Business Credit

Start building your business credit

Business credit is one the basic foundations of owning, operating and growing a business. Think about business credit just like your personal credit. In your life you are probably going to want to buy a car, a house someday, maybe a boat or a motorcycle, etc. The only way to acquire those items (this is of course if you don't have all the money in the world) is to have a good personal credit score so the bank gives you a loan. Your business credit works the same way. Some day in your business life cycle you are going to want a business loan, a business car, maybe a building or real-estate, etc. The only way to go down such a road without touching your personal credit is to have a good business credit score with all three business credit reporting agencies.

Your business credit is just like your personal credit. You can't get a loan without it!!

There are three main business credit reporting agencies. There is Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax. Lexus Nexus is another up and coming business credit reporting agency. Each one of these agencies reports business data a bit differently. One agency might have more data on your vendor trade lines where a different agency might have more data on your bank accounts.

When a lending institution or bank pulls your business credit report, they can see your business credit score from all three agencies on one report. This is called the new tri-merge report. This is why it is so important to have a good business credit score with all three business credit reporting agencies. A lender can check all three scores on one report and make a decision on whether or not to approve your business for a small business loan.

You need to have a good business credit score with all three business credit reporting agencies

Your business credit takes time to build which is the reason why you want to start building business credit as soon as you can. Building business credit will:

- Separate your personal credit from your business credit protecting your personal assets.

- Shows potential investors and buyers in your business that you have built a strong corporate foundation.

- Allows your business to take advantage of all different sorts of business opportunities such as affiliate programs and government contracting.

- Will get you a small business loan or bank line of credit without using a personal guarantee.

If you start building business credit now, managing your business will be much smoother in the future.

Here are a few articles on business credit and how to get started

Small Business Credit
Building Business Credit
Business Credit Builder
Business Credit Line
Business Credit Score
Business Credit Services
Build Business Credit