their rights as well. If you do give to charities, you should know one thing. Not all of the charities online are real. In fact, there are criminals and con-artists who take advantage of people's generosity and kindness. They post fake charities, get you involved so that you want to 'make a difference,' and they line their pockets and wallets with the checks you send. So, while you think you're helping someone who is in need, you may be only helping someone who is full of greed. Here are some really good tips for avoiding 'charities' like this. 

• Do your research on a charity. We are so full of empathy for people sometimes that we get emotional about a sad story or a problem and we get our checkbooks out and go to writing before we think. Unfortunately, while this is a wonderful quality to have, we must be careful. Find out what you can about a charity before you send them anything. 

• See if you can contact someone who has been helped by the charity before. Many charities tell you personal stories of people that they have been able to help through donations. If you can contact this person, find out what they were helped with and any other information that will help you realize if the charity in question is legitimate or real. 

• Check to see what address they are giving you to send the money to. If you can get the address, you can find out the owner of the address. Here's how – 

If you want to find out if the owner of the charity is a criminal, all you need is the address. Visit one of the websites that allow you to look up someone's background through their address! One of them is www.ReverseGenie.com. Through this website, you can enter the address of the charity. After submitting that information, you will have access to the name and phone number of the person associated with the address. You will also receive marriage and death certificates, civil and criminal court records, national and local court records and more. So, if this charity is a criminal who is trying to fund his next dirty deed, you will know about it. This is a great way to make sure that your hard earned money is really going to help people get better, get the things they need or whatever. Make sure that it's not going into the pockets of a criminal and a scammer.