How to check a business, supplier or contractor before you pay
By ReputationKiln Editorial · Published
Before you pay anyone, a supplier, a contractor, a coach, run the one question that cuts through almost everything: what can they show you that they did not make themselves? A wall of five-star testimonials, a screenshot, a "rated number one" badge, were all produced by the seller, on their own device, and chosen by them. That is not proof, it is a claim with good production values. Real proof is the evidence they do not control, and an honest operator can produce it in an afternoon.
The method
- Ask for proof they did not make. A neutral platform they cannot edit. References you choose and phone yourself. Filed records, registrations or accreditations checked against the body that issued them. A confident, honest operator has answers; one who treats the question as an insult has told you something.
- Read their reviews by shape, not score (the fake-review and rating checks apply): velocity, spread, thin profiles, specificity.
- Cross-check across platforms they cannot curate. One glowing profile that contradicts a mixed picture elsewhere shows you which one was managed.
- Confirm the basics line up. Identity, registration, address and any credentials match what they claim, and the accreditation badges actually click through and verify.
The limit, and the reassurance
A clean record does not make a business honest, and a thin one does not make them a fraud: genuine sole traders often have little paper trail, and that is a question to ask, not a verdict to reach. Proof reduces your uncertainty, it does not erase it. The point is not to find one perfect document, it is to notice when a business can only ever offer you things it made itself, and to treat that as the answer it is. A good operator passes this easily and is glad to, which is exactly how you find the ones worth working with.