If you've wondered how to get credit for your small business in this economy, you're not alone! It's harder than before to get business credit cards and lines of credit - but it's not impossible.
Before the banking "crash of 2008," banks lent money to businesses hand-over-fist.
All entrepreneurs needed was a dream and a goal to get approved for shiny, new credit cards and generous loans.
Not much "vetting" went into the approval process (if any).
Today, it's a different story.
Even after all the Wall-Street bailouts, banks are holding onto their money with clenched fists - denying hard-working business owners credit they desperately need to grow and prosper.
Of course, even today, there's a huge silver lining...
You see, while the perception is there's less business credit to go around, the truth is banks simply clamped-down their lending requirements.
There's actually more credit to go around - especially for small businesses - than a year ago.
If that's true, how do you boost your chances of getting approved for business loans? Actually there are three ways...
Tip #1 - Start Building Business Credit Early If your business is new, don't wait to establish business credit.
You may not get that low-APR, monster-limit credit card or a $50,000 loan right away, but if you put-off starting, you may never get there.
That's why you should open your business bank account as soon as possible (since lenders measure your company's age from when you opened your bank account - not when you incorporated).
Plus - apply for easy-to-get vendor lines of credit, first, to build credit fast.
Tip #2 - Ensure Your Company is "Credit-Worthy" Before Getting Credit What does that mean? Simply this: banks and vendors will run your applications through a plethora of "checks" to verify your application measures up.
The last thing you want is it getting flagged (and denied) for a trivial reason like not having all your business licenses or a dedicated business phone number or a functional website.
Tip #3 - Build Your Company's Credit Strategically Establishing and building business credit is like building a house...
First you lay the foundation, then you construct the framework and so on.
With business credit, you start by incorporating it, opening a bank account and getting all your licenses.
Then you move on to opening basic vendor lines of credit to establish business credit scores.
Then you move on to applying for "easy-to-get" credit cards.
Like building a house, each step depends on completing the steps before.
This all may sound hard or time consuming, but it's actually easy.
Once you come up with a plan of attack, it's a simple matter of putting reminders in your calendar or organizer to follow-through! You'll be surprised how much more approvals you get when you build credit this way.
Before the banking "crash of 2008," banks lent money to businesses hand-over-fist.
All entrepreneurs needed was a dream and a goal to get approved for shiny, new credit cards and generous loans.
Not much "vetting" went into the approval process (if any).
Today, it's a different story.
Even after all the Wall-Street bailouts, banks are holding onto their money with clenched fists - denying hard-working business owners credit they desperately need to grow and prosper.
Of course, even today, there's a huge silver lining...
You see, while the perception is there's less business credit to go around, the truth is banks simply clamped-down their lending requirements.
There's actually more credit to go around - especially for small businesses - than a year ago.
If that's true, how do you boost your chances of getting approved for business loans? Actually there are three ways...
Tip #1 - Start Building Business Credit Early If your business is new, don't wait to establish business credit.
You may not get that low-APR, monster-limit credit card or a $50,000 loan right away, but if you put-off starting, you may never get there.
That's why you should open your business bank account as soon as possible (since lenders measure your company's age from when you opened your bank account - not when you incorporated).
Plus - apply for easy-to-get vendor lines of credit, first, to build credit fast.
Tip #2 - Ensure Your Company is "Credit-Worthy" Before Getting Credit What does that mean? Simply this: banks and vendors will run your applications through a plethora of "checks" to verify your application measures up.
The last thing you want is it getting flagged (and denied) for a trivial reason like not having all your business licenses or a dedicated business phone number or a functional website.
Tip #3 - Build Your Company's Credit Strategically Establishing and building business credit is like building a house...
First you lay the foundation, then you construct the framework and so on.
With business credit, you start by incorporating it, opening a bank account and getting all your licenses.
Then you move on to opening basic vendor lines of credit to establish business credit scores.
Then you move on to applying for "easy-to-get" credit cards.
Like building a house, each step depends on completing the steps before.
This all may sound hard or time consuming, but it's actually easy.
Once you come up with a plan of attack, it's a simple matter of putting reminders in your calendar or organizer to follow-through! You'll be surprised how much more approvals you get when you build credit this way.
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