Free and cheap resources for home-based businesses - directory of available government publications and services

Home Office Computing, March, 1992

Checking Out Business Opportunity

Scams

Contact your state's Business Opportunity Office or State Attorney General's Office.

You should check out any kind of "business opportunity" salesman, and you can do it for free. Twenty-one states have Business Opportunity Laws and have established special offices that will help you check out any salesman's claims and punish wrongdoers. California: (619) 237-6553 Colorado: (303) 566-4560 Connecticut: (203) 566-4560 Florida: (904) 488-2221; (800) 435-7352 Georgia: (404) 651-8600 Indiana: (317) 232-6331 Iowa: (515) 281-4441 Louisiana: (504) 342-7373 Maine: (207) 582-8760 Maryland: (301) 576-6360 Michigan: (517) 373-7117 Nebraska: (402) 471-2171 New Hampshire: (603) 271-3641 North Carolina: (919) 733-3924 Ohio: (614) 466-4986; (800) 282-0515 Oklahoma: (405) 521-0451 South Carolina: (803) 734-2168 South Dakota: (605) 773-4823 Texas: (512) 475-1769 Virginia: (804) 786-0594 Washington: (206) 753-6938

Rules for Selling Products Through

The Mail

Enforcement Divison, Federal Trade Commission, 601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580; (202) 326-2996.

Since many home-based businesses do business through the mail, you may need to know about the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Mail Order Rule, which requires companies to ship purchases made by mail when promised or to give consumers the option to cancel their order for a refund.

Avoiding Mail Fraud

Public Affairs Branch, Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20260; (202) 268-4293. Or Enforcement Division, Federal Trade Commission, 601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20580; (202) 326-2996.

You should be aware of the ways some con artists use the mail to steal from you. To help you, the Postal Inspection Service publishes the free booklet. Postal Crime Prevention: A Business Guide, which shows business owners how to protect themselves. It includes information on different types of mail fraud, check-cashing precaustions, mailroom security, bombs in the mail, and other problems with mail-related crime. If you receive merchandise through the mail that you did not order, you can keep it as a gift. Learn your rights by contacting the FTC and obtaining a free copy of the Unordered Merchandise Statute.

Using Business Reply Mail

Rates and Classification Dept., U.S. Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20260; (202) 268-5316.

If you use the mail a lot in your business to solicit customers, you might look into using business-reply mail. Under this service, you guarantee to pay the postage for all replies returned o you at the regular first-class rate plus a business-reply fee. To use this service, you have to pay a small annual permit charge.

Is Your Name Legal?

Trademark Search Library, Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Department of Commerce, 2011 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Romm 2C08, Arlington, VA 22202; (703) 305-8513, (703) 557-4636.

Before you decide to name your new business, you should find out if someone else already owns the trademark on the name. All registered trademarks, logos, and slogans are filed in the Trademark Search Library, and you can visit the library to research the name you want to use for your business. If you can't get to the library yourself, you can find a professional phone directory. The library staff will not do a search for you if you haven't formally applied for a trademark. However, if you do apply for a trademark, the library will tell you if the name is already taken, and if it isn't, they'll award you the trademark.