Small businesses, like individuals, also need to have a good credit record in order to gain access to lines of credit.  This is a difficult task for most small businesses because it requires establishing the credit record  from scratch. 

Entrepreneures often make the mistake of using personal credit cards to get their businesses off the ground without transitioning into building their businesses' credit.  Hence, when they find themselves in need of capital in order to grow the business they discover that creditors are not willing to lend without a credit history for the business.

You can obtain much greater credit under the business name than can be obtained under your personal name.

Building a good credit record for your business can take 1-2 years.  Start now and follow these steps to establish a good credit record for your business.

 

1.  Examine Your Organization Type:  If you're a Sole Proprietor business you will need to change to a C Corporation, S Corporation, LLC, etc.  Sole Proprietor businesses are not entities that are separate from the individual with legal protections in the way that other type of organizations are.  Hence, your organization will not be able to have its own separate identity that you can build a business credit record for if it's a Sole Proprietorship.

 

2.  Tax ID:  Get a tax ID.  You will need it to register with credit bureauas such as Dun & Bradstreet .






 

3.  Bank Account:  Establish a bank account in your business name.






 

4.  Business Phone Number:  Establish a legitimate business phone number and get it listed in a legitimate directory such as 411.com, yellow pages, etc.  Lenders will check the number to make sure they have a legitimate way to contact you. 


 

5.  Records:  Maintain good financial records and get an accountant to validate your records.  This presents an image to banks that you are running a legitimate business.

 

 



6.  Cash Flow:  Establish positive cash flow.  Lenders will look at positive cash flow favorably as it indicates your ability to pay debts.




 

7.  Business License:  Keep your business licenses current.  Banks will want to validate your business existence.  One of the first things they will do is to check to ensure that your business is legitimate.  They will check with state databases to see if the business is licensed/registered.

 

8.  Register With Credit Bureauas:  Dun & Bradstreet and Experian are the two major credit bureauas that track business credit history.  Resister with these bureauas and start establishing a credit record.  Lenders will check for your business credit record with these two bureauas before lending.  Be sure to check your credit report regularly and verify the accuracy of the information.  Experian rank business credit scores from 0 to 100 with 0 representing the worse and 100 representing the best.  Their scoring is based on a number of factors.  Visit the Experian website to learn what those factors are. 

 

9.  Establish Trade Credit:  Find out if other companies that you do business with report payment history to credit reporting agencies such as Dun & Bradstreet and Experian.  Some companies that might be willing to extend credit includes Home Depot, Office Depot, Staples, OfficeMax, computer retailers (such as Micro Center, Best Buy, and Newegg), Dell and Gas Stations.  Reach out to these organizaations and as them to extend credit to your business.  Credit with these organizations are extended on a Net 30, Net 60 or Net 90 basis.  Meaning you have 30, 60 or 90 days to pay it off.  They normally issue you credit by giving you a store credit card to make purchases or as a line of credit. 

 

10.  Pay Bills On Time:  If you have trade credit, utility bills and other payments to make, be sure to make your payments on time.  Paying your bills on time is key to maintaining good credit.  Pay ahead of time if you can.  But, don't be late.

 

11.  Apply For "Poor Record" Credit Card:   Apply for credit cards that are designed to help small businesses with poor credit records.  

- Capital One Spark Classic Business Credit Card:  This card has no annual fee and you get to earn cash rewards.  It is designed to help small businesses build their credit record.

 12.  Get PrePaid (Secured) Credit Card:  You can get prepaid credit cards and use them as a way to build a credit record.  PrePaid Credit Cards act like a debit card because you have to deposit money onto it before you can use it.  But, it also acts like a credit card and all transactions are reported to credit bureauas and enables you to build a credit record for your business.  These are some of the PrePaid Credit Cards you can apply for.

- PEX:  This is a Visa prepaid card that requires no credit approval.  You add any amount on the card.  You get individual cards for your employees.
- BankFreedom PrePaid MasterCard:  This card has no enrollment fee and is accepted worldwide.  It requires not credit or bank verification.
- The Master Card Business Prepaid Card: This is a prepaid card that is accepted where ever MasterCard is accepted.  You can get individual cards for employee.



13.  Apply For Normal Credit:  When you're ready to get credit from lending institutions visit Lendedu, credit.com  or creditcards.com to see a lising of credit cards from all major lending institutions that are targeted to small businesses.