Are you owed this money?
Today’s Adventure in the Biz Opp Jungle:
‘In which Charlie emerges from his cocoon, fishes for feedback on Call Catcherz and asks whether you’ve claimed money that’s rightfully yours – find out here
Hi
Imagine a butterfly emerging from a cocoon...
Except something about this particular newborn butterfly unnerves you....
When it unfurls itself, you notice the wings are covered in porridge... it has thousands of black bags under its compound eyes... its twitching proboscis seems to mutter the word “arsebiscuits”...
And when it tries to fly away it thuds immediately into a tree. You shake your head in pity as it lies twitching on a bed of leaves.
That butterfly is me.
For the past 4 weeks I’ve been trapped in an uncomfortable cocoon, deprived of sleep, engulfed in screaming noise, immersed in odour de nappy.
Finally, I am emerging. ,,,
I’ve caught up on my Biz Opp Jungle inbox. I’m getting two of these emails out every week again. I’m now working through my list of things to review. I’ve started back on my health product marketing projects. And I’m furiously working on my Project X materials to get it complete in time for launch.
But it’s tiring. And I feel punch drunk.
Gone are the halcyon days when I worked whenever I felt like it and ambled about in a cloud of meditative thought, buying fancy cheese and fresh fish, cycling through parks....
This morning I snuck into my study at 6am to get a couple of hours writing in before the household awoke. In a moment I’ve got to look after my eldest for a few hours while my wife takes my youngest to a cranial osteopath (don’t ask! it’s another story!)
So forgive any signs of delirium in today’s issue. I’ll start with something that’s really straightforward. This is an offer you’ll LOVE if you’re one of those people who likes to get something for nothing...
How to claim money that’s rightfully yours
I’d like to recommend a new book to you. It’s not a biz opp as such. But this is something that could make you feel significantly wealthier this year.
The book reveals 266 little-known sources of freebie money you can claim from businesses, charities and governments.
Examples range from getting a £30-a-week to study grant... to free laptops, DVDs and samples.... to £124K for your own business start-up. These aren’t loans either. This is money that you don’t need to pay back.
It’s a little known fact that there’s more than £77 million worth of prizes, grants, bursaries, refunds, awards and guaranteed zero-interest loans that have not been claimed. If you know where to look, you can get hold of some of this stuff.
This includes...
A £1,500 bursary for higher education .... £300 extra for people looking for work .... £55 extra each week towards childcare.... £250 to help older people with holidays, essential housing repairs and mobility aids ...From £3,500 up to £6,000 for home heating..... and from £1,000-£1,000,000 in loan guarantees for your business...
Some of this money could be yours. Check this out for details:
Onto something completely different....
Is this a JOB or an OPP?
One of my readers has been asking my opinion on Call Catcherz. This is a company that offers ‘homeshoring’ call centre services.
I’d never heard of homeshoring until this came up. From my research I discovered that this is a new alternative to offshoring – where companies outsource call-centres to foreign countries where there’s cheaper labour.
Homeshoring is a where customers services are outsourced to ordinary homeworkers in the same country as the business is located.
The idea is that individuals take customer service calls from their homes and earn a second income for it.
In the case of Call Catcherz, they’ve set up a company that recruits home workers and offers a ‘homeshored’ customer call service to companies.
When I first saw this, I thought, “This isn’t really a biz opp, it’s an employment opportunity.”
However, I discovered that Call Catcherz ask for YOU to pay fees of £20 a month to them. You have to buy your own headset, high speed internet connection, a second phone line and other bits of equipment. This is unlike most job opportunities where the company takes on the costs.
So in this case you have to invest your own money for the chance to earn some money. For me, this makes it a business opportunity. And quite clearly, having to invest your own money makes this a riskier proposition than simply taking on a job from home.
What I’ve found out so far...
The Call Catchers website has contact details and VAT registration, so that's a good sign.
If you’ve tried Call Catcherz or any homeshoring opportunity, then let me know how you’ve fared. There’s also a company called Arise who offer a similar thing.
One of the criticisms I’ve heard from people writing about Arise is that they’ve been told they are ‘not needed’ anymore. I assume because the company has enough workers.
If your job is terminated I wonder where this leaves your investment, then?
On the Moneysavingexpert website, a forum user says:
“Me and many others have also paid for disclosure, passed voice assessments, and then been told we are no longer needed.... so have invested days, weeks and ££s in training 2nd phone lines, Ltd co regs etc to be out of pocket.’
Others say the wages are low (but this is to be expected since homeshoring is similar to a company outsourcing to India – it’s got to be cheap!) And some people complain that you don’t get enough hours to make decent money.
I’m trying to find out more about ‘homeshoring’ opps so let me know if you’ve any feedback. My concern with ‘work at home’ businesses is that they’re presented as job offers with reliable incomes... but most are actually opportunities that come with financial risk.
It’s always worth being aware of this downside before you raise your hopes of a second income.
Later Alligator
Charlie Wright
The Biz Opp Jungle