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Business Credit Basics: Steps

Business Credit Basics: Steps

Eight year old shelf company for $1995! Clean company, no liabilities, no problems.

Business Credit Basics

One fifth of all businesses fail in the first year because they fail to access enough business credit. The lack of financing is the most common reason businesses fail. The most common mistake? Most businesses first go to the bank for a loan. What’s the problem with that? Conventional banks seek to issue low risk loans, where the business has years under it’s belt and seems a safer bet to issue a loan.

Most businesses are denied a loan at the bank. In the beginning, don’t bother with the bank. Start elsewhere, and approach the bank six months later.

When starting out, most lending comes from alternative lenders.

Alternative lenders usually specialize in certain types of loans for certain conditions or situations. For example, cash advance companies want the company to be at least one year old. They only handle revenue-based financing. Other alternative lenders offer extremely specific programs. You would only go to them for that type of loan that meet certain requirements.

Most lenders don’t loan as much money as they’d like because their programs require specific requirements. The issue is how to find as many as lenders as possible and apply to as many at once. But who has the time to do that?

Business people are working at desk

We networked with a group who empowers you to make it happen:

  • Start with an older company to enhance credibility
  • Enter your company information once
  • The system applies to as many lenders as possible who seek your business.

How Do You Access Financing? What Are The Steps?

  • Your business must be ready to apply. This means the company is compliant. This means the company filed as a foreign entity (foreign qualification) in the state where you seek to do business. The business filed the necessary business licenses. It also has an address and a business phone number (preferably a landline), billed to that address.
  • All the information, from all public and private sources, should be consistent. This means that the information on the public record (Secretary of State) should be consistent with the business license, the billing information for the business phone line, and everywhere else. You can’t have a misspelling on the business name, or a mistake on who is President of the company. The information must be consistent.
  • Here’s a beginning list of things that must be done:
  • Incorporate. Don’t use a sole proprietor. Preferably, start with a company that’s at least three years of age.
  • Obtain a business address for the company.
  • Make certain your name and the business address is consistent on all public records. If your corporation or LLC is filed in one state and also filed as a foreign entity in another state, make certain that information matches with what’s published elsewhere, and that your name is on the company.
  • You can’t have privacy and build business credit. If you seek to build business credit, that means that your name must be connected to the company on the public record.
  • With the Covid pandemic, it’s more acceptable than ever to work from home.
  • You’ll receive the best results from a business address.
  • Ask a local business if you can share their address to defray some of their expenses. They’re more open to it than ever.
  • Restaurants need revenue. Approach a local restaurant if you can use their address for your business. Explain that your business is online, and you just need a business address to receive mail.
  • Don’t use a UPS Store or other like location. They often get poor results.
  • If you’re seeking a virtual office, we have a procedure that works quite well. Do a search from the most affluent zip codes on google within your state. Then obtain a virtual office from within one of those zip codes.
  • File for DBA if necessary. If the your company name doesn’t match your industry, you can file a Doing-Business-As (DBA). Some states may call it a Fictitious Name Registration or Trade Name.
  • File the applicable business licenses on the state, county and local level. Look up what’s required in the state where you seek to do business.
  • Open Business Phone Number. The business phone number’s billing address should be the business address of the company. That business address should be consistent with what’s listed on the public record (Secretary of State, business licenses, and other sources). Don’t use a phone number provided by a virtual office. You need a dedicated number that’s billed to your company name and address.
  • Fax Number (Landline, Efax.com, or other number). Don’t use a fax number provided by a virtual office. You need a dedicated number.
  • Open Custom Domain. Again, the billing address on record should be address of the business.
  • Business Email
  • 411 Directory Listing: Free
  • Superpages Listing
  • Yelp.com Business Listing
  • Yahoo Business Listing
  • Yellow Pages Listing
  • Bing Business Listing
  • Bling Search Engine Listing
  • Google Search Engine Listing
  • Google Search Marketing Account Setup
  • Bank Account Setup
  • Get a DUNS. It’s free. You don’t need to pay.