Blog Posts Tagged with Small Business

Blizzards. Hurricanes. Floods. Wildfires. No matter the season, an extreme weather event or natural disaster could be right around the corner. And when – not if – an emergency happens, you may need to...

The FTC recently filed a case to stop what it describes as a fast-moving scam involving a group of companies offering business opportunities and a supposed credit repair service. Although the names...

It’s a persistent problem the FTC’s aggressive enforcement program’s been fighting for decades: we’re talking about companies and programs that lure in entrepreneurs, investors, or participants with...

We’ve heard it loud and clear from tens of thousands of people: hidden and misleading fees, also known as junk fees, hurt consumers and businesses. Today the FTC announced it is sending to the Federal...

The turkey is gone, and the relatives have departed. We’ve now officially entered holiday shopping season, also known as make-or-break busy season for small business owners relying on Q4 profits to...

The FTC has long regulated negative options through the Negative Option Rule and strategic enforcement actions. Today, the FTC builds on that work by announcing a set of common-sense revisions to the...

Ahoy there, restaurant owners and other friends! Gather around to hear about the restaurant that tricked people into thinking its shrimp and fish were wild caught right nearby, when, actually, they...

To safeguard the widgets in the warehouse, companies secure their facilities and put inventory controls in place. To protect assets that may be even more valuable – intellectual property like patents...

Consumers speak many languages and unfortunately scammers are conversant in all of them. That’s why the FTC has reinforced its fraud fighting capabilities by collecting scam reports in multiple...

You think a franchise may be for you. You can’t wait to cut that ribbon and get your business up and running. But to avoid a false start, it makes sense to spend more time in the starting block. This...

According to reports in the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database, text message scams took consumers for $330 million in 2022. The latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight focuses on this form of fraud...

Love at first sight may (or may not) be a real thing, but when it comes to investing your money, it’s unwise to fall for a franchise without first subjecting it to tough-minded scrutiny. The third in...

No one would try to run a marathon with just a few days of preparation. It takes months of rigorous training before you can step up to the starting line with confidence. Of course, the process of...

For many people, buying a franchise has proven to be a good choice, but like any other financial decision, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question “Is a franchise right for me ?” Buying a...

The workplace is in transition, with people considering career changes or dealing with layoffs. But as the FTC has warned for years, scammers find a way to exploit every trend – and this time they...

Weather emergencies don’t take a winter vacation. Scammers don’t either. Just like you, they’re watching the weather reports and preparing for storms – and they’re counting on catching you unawares...

Army brats like me grew up around the word “readiness.” We knew it meant weeks or even months of a parent away on deployment, training for “What if . . .” scenarios. One of the reasons so many...

Globe-trotting swindlers may try to evade law enforcement agencies intent on bringing them to justice. But they’re not factoring in the tenacity of public servants like Assistant United States...

Scammers often target job seekers and prospective entrepreneurs with bogus employment and money-making offers. We know that because the FTC has investigated and stopped many of them. But scammers are...

As the holidays – and the end of the tax year – draw near, people are likely to approach small business owners with requests for charitable contributions. But scammers are hard at work with their own...