Five red flags in a local business

You can learn a lot about a business before you ever talk to it. These are the five things worth noticing.

Hidden contact info

If a business makes its phone number hard to find, take it as a customer-service decision. People want to call. A business that wants to be called makes it easy.

Stale photos

If the website still shows an old logo and the shop has been remodeled since, or shows staff who have long since left, nobody is minding the front door.

Vague pricing

"Call for quote" is fine on complex jobs. It's not fine for a haircut, an oil change, or a basic service call. The vagueness is doing work — usually for the business, not the customer.

"Family-owned for generations" with a trail of rebrands

Pick a story. A real long-running family business leaves a consistent paper trail. If the name keeps changing, ask why.

Owners who can't take a question

Ask why a quote is what it is. A good owner explains it. If the answer is annoyance, that's the answer.