There’re lots of businesses selling lots of goods and services. Just like with people, though, some of them aren’t what they’re cracked up to be. That’s where business background checks come in.
What’s a Business Background Check?
At its simplest, business background checks are the same things as background checks employers run on potential employees, just done on businesses instead of individuals. They help possible clients know how far a business can be trusted to do the work it’s hired to do and what kinds of problems are likely to come up with that business. They can also help employees know if a business is one they want to work for.
Why Run a Business Background Check?
Business background checks are useful in making sure that the business you’re looking to hire will actually do the job it’s hired to do. There’re a lot of businesses that skate by, doing as little as they can and still get their clients’ money. There’re others that close down in one place and open up in another, taking customers’ money and running. There’re still others that rack up bills and don’t pay them. In short, there’re a lot of businesses run by jerks, and that kind of jerk shouldn’t get your money.
A given business might not be run by a jerk, but it might have some jerks on the payroll–the kinds of people who would give it a bad name. Running a background check might let you know whether the business you’re looking to hire or looking to work for has people on staff who’ve done bad things in the world, or who might be part of groups you think need to go somewhere far away. And, in the current age of social media access, any associations a business or person has can come to light–and that isn’t always good for those involved.
How Do I Run a Business Background Check?
Running any kind of background check can be a lot of work. There’re federal, state, local and professional databases and organizations that have records of what all a given company has done. They’ll look at whether there’ve been any court cases or regulatory actions against the business or major players in it. Credit-reporting bureaus also keep tabs on things, especially how much debt a business has and whether it pays what it owes. And it’s even possible to do some old-style sleuthing, following people around or, in some cases, getting into a business’s files for more information.
That kind of thing can be dangerous (or illegal, so please don’t do it!), and wading through all the records that are involved can take a lot of time and money. Fortunately, there’re lots of companies that will take on the burden of sifting through all that information–for a price, of course, but it’s better to pay a little and be sure than to take chances and find out the hard way that things aren’t good.