There are so many opportunities to chose from and many of them are broken promises or out right scams. Deciding which ones are legitimate is hard and scams, unfortunately, are a real problem. Residual income opportunities are too often a large source for these scams, but lucky for those looking to start in self employment, not every residual income or home business opportunity is fraudulent. In fact, many are legitimate and actually provide a very decent income. To make a good decision on where to start you must first know the signs of a scam. Then once the scams are sifted through a person can make a really great income.

The first and most important rule in avoiding scams is to never pay for a job. Any opportunity that asks you to pay just to work is not worth it. For every one of these opportunities there are numerous real opportunities that are FREE. The only time spending money for a job is appropriate is when the company gives you something in return. For example, paying for sample products or, as many direct sales jobs require, buying a start up kit. The problems begin when a company wants a person to pay for nothing such as administrative costs or processing which are best left unpaid. There are many more options and spending money to sign up for an opportunity is just not a good idea.

What follows is a list which gives an idea of some other things to watch out for to help avoid scams. There should be consideration given too all of them when thinking about any opportunity. By considering them, you can avoid wasting time and money on something that will never help build a home business and/or residual income.

1. A good support network. Every business opportunity should offer several different kinds of support through training, mentoring and how-to's. The idea behind most residual income opportunities is to have sponsor support. Building a strong team that works together to form a sound business is key. If there is no support then success will be elusive.

2. Good products or services that are in demand. The products and services should be real and something that people want to purchase. If nobody wants to buy what is on offer,then the chances of the business surviving are slim.

3. Getting started is not difficult and overpriced. If the company makes getting started too hard then problems will most likely arise. A hard to start business could easily make a person give up before reaching any level of success or it could lead to serious future problems in keeping the business going.

4. Staying power. The company to get involved with should be built to last. They should have a good reputation and solid business practices. If there are any signs of weakness then the business would not provide a dependable way to build an income.