Small Business Criminal Record Search Tools

Criminal Record Search Tools Speed Small Business Growth

Business growth and profitability are two of your main concerns as a small business owner. Of course, large corporations are just as concerned with these areas, but they have the financial wherewithal to help ensure they are able to achieve their goals. However, as a small business owner, you need to take a very proactive stance to business growth and increasing profitability. Criminal record search tools give you the ability to do just that. How can criminal record searches help you grow your business? Actually, they can do more than that – they can also help ensure business stability and security.

To understand how a criminal record search can help you in your business, you will first need to understand the unique challenges that face small businesses today. The benefits of criminal record searches are inextricably linked to these challenges. Here, you will learn how to utilize these tools to ensure stability, growth and a profitable future for your company.

The Problem with Investors

Investors are vital to your success. While you might be able to fund the startup of your business with a SBA loan or a small business loan from your bank, your profits will not begin rolling in immediately. Investors give you the operating capital to keep your doors open and continue offering your services while you build a quality reputation within the local area. However, investors can pose serious problems to your company.

What if the investor truly does not have the money he or she claims to have? What if the investor somehow manages to embezzle the small amount of money that you have saved for operating capital? The number of scenarios in which a business investor can cause harm, rather than good is tremendous. However, a criminal record search can be used to help ensure that you do not make a mistake in the investors you bring aboard your company. These tools will help you determine if the investor has a history of fraud, if they have been involved with failed businesses in the past and much more.

The Problem with Business Partners

Just as investors are vital to your continued wellbeing and operation, you might find that operating your business on a regular basis is a bit more than you can manage on your own. This is when you might be tempted to bring in a business partner. Partners can help relieve your administrative load, help with vital decision-making, bring another perspective to your business, help with marketing – the list is endless. However, business partners can also be trouble. A criminal record search should be performed on any prospective business partner.

If the wrong business partner is chosen, you could find yourself in dire financial straits. They can wreak just as much havoc as investors, perhaps more so, as they will be intimately tied to your daily operations in most cases. However, utilizing a criminal record search can help you determine if that business partner constitutes a threat or not. You will find that when you have access to this type of information, you can make the best decision on whom to bring into your company and whom to avoid.

The Problem with Staff

While your business is small, it does not mean that you have no need for employees. You might need someone to run the register, to help with accounting, to help with inventory; you might need an employee or two for almost anything within your business. However, as every business before you has learned to their chagrin, employees can be notoriously problematic. While they might not pose the same risks as business partners and investors, employees should all be subjected to a criminal record search prior to being hired.

This helps ensure that you are able to bring in skilled, qualified help that will benefit your business. There is an excellent reason that Fortune 500 companies around the world vet each employee with a criminal record search – it works. This method helps ensure that those convicted of violent felonies are not employed within your establishment, as well as helping to weed out those with a history of nonviolent crimes and "white collar" crimes. Failure to utilize a criminal record search on any potential employee can leave your company in serious jeopardy.

Suppliers and Merchants

No matter what your business does, you will have to deal with suppliers and merchants. These might provide you with office supplies or merchandise to sell to your customers. They might provide you with supplies and parts to help service your customers. Regardless, you will need to ensure that the suppliers and merchants with whom you deal are "on the up and up." How can you accomplish this? Why should you bother? A criminal record search can be used to vet businesses just as easily as it can vet consumers.

You should certainly consider utilizing a criminal record search with your suppliers and merchants, as well. For instance, what if they have a habit of overbilling their customers? What if they continually short your order, but fail to note it on the shipping manifest? What if they routinely send inferior items in place of what was ordered, but bill you for the original purchase? Each of these can constitute a threat to your company and your profitability. In some cases, this can constitute a threat to your customers, as well. Obviously, you should ensure that this does not happen. A criminal record search can reveal the truth to you.

Obviously, small business owners can reap tremendous benefits from conducting a criminal record search in many different instances. However, you must ensure that you continue to do so, or the benefits can be negated. With online resources, the process of verifying a criminal record is simple, fast and easy – you can accomplish your goal within minutes, providing your company with instant benefits.