BUILDING BUSINESS CREDIT WITH DUN AND BRADSTREET AND THE SBA

Dun and Bradstreet and the Small Business Administration (SBA) have been working together to provide people with the information they need to open their own business. Dun and Bradstreet is a major business credit company that receives information on businesses from across the globe. Together they have released a step by step process that will help people learn how to build business credit. Business owners have to build business credit if they want any chance at taking out a loan for their company.

Once a company has gotten all of its paper work filed it has to begin a building small business credit. This is the hardest part for many small businesses, since many loaners are wary of giving money to such a risky cause. To help assist businesses trying to create credit, D&B has started giving businesses a D-U-N-S number. This number is internationally recognized as a business’s identification number.

After you have a file you need to start building your business credit. It’s hard to bet banks to loan you money right from the start, but getting a credit card for your business is not nearly as difficult. These cards give you larger credit extensions than personal cards, and their rewards are often geared towards business owners. Never mix your business credit with your personal credit. Open up a separate bank account so you can keep transactions as separate as possible.

The next step is to pay your bills on time. If you pay your business bills on time it will show on your record, and your credit score will get higher. If you fail to make payments on time your score will go down. If you are a little late on one or two payments it won’t affect your score tremendously, but it will if you consistently make them late. The best thing is to pay your monthly bills ahead of time.

It takes some time to build your credit. Monitor your progress so you know when you are ready to get an extension or bank loan. Your quarterly and yearly statements will provide information that you can use for your taxes and bookkeeping. If any disputes come up in your statement, make sure you take care of them right away.

Once your corporate credit is ready, you will be able to apply for a new business credit line. This line will give you access to larger amounts of money for your business, but make sure you don’t spend more of it then you can pay back. The first steps to building small business credit are the hardest, but after that it becomes much easier.

Together Dun and Bradstreet and SBA have developed methods for starting a business that work for everyone. Many people are scared of starting their own business when they think of the risks involved, but they show how easy it can really be. If you set up your business right it should have no link to your personal credit, keeping you safe in case your business fails.

<< BACK TO ARTICLES