How BPN Defines a Business

We use the following guidelines for determining the type of subscriptions that community members can purchase. We also use this to determine whether negative reviews are accepted, since BPN accepts negative reviews of businesses, but not of individuals.

How BPN defines a business

A business is defined as having any one of these characteristics:

  • Is a private professional practice (see below), or
  • Has a business name,  or
  • Is required to have a professional license, business license, or childcare license, or
  • Has a storefront, office, or other site that is not someone's home,  or
  • Has a business phone number, email address, website, or business card, or
  • Has employees or staff

How BPN defines private professional practice

  • A professional license is required, as for medical, therapeutic, financial, or legal practices. 

OR

  • Counseling, advising, or placement services are offered, such as parenting coaches, nanny placement services, educational consultants, sleep consultants, college admissions advisors

How BPN defines a business owner

A business owner:

- Works within a BPN-defined "business" AND
- Either owns the business or doesn't report to anyone higher in the business

Examples of businesses and business owners 

daycares, childcare centers, schools, contractors, medical practices, doctors, therapists, life coaches, adoption facilitators, electricians, plumbers, college advisors, law firms, attorneys, cleaning services, summer camps, music classes, tutoring centers, facilitated support groups

Examples of people who are NOT considered businesses or business owners 

nannies, housekeepers, teachers, teen babysitters, sales clerks, staff at medical practices, staff at summer camps, waiters

If it's unclear whether a person is a business as BPN defines it for the purposes of a negative review, it is up to the subscriber to convince the moderator that the person in question meets or doesn't meet BPN's definition of a business.