At Teleport we built the access plane for engineers to securely connect to any computing resource anywhere: SSH servers, databases, web applications, etc.
If the future of computing will be similar – but less depressing – than the Matrix, we’re building the cord + the telephone system for getting in and out of it.
We are looking for someone to own, maintain and develop our web site: https://goteleport.com
Are you a front-end web developer who appreciates great design, understands the importance SEO and analytics but at the same time cares about end-user privacy?
Come work with us! We have an office in Oakland but open to remote locations with reasonable time zone difference. We offer great compensation, benefits and learning opportunities because you’ll be working next to industry’s best security/systems engineers.
What are backlinks to search engine optimization? Short version: They’re signals Google uses to determine if your website is a reputable resource worthy of citation. The long and sweet version? The more quality backlinks pointing to your website, the higher your chances of ranking for profitable keywords and competitive search queries that drive sales. You’ll …
Short version: They’re signals Google uses to determine if your website is a reputable resource worthy of citation.
The long and sweet version?
The more quality backlinks pointing to your website, the higher your chances of ranking for profitable keywords and competitive search queries that drive sales.
You’ll generate more targeted traffic, leads, and customers.
TThe SEO research tool, SEMrush, revealed backlinks account for as much as five SEO top 10 ranking factors:
Due to how essential links are to rankings and traffic, you’ll find a host of companies promising to help you generate backlinks at the click of a button.
And we leveraged this experience and vast expertise to develop a holistic, battle-tested content marketing program that helps our customers generate high-quality backlinks.
It starts with auditing, optimizing, and creating new, high-quality content people would love to link to.
Then, promotion, so even influencers can find and reference them.
This proven program powers us to create and distribute content marketing assets that get high-quality backlinks, higher rankings, and qualified traffic.
In short, this is why our customers, from startup to grow-stage and enterprise companies, love working with Neil Patel Digital.
2. FATJOE – Best for Blogger Outreach
You may have linkable content resources on your site. What if other websites or bloggers don’t know those assets exist? No one would link to them, right?
And this is what FATJOE excels at doing. They’re a reliable blogger outreach service even other agencies rely on for generating backlinks:
The experienced SEO expert, Joe Taylor, founded FATJOE. And they’ve been in business since 2012, helping over 5,000 clients worldwide get backlink placements via blogger outreach.
About 97% of those 5k plus customers rate FATJOE a 4.5/5.
However, FATJOE is best for acquiring links from websites with domain authority between DA10 and DA50. And prices per link placement range from $45 to $465.
3. Page One Power – Best for Strategic Links
Getting backlinks from higher domain websites (DA60+) needs a combination of linkable assets, outreach, and high-level strategy.
Page One Power, although more expensive and not a productized service like FATJOE, excels at this.
Yearly, this company is behind the acquisition of more than 15,000 strategic backlinks on average to its clients from higher domain websites.
And Page One Power achieves this, leveraging its 10 years of experience and 982 active partners:
If you have the budget that starts at $550 per link, with more for a monthly retainer, you should turn to Page One Power for their consistent, strategic link-building expertise.
And can you make this turn, knowing other businesses, such as QuickBooks, Healthline, BOTTSTICH, and several others, trust Page One Power’s strategic link acquisition services, too.
4. The HOTH – Best for Guest Posting
What if you’ve done everything possible, yet people still won’t link to your site?
The HOTH, a company successful for its guest posting services, can help, and they come highly recommended:
The HOTH’s guest post, backlinking service covers everything from manual outreach, securing guest post slots, and creating the guest content piece with links to your site.
Their industry experience and expertise have seen them work with or get mentioned on reputable websites such as Forbes, Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies, Salesforce’s Dreamforce, and others.
The HOTH is a productized link-building service like FATJOE, allows you to purchase guest posts and backlinks with a few clicks.
With this company, you can get backlinks from websites with domain authority ranging from DA10-DA50. And prices are between $100-$500, depending on the quality of website you want links from.
5. RhinoRank – Best for Curated Link-building
Sometimes, other websites already have published content pieces with info relevant to assets on your own site.
In such a case, reach out to the webmasters of those sites and ask for a link, otherwise called curated link-building.
Based on our review, RhinoRank is the go-to company for this type of link acquisition tactic. They do all the hard labor, reaching out to several webmasters to secure backlinks for its clients in existing content on those webmasters’ domains:
Not only will RhinoRank reach out to webmasters, they’ll take it a step further by ensuring those links are weaved naturally with the right anchor text.
RhinoRank serves over 200 companies and SEO agencies globally.
The price of each curated link generated for customers by RhinoRank starts from $35.
5 Characteristics that Make a Great Link-Building Company
For each link-building strategy and company recommended above, you’ll find hundreds, if not thousands, of others promising the same things.
So, what characteristics make a great link-building company if you wanted to find an ideal company to work with and do your own due diligence?
Let’s look at the most significant ones.
1. A Holistic SEO Implementation Process that Includes Link-Building
Link-building is a crucial part of SEO, but it is not a silver bullet. On its own, it won’t drive traffic and help you generate leads.
You can amass links, but if the search engines don’t trust those links or the content being linked to, those efforts amount to nothing.
Thus, an essential characteristic of great link-building companies is to have a holistic SEO program with all the bolts and nuts, including content creation, promotion, and link acquisition.
2. An Impressive Client Portfolio
An excellent way to judge the processes and expertise of a company is via its client portfolio.
Thus, as other companies with hands-on experience would do, the top link-building companies have the characteristic of displaying their ability to generate backlinks by showing off a portfolio of clients they’ve helped to get backlinks.
3. Thought leadership
The best link-building companies aren’t just great at acquiring backlinks.
They also have the characteristic of sharing all their learnings on their way to helping themselves and other companies generate high-quality backlinks.
You want a team that knows the best strategies and tactics that work today.
For example, if you Google “link-building Neil Patel,” you’ll find my in-depth guides.
4. Real Life Testimonials
A good criterion for determining if a link-building company is among the very best is to look at their customer testimonials.
Thus, a characteristic you’ll find with the top link-building companies in the world are real-life testimonials, highlighting what customers say about working with them.
5. A Diversified Team
One person can write a guest post and send you a few links. But you’ll need a diversified team of experts to execute more strategic and extensive link-building campaigns.
As we’ve shown you, the best link-building companies excel at planning and executing these bigger, more effective link acquisition strategies.
And to do that, they usually work with a team of diversified experts, which you can look up to as one of their characteristics:
What to Expect from a Great Link-Building Company
If you take on the services of a link-building company, you judge them by their ability to get you links. It’s that simple.
However, there’s a wide gap between contacting a company and getting those juicy links.
So, what should you expect if you decide to work with any of the link-building companies reviewed above?
1. A discovery session
Your business needs are different from those of others, and so would your link-building needs. Thus, the link acquisition strategies that worked for one site won’t work for yours automatically.
The best link-building companies have experience generating links for different organizations. Thus, they don’t jump straight into sending you proposals.
Instead, they start the process of helping to customize a strategy for your business by allowing you to share your exact business needs over a discovery session.
2. Research & strategic recommendations
Once you’ve booked and discussed your business needs with a link-building company, the best ones take what you tell them and leverage their experience to conduct in-depth research.
After this research, you should receive a host of strategic link-building recommendations most suited to your business. Most companies would share this with you via email or over another discovery call.
3. A contract with project deliverables
Once everyone decides that the project is a good fit, it’s time to get a contract in place.
Deliverables, deadlines, resources required, and budget should all clearly be outlined in detail.
4. Client onboarding
The next thing to expect from a top link-building is an onboarding process. It sets the stage for working with you to achieve your link acquisition and related business goals.
Depending on your work scope, you’ll need to bring on your in-house staff and share your website, blog, analytics, etc. with the company.
This onboarding process also establishes an understanding of how the company would manage your project.
Link-Building Isn’t a One-Time Activity
Unfortunately, link building isn’t a one-off project. I wish it was.
But links decay, pages decay, and Google’s always looking for freshness.
You’ll need ongoing links to keep your site at the top of the rankings.
This is the main reason why companies try to get help. It’s exhausting trying to do it yourself all the time.
However you decide to do it, treat link-building as an ongoing, long-term activity that’s a core part of your SEO strategy.
Credit risk analysts at emerging market banks not only need high-quality data, but also the necessary tools to manage it. Improving consistency and reducing the risk of errors in credit risk data create more time to concentrate on the core activity of analysis
Traveling isn’t hard right? I mean, you just jump in your automobile of choice and hit the road. It’s a whole lot easier however, if you map out your trip. The same is true of building better credit. It isn’t hard, but it is easier if you map out the steps you need to take first .
If you are going on a trip, you map out your route, right? You plan your stops along the way. You research potential roadblocks, and you estimate the time you will arrive at your destination. The same things need to happen when working on building better credit.
You Can Be Successful at Building Better Credit; You Just Have to Know the Steps
Before you can map out your route, you have to know where you are and where you are going. Sometimes, especially when flying, the best route is from an airport other than the one closest to you. You have to be sure you start from the right spot. That is the first step in building better credit for your business as well.
Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.
Building Better Credit: The Starting Point
Of course, the best place to start is from the beginning. This isn’t always possible however. Sometimes, you have to backtrack. Take stock of your surroundings and determine where you are, versus where you need to be to get the best start.
That sounds complicated, but it isn’t really. Fundability is key. If your business is already fundable, you are set. If not, then you have a little extra work to do, but you can do it. We’ll show you how. The first thing to do is take stock and ensure your business is fundable.
What is Fundability?
This step is much easier to take if you understand exactly what fundability is. Fundability is, for our purposes, how desirable an entity is for funding. When we want to talk about building business credit, we mean funding from creditors. Some things that make you appear fundable you can control. Somethings you cannot control. For example, you can control whether your business has its own separate contact information. However, you cannot control the length of time you have been in business. You have to work with what you can control.
Building Better Credit: Checklist for Fundability
Okay, so the first step in mapping out the steps to building business credit is to check the fundability of your business. This includes more than you may think. Of course, it is related to the financial standing of your business, like whether or not you can pay back debt. However, many businesses are turned down for business credit not because they cannot repay the debt, but because of fraud concerns.
Making sure your business is set up as a separate, fundable entity that is separate from the owner will not only help with this, but it will also ensure that business credit accounts are reported properly. This too is a big part of building business credit. So, let’s get to it. Here is your business fundability checklist.
Business Fundability Checklist
This is like tuning up your car before a trip. You need to work down the list to ensure everything is in working order. The first things to check off the list are related to how your business is set up:
Formally incorporated as an LLC, S-corp, or corporation
Separate business bank account
If you set your business up in this way when you first opened, you’re good. If not, you may need to backtrack to get things how they need to be.
The next steps have to do with the information that is out there on your business both online and offline.
Make certain all licenses, insurance, public records, and anything else related to your business are recorded with the proper information. This includes the business phone number and address as well as the EIN. Everything needs to be in the business name, and all contact information has to be in the business 411-directory.
Have a professional website. Lenders may or may not research your business before approving a loan, but if they do, having a poorly put together website or no website at all will not bode well for your chances.
Make sure you have a dedicated business email address that has the same URL as your website.
Get a D-U-N-S number. If you do not have one, you will not have a credit profile with Dun &Bradstreet. Since they are the largest and most commonly used business credit reporting agency, you need to have a profile with them. That means you must have the number.
Where Do You Stand?
At this point you see you are either in good shape, or you have some work to do. The next step, if you need to get yourself in a position more useful for building business credit, is to do whatever you need to do to take care of those items listed above. Once you are good there, move on to the rest of the checklist.
Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.
Building Better Credit: Fundability Checklist Part 2
Evaluate the following and see where you stand.
Make Sure You are Turning a Profit, or at Least Have a Plan to Do So
Lenders aren’t in the business of giving handouts. Rather, they need to know you can pay back the funds they lend you. Thus, if you are bleeding funds, you are going to have a hard time getting approval.
How do you turn it around? Do some financial triage. Look for ways to cut expenses. Do you need to close a location, cut some hours, or explore other options? Maybe leaning harder on your clients with unpaid invoices would help.
Have a Plan for Borrowed Funds
Lenders will want to see that you have a clear strategy for how you intend to use the funds they lend you. First of all, they want you to demonstrate you will be responsible with their money. In addition, they also want to know how you will use the money they give you to make more money.
Why is this important to building better credit? You need accounts reporting to the business CRAs. To do this, you will have to use vendor and retail credit. They will not ask how you intend to use the funds, but you need to have a clear idea of how you are using the funds to build your business other than for building credit.
Here’s what I mean. You will need to get a business credit card that will report to the business CRAs. You will need to charge things on that card. What you do not want to do is charge things on that card that you do not need or will not benefit your business at all.
Check Your Growth Strategy
If you do not have a plan for success, you will not appear fundable to lenders. They’ll want to see that you have a clear strategy for taking your business all the way.
Building Better Credit: Mapping the Route
Okay, so you’re all tuned up and ready to hit the road. Now you need to check your route. It can be tempting to take the most direct route, but often that is not the best route. When building credit, it can seem that simply using your personal credit is the best way. It’s not. You can’t just willy nilly start applying for business credit cards though either. You’ll get denied, and that won’t do you any good.
We know the best route, and while it doesn’t appear to be the fastest, it is. This is because it is really the only route. The others are viciously misleading and will not take you where you want to go.
Building Better Credit: The Vendor Credit Tier
This route to building business credit travels across what we like to call the credit tiers. The idea is that you get accounts reporting in tiers, so that they can build on each other. You have to do it in order, because if you apply to a higher credit tier first, you will not have strong enough credit to get approval.
The first of these tiers is the vendor credit tier. Here is why it is the best way to start building business credit. This tier is made up of retailers that will extend net 30 terms without even checking your credit. Not only that, but they will report your payments on these invoices to the business credit reporting agencies. This is how you get positive accounts reporting on your credit report before you actually have a credit score. Find a few to get started with here.
As you get more and more of these accounts reporting, you credit will grow stronger and stronger. If you want to work toward building better business credit even faster, consider talking to those you already have a relationship with. Sometimes vendors you already work with will extend credit without a credit check. You can also ask utilities, telephone companies, and your landlord to report payments you make to them. They don’t have to, but some will if you ask.
Building Better Credit: The Retail Credit Tier
Once there are 5 to 8 or more vendor trade accounts reporting to at least one of the CRAs, then you can move on down the road to the retail credit tier. These companies are retailers also, but they do not extend credit so easily as those in the vendor credit tier. They include those retailers that issue credit cards that can only be used at their own stores such as Office Depot, Staples, and Lowes.
For example, Lowes reports to D&B, Equifax, and Business Experian. They want to see a D-U-N-S and a PAYDEX score of 78 or more. You cannot get that 78 PAYDEX without accounts first reporting to the CRAs. That’s why you have to hit the vendor credit tier first.
Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.
Building Better Credit: The Fleet Credit Tier
After 8 to 10 accounts are reporting from the retail credit tier, you can follow the route to the fleet credit tier. It includes companies like BP and Conoco that limit the expenses their cards can be used for. Fleet credit cards can only be used for fuel and vehicle repair and maintenance cost.
The Final Destination: The Cash Credit Tier
The final destination along the route to building better business credit is the cash credit tier. These are those credit cards with higher limits, lower rates, and nice rewards that do not limit the place they can be used or the type of expense they can be used to pay. If you stay on the path, you should reach this destination with no problem.
Staying on the path means, of course, that you handle your credit responsibly and make your payments on time. You also need to monitor your progress along the way, and make sure nothing is slowing you down.
Building Better Credit: Monitoring
Know what is happening with your credit. Make sure it is being reported and attend to any mistakes as soon as possible. We can help you monitor business credit at Experian and D&B for only $24/month. Go to www.creditsuite.com/monitoring to find out more. You can also monitor with the CRAs directly, but it will cost considerably more.
You are looking for a few things when monitoring your business credit. First, you want to see that each of your accounts are reporting payments. If they aren’t, contact them to find out why. Next, you want to make sure all of the information is correct. If you see a mistake, send a letter to the reporting agency in writing, along with copies of backup documentation.
Lastly, you need to see how many accounts are reporting so that you will know when it is time to start applying for cards in the next credit tier. This will save you a lot of time, because you will not be applying for cards for which you cannot yet get approval.
The Path to Building Better Credit is Wide Open if You Know Which Direction to Go
Building better credit is possible if you know the steps. Once you make sure your business is set up properly to begin building business credit, you have the whole road open to you. Along the way, as you are working, you can take any other steps necessary to ensure your business is fundable. When the time comes to apply for loans, you will be set because you will have built the best business credit score possible for your business.
Building business credit, step by step, is not as hard as it may seem at first glance. It is, however, a process. There are specific steps that must be taken. These steps must be taken in order. You can’t wrap a gift before you buy it, or even buy it before you know who you are buying for. During holiday seasons, you have to make a gift list. Then you work from that list marking items or people off as you go. The same is true for business credit. You must take specific credit building steps, in order. What are the steps?
10 Steps for Building Business Credit Step by Step
When making your holiday gift list, you not only need to know who to put on the list, but a little something about each one. You have to know something about what they like, dislike, what size they wear, and more to have any inkling of what might make a nice gift for them.
Similarly, before you start working through building business credit step by step, you need to understand what business credit is and why you need it. For example, small business credit is credit in a company’s name. It doesn’t link to an entrepreneur’s personal credit. This means, a business owner’s business and consumer credit scores can be very different.
Why do you need it? Why is personal credit not enough? There are a few reasons. First, because company credit is distinct from personal, it helps to protect a small business owner’s personal assets in the event of legal action or business bankruptcy.
In addition, consumer credit scores depend on payments, but also various other elements like credit utilization percentages. That means if your balances hover close to your limits on a regular basis, your score will suffer regardless of whether you make the payments you are supposed to. Business expenses are higher by nature, meaning if you use personal credit for them your balances are naturally going to be higher. The result will likely be a higher credit utilization ratio and lower personal credit score.
Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.
Now that you know what business credit is and why you need it, it’s time to start making your list so you know what steps to take, and in what order.
Step 1 in Building Business Credit Step by Step: Separate Contact Information
It is tempting for new business owners to simply use their own contact information. It’s easy and its free. However, this will not work for business credit building purposes. If you get credit accounts in your business name, but they have your personal contact information, those accounts are going to report information to your personal credit report. Your business needs its own phone number and business address.
Don’t worry, even if you run your business from your home or your home computer, you do not have to buy another building or even a separate phone. There are a ton of online options for VoIP phone numbers that will forward to an existing number. There are even virtual offices that offer a physical mailing address along with other, optional features. These may include messaging services, live receptionist services, meeting facilities, and more.
Be sure to list business information in the 411-business directory. Do that here.
Step 2 in Building Business Credit Step by Step: Get an EIN
If you apply for credit using your SSN, those accounts will report to your personal credit regardless of what name, address, or telephone number you use. You can get an EIN from the IRS that works the same way an SSN does, but for your business. Use your EIN to apply for credit in your business name instead of your SSN.
Step 3 In Building Business Credit Step by Step: Formally Incorporate
You have to incorporate. There are many reasons to do this. However, the main purpose when building business credit is to create a definitive separation between yourself and your business. There are a few options.
C Corp
This is the most complicated and expensive option. Before choosing it, be certain there are reasons other than establishing business credit that it needs to be done. If it isn’t necessary for some other reason, there are other less complicated and less costly options.
S Corp
This option basically offers the same separation as the C Corp, but taxes are paid at the personal level, rather than requiring the business to be taxed as well. That avoids the double taxation that corporations have. It is also cheaper than incorporating as a C Corp. If you aren’t required to file as a C corp, this is a good alternative.
LLC
Forming a Limited Liability Corporation results in less liability, but still offers enough separation to serve the purpose of establishing business credit. If you are not required to be a C Corp or S Corp, this is the easiest and most cost-effective way to create the separation of business and personal credit needed.
Step 4 in Building Business Credit Step by Step: Get a D-U-N-S Number
Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) is the largest and most widely used business credit reporting agency. You have to have the number to have a file with D&B. To have business credit, you definitely need a file with them. The number is free on the Dun & Bradstreet website, but they will try to upsell you. Stay strong and just get the number.
Step 5 in Building Business Credit Step by Step: Open a Separate Business Bank Account
Open up a separate, dedicated business bank account and use it exclusively for business transaction. Intermingling business and personal finances can cause a host of problems. Having a separate business bank account will help you keep things separate for tax purposes. It will also help creditors recognize your business as a separate entity from you as the owner.
Step 6 in Building Business Credit Step by Step: Professional Website and Email Address
You might think there is no way this should matter when it comes to the steps to building business credit. However, if you do not have a website in today’s business world, you might as well not exist. Just having a website isn’t enough though. It has to be professionally designed and put together. Don’t use free hosting either. Pay for hosting with a company like GoDaddy. Free hosting is not professional.
The email address goes along with the other contact information. Don’t share your personal address with your business, but don’t use a free email service either. Your business email address needs to have the same URL as your website.
Step 7 in Building Business Credit Step by Step: Establish Tradelines in the Vendor Credit Tier
Also known as starter vendors, these are the businesses from which you purchase the things you use day to day in your business. It may be inventory, raw materials, office supplies, or any number of things. They offer net 30 terms on invoices. After you pay, they report those payments to the business credit reporting agencies. This is how you get accounts initially reporting to your business credit report and start building your score.
Step 8 in Building Business Credit Step by Step: Apply for Cards in the Retail Credit Tier
Once there are 5 to 8 or more vendor trade accounts reporting to at least one of the CRAs, you can start to apply for cards in the retail credit tier. These are cards from stores like Office Depot and Staples. In this tier, you can only use the cards in the stores that issue them.
There are several options that report to various credit reporting agencies. For example, Lowe’s reports to D&B, Equifax and Business Experian. They want to see a D-U-N-S and a PAYDEX score of 78 or more. If you have handled your vendor credit properly, this will be no problem.
Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.
Step 9 in Building Business Credit Step by Step: Move on to The Fleet Credit Tier
After there are 10 or so of these accounts reporting you can apply for cards in the fleet credit tier. These come from companies like BP and Conoco. They are limited to use for fuel and vehicle maintenance expenses.
Shell is another example of a company in this tier. They report to D&B and Business Experian. You need a PAYDEX Score of 78 or more and a 411-business phone listing. They sometimes want a certain amount of time in business or minimum revenue. However, if you already have enough credit, that won’t be necessary. If you follow these steps in order and handle your credit responsibly, you will have the credit you need to get approval.
Step 10 in Building Business Credit Step by Step: The Bow on Top is The Cash Credit Tier
At this point, if you have used your credit wisely, you can apply for cards in the cash credit tier. They include cards from Visa, Discover, MasterCard and others that are not limited by location or type of expense. Typically, they have higher limits and lower interest rates.
The Gift that Keeps on Giving: Monitor Your Business Credit
Your business credit can continue to help you run and grow your business indefinitely. However, you are going to want to keep an eye on it. Make sure it is being reported and fix any mistakes as soon as possible. Not only that, but monitoring your credit reports is the only way to know when you have enough accounts reporting to move on to the next credit tier.
We can help you monitor business credit at Experian and D&B for 90% less than it would cost you at the CRAs. See: www.creditsuite.com/monitoring.
You didn’t go through the trouble of building business credit step by step for nothing. Don’t let simple mistakes ruin all your hard work. Errors in your credit report(s) can be taken care of. There is a particular way each reporting agency wants it done however.
Disputing credit report mistakes usually means you mail a paper letter with copies of any proof of payment with it. These are documents like receipts and cancelled checks. Never mail the original copies. Always mail copies and retain the originals.
Fixing credit report mistakes requires that you precisely detail any charges you challenge. Make your dispute letter as clear as possible. Be specific about the problems with your report. Use certified mail to have proof that you sent in your dispute.
Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.
Now that you have a list of the steps you need to take to build business credit, you can start checking items off. A lot of this you may have already taken care of. Some of it you may have thought it was too late to accomplish. For example, maybe you thought it was too late to worry about an address or phone number if you are already in operation using your own.
While many of these steps are easier to take while you are initially setting up your business, it is never too late to start building business credit step by step. Start making that list and checking things off today. The sooner you start, the sooner you will have access to the business funding you need.
The key to building business successfully is to set your business up for success in the beginning. Everyone knows that the key to building anything strong is to have a solid foundation, and the same is true of building a business.
Building Business Means Setting Up a Strong Foundation and Following Through
No one wants to go back to the beginning to build a foundation. It is always best to take the extra time to build a solid foundation on the front end. That usually takes some extra work and more than a few extra steps. While it’s true that building business is not for the faint of heart, this extra work is always worth it. Here is how to begin setting up your business for success.
Building Business: It’s all in the Plan
Not only is a business plan necessary when it comes to getting business loans, but it is necessary to the day to day operations of your business as well. Virtually all successful entrepreneurs will tell you that a major key to success is to plan to work and work the plan.
Most traditional lenders are going to need to see a business plan as part of the loan application process. Truthfully, it’s best to hire a professional business plan writer if possible. They can work with you to get all the necessary information and put it together in the traditional format.
If you cannot hire a business plan writer however, there other options. The Small Business Administration offers a template, and your local small business development center may also be able to help.
Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.
For a business plan to be taken seriously by a lender, it needs to include the following:
A Strong Opening
An Executive Summary
This is a complete summary of the business idea.
Description
The description goes into further detail than the summary, describing the business. This is where you work to build excitement about your business.
Strategies
Layout your plan for getting started. Do you have a marketing plan, area in mind for location, or idea of how many employees you will start with? What is your ramp up plan?
Market Research
Market Analysis
This actually includes two parts. All that market research you did goes here:
Analysis of audience
What need will your business fill, and for who? Are you a child care facility filling a need for affordable child care for working moms? Are you an eatery filling a need for a lunch spot for those working downtown? How will your business fill the need? All of that information goes in this section.
Competitive Analysis
Is there already a business working to fill this need? Is there room for more? How do you plan to compete with them?
If you are not a new business, this will be a market analysis that supports your need for funding, or that shows your business is strong and growing.
The Plan
Plan for Design and Development
How is all of this going to play out, from start to finish. What steps are you going to take? This is more detailed than your strategies section.
Plan for Operation and Management
Who will own or does own the business and who will run or currently runs it from day to day. This could be as simple as stating that you are the sole owner and operator, or as complicated as laying out a complete partnership plan or board or directors’ format. It just depends on how your business works.
Financials
Financial Information
This section includes current financials, projections, and a budget plan for the loan funds you are applying for. Lenders need to see that you know how to handle the funds you get, and that you have a plan to pay them back.
Working the Plan
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking the official business plan is only for lenders to help you get loan approval. It isn’t. Your business plan should be a useable, practical tool that you can follow and refer back to. That is key to building business. Are sales down? Refer to your plan. Struggling with cash flow? What does the plan say? Work the plan you worked so hard on and trust the process. Also, remember to revisit the plan occasionally even if things are going well to look for ways to improve it, or adjust it if necessary.
Building Business: Licenses
Do you need a business license? What type of license do you need? Ask yourself these questions and find the answers to begin building business on a solid foundation.
Which Types of Business Licenses Do You Need?
If a federal agency regulates your business activities, you will need a federal license. The Small Business Administration lists the following industries as needing a federal license.
Agriculture
Alcoholic beverages
Aviation
Firearms, ammunition, and explosives
Fish and wildlife
Commercial fisheries
Maritime transportation
Mining and drilling
Nuclear energy
Radio and television broadcasting
Transportation and logistics
The SBA also has a wealth of other information you need to know for starting your business, from help writing a business plan to finding funding.
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Building Business: What Funding Options are Available
There are a number of funding options available to help you when building business. Which one you choose will depend on a number of variables. It’s likely the best option will be some combination of the many possibilities, including how fundable your business is. We break them down for you below.
Traditional Term Loans
These are the loans from traditional lenders such as banks and credit unions. As a business, your business credit score can help you get some types of funding even if your personal score isn’t awesome. That isn’t necessarily the case with this type of funding however.
With a traditional lender term loan, you are almost always going to have to give a personal guarantee. This means they will check your personal credit. You will need a personal credit score of 700 or higher to gain approval usually, with the best terms and rates coming at 750 or higher.
Of all of the available business funding types, this is the hardest to get, but is also typically the option with the lowest interest rates and most reasonable terms.
SBA Loans
These are traditional bank loans, but they have a guarantee from the federal government. The Small Business Administration works with lenders to offer small business loans that they may not be able to get otherwise based on their credit history. Because of the government guarantee, lenders are able to relax a little on the personal credit score requirements.
In fact, it is possible to get an SBA micro-loan with a personal credit score between 620 and 640. These are very small loans, up to $50,000. Personal collateral is also usually a requirement.
The trade-off with SBA loans is that the application process is long and involved.
Business Line of Credit
This is basically the traditional lender’s version of a business credit card. The credit is revolving, meaning you only pay back what you use, just like a credit card. However, rates are typically much better than a credit card. The application and approval process is similar to that of a traditional term loan.
If you need revolving credit and can qualify for a term loan, this is a good option. It is great for bridging cash gaps and covering short term expenses without the high credit card interest rates.
There are no cash back rewards or loyalty points. This makes some business owners prefer business credit cards despite higher interest rates.
Invoice Factoring
If you are an established business with accounts receivable, then you might consider invoice factoring. This is where the lender buys your outstanding invoices at a premium, and then collects the full amount themselves. You get cash right away, without waiting for your customers to pay the invoices.
This is a good option if you need cash fast. It can also work if you do not qualify for other funding types. The interest rate varies based on the age of the receivables.
Non-Traditional Lenders
These are private lenders, not traditional banks and credit unions, that offer terms loans. Usually they operate online. The difference between these and traditional lenders is that the loans have looser approval requirement and a much faster application process. Most often you can simply apply online, get approval in as little as 24 hours, and the funds are in your account within 24 to 48 hours after approval.
These are an option if your personal credit isn’t terrible and you need money quickly.
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Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is a newer option for finding investors. While the average Joe that wants to start a business needs funding, it is not always possible to find one or two large investors. With crowdfunding, you can literally have a crowd of investors fund your business in $5 and $10 increments.
There are many crowdfunding sites, but Indiegogo and Kickstarter are the most popular. The platforms are similar but there are some important differences. The most obvious is the timing of when you actually receive the funds that other invest in your company.
These are typically offered by professional organizations. There are some government grants available also. Competition can be stiff, but they are definitely worth applying for if you think you may qualify.
While requirements vary from grant to grant, and most are only awarded to a certain number of recipients, this is an option is worth looking into if you fall into one of these basic categories.
Women owned business
Minority owned business
Businesses run by veterans
Businesses in low income areas
There are also some corporations that offer grants in a contest format that do not require much other than that you meet the corporation’s definition of a small business and win the contest.
Business Credit Cards
These get a bad rap, but in lieu of another option, they aren’t a bad option. The draw is that they are available to most, even if their credit score that isn’t awesome. The catch is, the lower the credit score, the higher the interest rate. Also, there are limits on how low they will go with a credit score.
However, this is one type of funding that most of the general public is eligible for at any given time. They do a credit check, but your credit doesn’t have to be as high as it would be to gain approval for a traditional loan.
The downside of business credit cards is that they typically have a high interest rate. The upside is that many of them offer rewards in the form of cash or points that can be helpful.
Building Business: Marketing
Once you have your foundation set, you have to actually build up the business. That means getting others to buy whatever you are selling. Marketing is a term used for getting your product and service out there for others to see.
The number one beginner tip for marketing is to know who you are marketing to. You need to know what types of people will be buying your product so that you know how to convince them they need it. This step was probably taken care of in the marketing section of your business plan.
How you market will vary based on your budget, but these days social media marketing is huge. It’s a lower cost option than traditional television and news print, yet highly effective. If you can get just one post to go viral, you’ve done something. Get people talking about your product on social media and your marketing could basically be done for you, depending on what you are selling.
Of course, there is still a place for, and even a need for, traditional marketing when building business. Generally speaking, the best bet is to hire a professional to handle all aspects of marketing.
Building Business: Networking
This is an aspect of building business that so many do not really think about until after the fact. It can have a huge impact though. Of course, these days, as with marketing, much networking is done online through social media channels. There is something to be said for face to face connections however.
While much of your business may be run online, limiting face to face interaction, take some time to consider ways to connect locally. There could be those that need your services or product right in your area. Try joining your local chamber of commerce. They typically have events like business after hours that support this type of networking.
Building Business Isn’t Hard, but it Does Take Work
Building a successful business takes a lot of hard work and a lot of luck. Things can go wrong, even if you do everything right. You have to have a business plan, find funding, nail marketing, and work at networking. However, if you set yourself up for success in the beginning, work hard, and don’t lose momentum, you may end up with something fabulous.
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