When you want to get credit for your business or get more credit, it is very important to know what the lenders (banks or Suppliers) are looking for.
Craig Aberle, an expert on business credit and the author of Business Credit Secrets, said, "This is especially important when you are financing a business without using a personal guarantee." "When deciding whether or not to give a business credit, the bank has to answer two separate questions. The first question is, "Should this business be given credit?" and #2: "HOW MUCH credit should we give?"
Most of the time, getting credit is the most important thing. It doesn't matter how big the line is. For example, most new approved applications at Staples will get a credit line of $750. When they get an application, the first thing they do is call 411 to make sure the applicant has a business phone line.
"It's too bad that many businesses choose a personal phone line instead of a business line because the monthly bill is less. They don't know that this could cost them thousands of dollars and keep them from getting money to grow ", he said.
D&B, which is what most people call Dun and Bradstreet, has almost a monopoly on the Business Credit Report market.
Even though there are competitors like Experian's Business Credit Score (called Market Intelliscore), D&B has a virtual monopoly on the market because most banks and suppliers that lend to small businesses focus on the D&B Score and Report.
You can find an example of an Experian Intelliscore at
http://www.acollectionagency.com/business/eb commercial intelliscore.php
Equifax Small Business has another type of Business Credit Report. "Financial Account Acquisition Score" is what it is called.
"Once you pay attention to your D&B score, your Equifax and Experian reports will improve on their own." Craig Aberle, an expert on business credit, said this. "It wouldn't be smart to try to build this on your own. Most of the lenders you'll work with won't use it, and it will grow on its own as your accounts grow and information about your business is shared. This will happen while you sleep."
One big difference between D&B and Experian is that you can give D&B information about your business yourself, but you can't give Experian information about your business yourself. Instead, Experian will only take information from vendors they work with.
"He said that one way to get into Experian's system is to order catalogues from companies like Rhode Island Novelty (www.rinovelty.com), Uline supply (www.uline.com), and Dell (www.dell.com).
Who gives loans to businesses?
At http://www.business-credit-secrets.com/sourcebook.pdf, you can get a free guide with basic information on about 40 companies that offer business credit.
