It's hard enough dealing with all problems that will crop up, but you also need to be careful of scams. Many scam artists prey on business's, both large and small. If you receive a bill in mail, check to be sure you ordered, and received, product before sending out a check. If you didn't order product, don't pay for it. Also, if someone calls about renewing something, like a yellow page ad, be sure this is company you think it is, and that it's really time to renew. The scam artists may threaten you by saying that they have a recording of Mr. X (one of your employees) ordering product and if you don't pay they will take you to court. If this happens, keep a record of all contacts they make with you, and file a complaint with Better Business Bureau and contact your local police department.

This happened to my girlfriend, Linda-Ann. A company called and told her secretary that they were associated with AT&T, which they weren't, and wanted to know if she wanted to renew her Yellow Pages ad. The secretary knew that Linda-Ann had an ad in Yellow Pages, so she said yes. However, when bill arrived it was from a totally unknown phone book. Linda-Ann called and told them to cancel it, and battle began. They said she had given them permission and they even had a tape recording of her secretary agreeing to it. Linda-Ann contacted police and AT&T and found out that this company had been doing same thing to many local companies, including Chamber Of Commerce. She lodged a complaint with police, Better Business Bureau and even contacted local newspaper, which did a story about her experiences. She then wrote this company and told them all that she had done. They eventually sent Linda-Ann an invoice canceling what they said she owed. She never heard from company again.

Scam artists may also offer you a discount if you balk at paying for product. They will also try to get you to pay for return shipping and a restocking fee. Just remember, if you're victim of a scam, pay them nothing.

Also, be very careful about anything that requires you to buy a starter kit. This is often mark of a scam.

Now that you're running your own business, take full advantage of freedom this gives you. Create, or have created for you, stationary, envelopes and business cards that reflect your personality. Choose a paper that you like for these and design products that have a "look" so that clients will recognize your stationary at a glance. I use same font and grey paper for my letterhead, envelopes and business cards (on cover stock). This shows my clients that I care enough about my business to create a professional image, and it helps me to stand out from crowd.

------------------------------------------------------------------- Is A Market Ever Oversaturated? © 2003 by Richard Adams radams@merchantaccountforum.com -------------------------------------------------------------------

I got asked an interesting question last week.

A guy new to Internet emailed me wanting to know if there was such a thing as too much competition within a market.

It took me a little while to think about such an excellent question before I replied.

Here's what I told him...

The dot-com bubble (and subsequent burst) fuelled stories of "first mover advantage". The myth went that companies like Yahoo that got in early, established themselves within marketplace and built strong brand awareness were untouchable. The "800-pound gorillas" in nerd-speak.

But didn't Google launch well after Yahoo, in an already crowded market?

Infact, according to some search engine industry experts, Google now serves up around a third of all searches online. Not only have Google outcompeted Yahoo, they even let Yahoo use their search results.

How did they manage this?

They took a model that was already working, then improved on it.

I don't think there can ever be too much competition in a market for a new face. My experience is that no matter how busy field or how hot competition - there's always space for someone else in niche.

But there's one proviso.

Whatever anyone else is doing - you need to do it better. Do it faster, cheaper, more honestly, with a wider range. Or, of course, more relevant search results.

If you do it *really* well, your competition may even end up like failed search engines Excite or Infoseek - extinct.

Remember that being small can be distinct advantage for you. It enables you to move "under radar" of larger competitors, using better marketing and customer service.

There's always an angle someone hasn't thought about. Using search engine optimization for less popular keywords has allowed me to take my merchant account site from strength to strength.