Stop! Before You Borrow, Check Out Our Fundera Review for Better Recession Funding

Recession Age Funding

The number of American banks as well as thrifts has been decreasing slowly for a quarter of a century. This is from consolidation in the marketplace in addition to deregulation in the 1990s, reducing barriers to interstate banking. See: fundera.com/blog/happened-americas-small-businesses-financial-crisis-six-years-start-crisis-look-back-10-charts. Assets concentrated in ever‐larger banks is problematic for small business proprietors. Big banks are much less likely to make small loans. Economic slumps indicate banks become more careful with lending. Luckily, business credit does not rely upon banks. That’s why we’re offering our Fundera review.

Looking for Funding? You Need to Read Our Fundera Review

Fundera is an online lending company. They offer small business loans with a variety of options. They also have SBA loans and equipment financing, among other financing options. We look at the specifics and drill down into the details of Fundera online lending.

Background

Fundera is located online here: https://www.fundera.com/. Their physical address is:

123 William Street, 21st Floor

New York NY 10038.

You can call them here: (800) 386-3372. You can email them at: support@fundera.com. Fundera is financed by Khosla Ventures; SGE Susquehanna Growth Equity, LLC; Core Innovation Capital; First Round; and QED Investors.

Fundera Review: SBA Loans

Most companies approved had four or more years in business. Most business owners approved had 680 or better credit scores. And most companies approved had $180,000 in annual revenue. Loan amounts run from $5,000 – 5 million, with 5 – 25 year terms. You can get funding in as little as 2 weeks. However, they may require collateral.

Fees

Their interest rates start at 6%.

Fundera Review: Term Loans

Most companies approved had three or more years’ time in business. Most business owners approved had a credit score of 680 or better. And most companies approved had $300,000 or more in annual revenue. $25,000 – 500,000 is available. Terms are 1 – 5 years. It is as little as 2 days to approval.

Fees

Their interest rates range from 7 – 30%, and there are possible prepayment penalties.

Fundera Review: Equipment Financing

Most companies approved had been in business for two or more years. Most business owners approved had a credit score of 630 or better. And most companies approved had $130,000 or more in annual revenue. Your loan amount up is to 100% of equipment value. The term is the expected life of the equipment, and the equipment serves as the collateral. You can get approval in as little as 2 days.

Fees

Interest rates range from 8 – 30%. Equipment depreciation may be required; this cuts into tax deductions.

Fundera Review: Business Lines of Credit

Most companies approved had been in business for a year or more. Most business owners approved had a credit score of 630 or better. And most companies approved had $180,000 or more in annual revenue. $10,000 to over $1 million in funding is available, with 6 months to 5 years terms. Approval is in as little as one day.

Fees

Interest rates range from 7 – 25%. However, they may require collateral. There are higher rates for lower credit scores.

Fundera Review: Invoice Financing

Most companies approved had been in business for one year or more. Most business owners approved had a credit score of 600 or better. And most companies approved had $130,000 or more in annual revenue. The maximum advance is equivalent to 100% of the total amount of invoice. Approval is in as little as one day.

Fees

Get a fast advance of about 85% of the value of invoices. Most of the other 15% is paid later. The factor fee is 3% + %/week outstanding. These fees are based on the time it takes for a customer to pay off the invoice.

Fundera Review: Advantages

Advantages include several flexible options. And some of them can get an approval with rather low minimum FICO scores. This choice makes Fundera an option for entrepreneurs who do not have stellar credit. You can also get some forms of funding with fairly low annual revenues. Companies with comparably low annual revenue could get approvals for startup loans and personal loans for business.

Fundera Review: Disadvantages

Disadvantages include your fees are based on how fast your customer pays, so any deadbeat customers will cost you.

An Alternative: Building Business Credit

Small business credit is credit in a small business’s name. It doesn’t attach to an entrepreneur’s personal credit, not even if the owner is a sole proprietor and the only employee of the business.

As a result, an entrepreneur’s business and individual credit scores can be very different. And it is vital in a poor economy.

The Benefits

Since small business credit is separate from personal, it helps to secure an entrepreneur’s personal assets, in case of a lawsuit or business bankruptcy.

Also, with two distinct credit scores, a business owner can get two different cards from the same merchant. This effectively doubles buying power.

Another advantage is that even startup businesses can do this. Going to a bank for a business loan can be a recipe for frustration. But building business credit, when done right, is a plan for success.

Consumer credit scores are dependent on payments but also additional factors like credit utilization percentages.

But for company credit, the scores really just hinge on whether a small business pays its debts in a timely manner.

Learn business loan secrets with our free, sure-fire guide. We can help you get money, even during a recession.

The Process

Growing small business credit is a process, and it does not occur without effort. A small business must proactively work to build business credit.

That being said, it can be done easily and quickly, and it is much quicker than establishing personal credit scores.

Vendors are a big aspect of this process.

Accomplishing the steps out of order will cause repetitive rejections. No one can start at the top with business credit. For instance, you can’t start with retail or cash credit from your bank. If you do, you’ll get a rejection 100% of the time.

Business Fundability

A business must be fundable to lenders and vendors.

That’s why, a small business will need a professional-looking website and e-mail address. And it needs to have website hosting bought from a supplier like GoDaddy.

In addition, company telephone numbers must have a listing on ListYourself.com.

In addition, the business telephone number should be toll-free (800 exchange or the like).

A business will also need a bank account devoted strictly to it, and it has to have all of the licenses essential for operating.

Licenses

These licenses all must be in the identical, correct name of the small business. And they need to have the same business address and telephone numbers.

So keep in mind, that this means not just state licenses, but possibly also city licenses.

Learn business loan secrets with our free, sure-fire guide. We can help you get money, even during a recession.

Working with the IRS

Visit the IRS web site and acquire an EIN for the business. They’re free. Choose a business entity like corporation, LLC, etc.

A small business can get started as a sole proprietor. But they will most likely want to change to a form of corporation or an LLC.

This is in order to decrease risk. And it will maximize tax benefits.

A business entity will matter when it pertains to tax obligations and liability in the event of a lawsuit. A sole proprietorship means the business owner is it when it comes to liability and taxes. Nobody else is responsible.

Sole Proprietors Take Note

If you operate a company as a sole proprietor, then at the very least be sure to file for a DBA. This is ‘doing business as’ status.

If you do not, then your personal name is the same as the small business name. Consequently, you can end up being personally responsible for all business financial obligations.

And also, per the IRS, using this arrangement there is a 1 in 7 probability of an IRS audit. There is a 1 in 50 chance for corporations! Prevent confusion and drastically decrease the odds of an Internal Revenue Service audit at the same time.

But never look at a DBA filing as ever being anything beyond a steppingstone to incorporating.

Instigating the Business Credit Reporting Process

Start at the D&B web site and get a totally free D-U-N-S number. A D-U-N-S number is how D&B gets a company in their system, to generate a PAYDEX score. If there is no D-U-N-S number, then there is no record and no PAYDEX score.

Once in D&B’s system, search Equifax and Experian’s websites for the business. You can do this at www.creditsuite.com/reports. If there is a record with them, check it for accuracy and completeness. If there are no records with them, go to the next step in the process.

By doing this, Experian and Equifax will have something to report on.

Vendor Credit Tier

First you should establish trade lines that report. This is also known as the vendor credit tier. Then you’ll have an established credit profile, and you’ll get a business credit score.

And with an established business credit profile and score you can begin to obtain credit in the retail and cash credit tiers.

These kinds of accounts often tend to be for the things bought all the time, like marketing materials, shipping boxes, outdoor work wear, ink and toner, and office furniture.

But first of all, what is trade credit? These trade lines are credit issuers who will give you preliminary credit when you have none now. Terms are often Net 30, versus revolving.

Therefore, if you get approval for $1,000 in vendor credit and use all of it, you will need to pay that money back in a set term, such as within 30 days on a Net 30 account.

Details

Net 30 accounts need to be paid in full within 30 days. 60 accounts have to be paid fully within 60 days. In contrast to with revolving accounts, you have a set time when you have to pay back what you borrowed or the credit you used.

To launch your business credit profile the proper way, you should get approval for vendor accounts that report to the business credit reporting agencies. When that’s done, you can then make use of the credit.

Then pay back what you used, and the account is on report to Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, or Equifax.

Vendor Credit Tier – It Makes Sense

Not every vendor can help like true starter credit can. These are vendors that will grant an approval with negligible effort. You also need them to be reporting to one or more of the big three CRAs: Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax, and Experian.

You want 5 to 8 of these to move onto the next step, which is the retail credit tier. But you may have to apply more than one time to these vendors. So, this is to demonstrate you are dependable and will pay in a timely manner.

Retail Credit Tier

Once there are 5 to 8 or more vendor trade accounts reporting to at least one of the CRAs, then move to the retail credit tier. These are companies like Office Depot and Staples.

Only use your SSN and date of birth on these applications for verification purposes. For credit checks and guarantees, use the small business’s EIN on these credit applications.

One instance is Lowe’s. They report to D&B, Equifax and Business Experian. They need to see a D-U-N-S and a PAYDEX score of 78 or more.

Fleet Credit Tier

Are there 8 to 10 accounts reporting? Then move onto the fleet credit tier. These are companies such as BP and Conoco. Use this credit to purchase fuel, and to repair, and take care of vehicles. Just use your SSN and date of birth on these applications for verification purposes. For credit checks and guarantees, make sure to apply using the company’s EIN.

One such example is Shell. They report to D&B and Business Experian. They want to see a PAYDEX Score of 78 or higher and a 411 business telephone listing.

Shell might claim they want a specific amount of time in business or profits. But if you already have adequate vendor accounts, that won’t be necessary. And you can still get approval.

Learn business loan secrets with our free, sure-fire guide. We can help you get money, even during a recession.

Cash Credit Tier

Have you been responsibly handling the credit you’ve up to this point? Then progress to the cash credit tier. These are businesses such as Visa and MasterCard. Only use your SSN and date of birth on these applications for verification purposes. For credit checks and guarantees, use your EIN instead.

One such example is the Fuelman MasterCard. They report to D&B and Equifax Business. They need to see a PAYDEX Score of 78 or higher. And they also want you to have 10 trade lines reporting on your D&B report.

Plus, they want to see a $10,000 high credit limit reporting on your D&B report (other account reporting).

In addition, they want you to have an established small business.

These are companies like Walmart and Dell, and also Home Depot, BP, and Racetrac. These are often MasterCard credit cards. If you have 14 trade accounts reporting, then these are in reach.

Monitor Your Business Credit

Know what is happening with your credit. Make certain it is being reported and deal with any inaccuracies as soon as possible. Get in the habit of taking a look at credit reports and digging into the particulars, and not just the scores.

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.

Update Your Data

Update the information if there are inaccuracies or the data is incomplete.

Fix Your Business Credit

So, what’s all this monitoring for? It’s to dispute any mistakes in your records. Mistakes in your credit report(s) can be taken care of. But the CRAs normally want you to dispute in a particular way.

Disputes

Disputing credit report mistakes typically means you mail a paper letter with copies of any proofs of payment with it. These are documents like receipts and cancelled checks. Never mail the original copies. Always mail copies and retain the original copies.

Fixing credit report errors also means you specifically itemize any charges you challenge. Make your dispute letter as understandable as possible. Be specific about the problems with your report. Use certified mail so that you will have proof that you sent in your dispute.

A Word about Building Business Credit

Always use credit responsibly! Don’t borrow more than what you can pay off. Monitor balances and deadlines for repayments. Paying punctually and in full will do more to increase business credit scores than just about anything else.

Building small business credit pays. Excellent business credit scores help a company get loans. Your lending institution knows the small business can pay its financial obligations. They know the company is bona fide.

The small business’s EIN attaches to high scores and credit issuers won’t feel the need to request a personal guarantee.

Business credit is an asset which can help your company for years to come.

Upshot

With fairly low annual revenue and minimum FICO score requirements, the Fundera online lender program is a good choice for newer businesses that haven’t quite gotten up to speed yet. However, because your company will be charged for deadbeat clients, even a startup will need to be certain their customers will pay on time.

And finally, as with every other lending program, whether online or offline, remember to read the fine print and do the math. Go over the details with care. Only you can decide if this option will be good for you and your company.

In addition, consider alternative financing options that go beyond lending. This includes building business credit. In a recession, you need to best decide how to get the money you need to help your business grow.

Today, we want to hear from our audience! Share your voice with us about your experiences with online lenders.

The post Stop! Before You Borrow, Check Out Our Fundera Review for Better Recession Funding appeared first on Credit Suite.

How to Get Startup Funding

Building a business is thankless, difficult work. Sometimes, you just wish you had a little breathing room.

Usually, business owners have an idea of how they’d like to scale and grow their business. The only problem? Capital. There’s just not enough money to drive the growth they’d like to see.

It’s around this time that some businesses start to consider startup funding. Access to more capital means implementing better growth tools, expanding the team, and generally making the journey to profitability much smoother.

All of this sounds great, but it brings up important questions: How on earth are you supposed to get startup funding? What kind of funding should you consider? Does your business need startup funding?

I’m going to demystify the topic of startup funding and help you understand your options when it comes to raising money for your business.

How Do I Get Startup Funding for My Business?

Right off the bat, we need to establish a few ground rules.

It’s important that you understand what “raising money” actually does to your business. You’re essentially doing one of two things.

When it comes to startup funding, you’re either trading money for equity or trading it for debt.

When the average business owner pictures startup funding, they’re usually thinking about equity. To put it simply, equity is when you trade a percentage of your business in exchange for capital.

That equity is based on the perceived value of your company, which means it’s vital that you have some established value before you walk into an investor meeting. Ideas are great, but trust me when I say that these venture capitalists and angel investors have heard it all before. You’re going to need solid numbers and data if you want a chance at their money.

Of course, if you don’t have the data to secure startup funding from an investor, you could always rely on debt.

I’m just going to come out and say it: Going into debt as a startup is almost always the wrong approach. Whether it’s bank loans or credit cards, those terrible interest rates will eat your business alive. As “Shark Tank” investor Mark Cuban himself says,

If you’re starting a business and you take out a loan, you’re a moron. There are so many uncertainties involved with starting a business yet the one certainty that you’ll have to have is paying back your loan.

All of this is vital to understand because it highlights the reality of startup funding. What you’re really doing is giving pieces of your business away in exchange for some cash. Think of it like you’re borrowing from your future self.

I bring this up because I’ve seen plenty of startups ask if they can raise money. Do you know what I don’t see? Startups asking if they even need to raise money.

Don’t get me wrong, if your startup ends up being as big as Facebook or Slack, you can probably afford to trade some equity to increase cash. But trading away pieces of your profits just to keep your business afloat won’t be the right path for everyone.

Before you continue down this path, you and your team need to sit down and establish your needs, as well as the potential risks and rewards associated with each form of startup funding.

Remember, every single startup is going to have different needs, different risk tolerances, and different definitions of success. Consider each of these startup funding options carefully and make informed decisions for your business. Your future self will thank you.

How Much Startup Funding Do I Need?

Before you start asking for investor money, it’s essential that you establish your startup costs and how much you’ll need to continue building your business.

Assuming your business already exists, you should have a clear idea of your current expenses. As your startup continues to grow, it’s vital that you consider how much money your expansion is going to cost.

How much will you need for your new offices? How many employees will you be hiring, and what will their salaries be? What’s your projected ad spend? These are just some of the questions that you’ll need to have answers before you receive a dime from investors.

If you’re struggling, the SBA has a great startup costs calculator you can use to simplify this process.

When we think of startup funding, we tend to think of massive sums of money with startups raising millions of dollars. A study by Babson College found that the average business was able to start up with just $15,000 of funding.

When it comes to startup funding, it’s not about raising as much money as humanly possible. The goal is to raise the money you need without giving away too much of your startup in the process. Here are some options to do that, starting with the most common when we think of “startup funding.”

Check Out Startup Series Funding

The concept of Series funding can get rather complex, so for now, we’re going to address the basics.

This type of funding is typically thought of in terms of rounds. Series A round, Series B round, and so on.

But before any of that, there are a few other rounds that take place. Startups don’t usually just go straight into Series A, although it is possible.

First, there’s the pre-seed funding. This is friends, family, and other people in your support network. Seed stage funding is next, and this is typically where equity funding official starts. Venture capitalists and angel investors are usually found here, and these rounds will raise anywhere from $10,000 to $2 million.

Next, we have Series A funding. As the potential for greater funding increases, so does the level of scrutiny your business gets put under. Monetization is key here. These rounds typically run from $2 million to $15 million.

The rounds can continue from here, with each letter representing both an expectation of growth, as well as a potential increase in access to capital for your business.

Find Investors for Your Startup

Let’s assume that you didn’t make it to “Shark Tank.” How are you supposed to find investors?

There are typically five ways to find investors. The first, which I’ve already covered, is friends and family.

From there, you can look at loans and grants, but those aren’t realistic for every business. The more common option explored by startups is private investors. If you’re looking for angel investors, the Angel Capital Association is worth checking out.

While angel investors are typically individuals with a high net worth looking to invest, venture capitalists are using investor money to fund your business. It seems like a slight difference, but the approach to funding is actually very different.

Angel investors are interested in working with you to maximize the potential of the business. Venture capitalists are usually looking to fund a business that’s already well-established. Choosing the right investor can and will have a massive impact on the future development of your business.

Bootstrap Your Own Startup

Funding your startup through personal savings is far from glamorous, but it’s still your smartest move.

Why? The less of your company you have to give away, the better. But there’s something else at work when you’re bootstrapping your startup.

You’re creating tangible data that’s going to make raising money significantly easier.

Think about it. Most startups walk into investor meetings with a poorly designed MVP, a flimsy proof of concept, and a massive ask. More importantly, none of them address the elephant in the room.

Investors don’t care about good ideas. Investors want something tangible. They’re not looking to gamble away their money. They want the best possible chance of maximizing their returns.

Now, imagine you walk in with a fully formed business. Suddenly, the conversations are different. You don’t have an underwhelming MVP, you have a product that converts.

You don’t have a weak proof of concept, you’ve already established real product/market fit. As far as funding goes, you’re able to bring more to the table because your business is already off the ground.

When you bootstrap successfully, you’re able to present a much more compelling investment opportunity, while putting yourself in a strong negotiating position. This means better deals for you and peace of mind for investors, who know that your business is likely to be a winner.

Take the time to bootstrap your business, for as long as you can. It might not be as exciting as getting millions of dollars, but a bootstrapped business is 100% yours, and that’s pretty exciting to me.

Look for Business Startup Loans

While I don’t think that business startup loans are the right option for most founders, there is a right way to handle them.

Let’s start with what you need to know. A startup loan can be as low as $500 or as high as $750,000. The higher your loan, the more heavily your business plan will be scrutinized.

As a bare minimum, you should expect to explain both how and when you plan to make money. From there, you’ll likely be asked to explain why you’re better than your competition, how much potential your market has, etc. With some lenders, you’ll be required to present collateral, in the event that you can no longer pay back the loan.

Repayment of these loans can range anywhere from one to five years. You can expect to pay between 8% and 17%, even if your credit is solid. It’s worth mentioning that while you’re repaying this loan, it will be significantly harder for your business to secure another type of funding. After all, investors don’t want to be involved with a business that’s still paying their way out of debt.

Really, there’s only one reason you’d ever take out a startup loan. In a perfect world, you’re doing this because your business is already successful, you don’t want to give up equity, and you have a clear repayment plan that doesn’t create an excessive burden on your business.

Get Startup Funding From Family and Friends

This one is a bit tricky. On the surface, it sounds fantastic. It has the perks of a startup loan, without any of the drawbacks. Your friends and family can offer you capital for a low, or sometimes nonexistent interest rate. They’re also significantly more flexible when it comes to equity distribution, so what’s the problem?

Well, it’s family. Your support network might be rooting for you, but taking their money means they’re suddenly involved in the process. Suddenly, your decisions aren’t your own. Even when you own the majority of the company, family members might have their own ideas about how things should be done.

While there are plenty of entrepreneurs that raise money from friends and family, it’s a delicate decision to make. There are plenty of personal relationships that never recover after going into business together.

Still, it’s definitely an option to consider. Your wealthy aunt may not invite you to Thanksgiving this year if you lost all her money, but at least she won’t kick you out of your house.

Listen, if you have a rich uncle that was going to spend $25,000 on an addition to his house this year anyway, go ahead and see if he’s open to funding your business. Just understand that you’re not just dealing with your uncle anymore. You’re dealing with his money, too.

Raise Startup Money Through Crowdfunding

The average startup tends to ignore the possibility of crowdfunding for a few reasons.

Over the years, crowdfunding has developed a reputation as something of an incomplete funding strategy based more on wishful thinking than sound business sense.

Horror stories of products like the OUYA still haunt startup teams who are considering raising capital this way.

The second and more common reason is that they simply don’t know how to get started. It feels a bit more like putting on a performance than it does a round of investing.

The reality is that getting started is actually pretty straightforward. Start with a financial goal in mind. A common concept implemented within crowdfunding platforms is the concept of a stretch goal. The more money you raise, the more you’re able to deliver at launch.

Of course, you aren’t just getting money for free. Your new army of investors expects something valuable in exchange for their money. But with a bit of creativity and a strong understanding of what you can afford to offer financially, you should be able to make this work.

Once you have your goal and stretch goals established, start to build out the marketing materials. Make a video on who you are, and why they should invest in your business.

Crowdfunding is a highly competitive space, so don’t expect this to be easy. But if you’re willing to work for it, crowdfunding might just be the right approach for your business.

Apply for Small Business Grants

For whatever reason, small business grants aren’t looked into by most startup founders I talk to. I just figured they’d never heard of the concept, but now I’m starting to think it’s because they don’t think they’d qualify.

For example, the U.S. government is offering low-interest loans and even grants to small business leaders. Economically, the government supporting entrepreneurs makes financial sense. After all, competing internationally is much easier when your economy is boosted by five or six massively successful companies.

What does that mean for you? If you’re building a new tech or science business, you actually have a strong chance of securing some of that free government money. Plus, you typically qualify for state and federal grants.

Conclusion

Money being tight as an entrepreneur is nothing new. It’s natural to consider the option of startup funding. What’s important for you to keep in mind is that finding the right funding can make or break your business.

Take the time to consider your options carefully. If you can afford to bootstrap, do it for as long as you can. No matter what, protect yourself and your business so that it can develop properly over time.

Which kind of funding seems most interesting to you? Let me know in the comments below!

The post How to Get Startup Funding appeared first on Neil Patel.

Is it Possible to Get Business Funding for Bad Credit?

Do you need business funding for bad credit? You may feel that – or you may have heard – that you can’t get business funding for bad credit. The best, easiest, and fastest way to do so is to build business credit. Because then your bad credit won’t matter quite so much. Any Small Business … Continue reading Is it Possible to Get Business Funding for Bad Credit?

Is it Possible to Get Business Funding for Bad Credit?

Do you need business funding for bad credit? You may feel that – or you may have heard – that you can’t get business funding for bad credit.

The best, easiest, and fastest way to do so is to build business credit. Because then your bad credit won’t matter quite so much.

Any Small Business Can Get Business Funding for Bad Credit

Company credit is credit in a small business’s name. It doesn’t connect to a business owner’s personal credit, not even if the owner is a sole proprietor and the sole employee of the small business.

Consequently, an entrepreneur’s business and consumer credit scores can be quite different.

The Advantages of Business Funding for Bad Credit

Considering that business credit is separate from consumer, it helps to secure a business owner’s personal assets, in case of court action or business bankruptcy.

Also, with two distinct credit scores, an entrepreneur can get two separate cards from the same merchant. This effectively doubles purchasing power.

Another advantage is that even startup businesses can do this. Going to a bank for a business loan can be a formula for disappointment. But building business credit, when done the right way, is a plan for success

Consumer credit scores depend on payments but also various other components like credit use percentages.

But for business credit, the scores really merely depend on if a small business pays its bills on a timely basis.

The Process

Establishing company credit is a process. It does not occur automatically. A company must actively work to build business credit.

Having said that, it can be done readily and quickly, and it is much swifter than developing personal credit scores.

Merchants are a big part of this process.

Accomplishing the steps out of order results in repetitive denials. No one can start at the top with business credit. For example, you can’t start with retail or cash credit from your bank. If you do, you’ll get a rejection 100% of the time.

Business Fundability

A small business must be fundable to loan providers and vendors.

Therefore, a business needs a professional-looking website and email address. And it needs to have website hosting bought from a vendor like GoDaddy.

In addition, business phone numbers need to have a listing on 411. You can do that here: http://www.listyourself.net.

In addition, the company phone number should be toll-free (800 exchange or the like).

A small business also needs a bank account devoted only to it, and it has to have all of the licenses necessary for running.

Licenses

These licenses all have to be in the identical, correct name of the small business. And they must have the same business address and telephone numbers.

So note, that this means not just state licenses, but possibly also city licenses.

Learn more here and get started with building business credit with your company’s EIN and not your SSN.

Working with the Internal Revenue Service

Visit the Internal Revenue Service web site and get an EIN for the company. They’re free. Pick a business entity such as corporation, LLC, etc.

A business may get started as a sole proprietor. But they absolutely need to switch to a sort of corporation or an LLC.

This is to lessen risk. And it will maximize tax benefits.

A business entity matters when it involves tax obligations and liability in case of a lawsuit. A sole proprietorship means the owner is it when it comes to liability and tax obligations. Nobody else is responsible.

The best thing to do is to incorporate. You should only look at a DBA as an interim step on the way to incorporation.

Kicking Off the Business Credit Reporting Process

Begin at the D&B web site and get a cost-free D-U-N-S number. A D-U-N-S number is how D&B gets a company in their system, to produce a PAYDEX score. If there is no D-U-N-S number, then there is no record and no PAYDEX score.

Once in D&B’s system, search Equifax and Experian’s websites for the company. You can do this at www.creditsuite.com/reports. If there is a record with them, check it for accuracy and completeness. If there are no records with them, go to the next step in the process.

By doing this, Experian and Equifax have activity to report on.

Starter Vendor Credit

First you ought to establish tradelines that report. Then you’ll have an established credit profile, and you’ll get a business credit score.

And with an established business credit profile and score you can begin to get credit for numerous purposes, and from all sorts of places.

These sorts of accounts often tend to be for things bought all the time, like marketing materials, shipping boxes, outdoor work wear, ink and toner, and office furniture.

But first off, what is trade credit? These trade lines are credit issuers who give you starter credit when you have none now. Terms are in most cases Net 30, rather than revolving.

Therefore, if you get approval for $1,000 in vendor credit and use all of it, you need to pay that money back in a set term, such as within 30 days on a Net 30 account.

Details

Net 30 accounts must be paid in full within 30 days. 60 accounts must be paid fully within 60 days. Unlike revolving accounts, you have a set time when you have to pay back what you borrowed or the credit you made use of.

To start your business credit profile the proper way, you ought to get approval for vendor accounts that report to the business credit reporting bureaus. As soon as that’s done, you can then make use of the credit.

Then pay back what you used, and the account is on report to Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, or Equifax.

Vendor Credit – It Makes Sense

Not every vendor can help in the same way true starter credit can. These are merchants that grant approval with minimal effort. You also want them to be reporting to one or more of the big three CRAs: Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax, and Experian.

As you get starter credit, you can also start to get credit from retailers. This is to continue to validate you are trustworthy and pay promptly. Here are some stellar choices from us: https://www.creditsuite.com/blog/5-vendor-accounts-that-build-your-business-credit/

Accounts That Do Not Report

Non-reporting trade accounts can also be helpful. While you do want trade accounts to report to at the very least one of the CRAs, a trade account which does not report can also be of some value.

You can always ask non-reporting accounts for trade references. Additionally, credit accounts of any sort can help you to better even out business expenditures, thereby making financial planning less complicated.

Store Credit

Store credit comes from a variety of retail service providers.

You must use your SSN and date of birth on these applications for verification purposes. For credit checks and guarantees, use the business’s EIN on these credit applications.

Fleet Credit

Fleet credit is from companies where you can purchase fuel, and fix and take care of vehicles. You must use your Social Security Number and date of birth on these applications for verification purposes. For credit checks and guarantees, make certain to apply using the company’s EIN.

Learn more here and get started with building business credit with your company’s EIN and not your SSN.

More Universal Cash Credit

These are companies like Visa and MasterCard. You must use your Social Security Number and date of birth on these applications for verification purposes. For credit checks and guarantees, use your EIN instead.

These are usually MasterCard credit cards. With more credit, these are within reach.

Monitor Your Business Credit to Help Yourself Get Business Funding for Bad Credit

Know what is happening with your credit. Make sure it is being reported and fix any inaccuracies as soon as possible. Get in the habit of checking credit reports. Dig into the details, not just the scores.

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.

At Equifax, you can monitor your account at: www.equifax.com/business/business-credit-monitor-small-business.

Update Your Records to Make it Easier to Get Business Funding for Bad Credit

Update the data if there are errors or the details is incomplete. At D&B, you can do this at: https://iupdate.dnb.com/iUpdate/viewiUpdateHome.htm. For Experian, go here: www.experian.com/small-business/business-credit-information.jsp. So, for Equifax, go here: www.equifax.com/business/small-business.

Learn more here and get started with building business credit with your company’s EIN and not your SSN.

Fix Your Business Credit to Increase Your Chances for Getting Business Funding for Bad Credit

So, what’s all this monitoring for? It’s to challenge any mistakes in your records. Errors in your credit report(s) can be fixed. But the CRAs typically want you to dispute in a particular way.

Get your small business’s PAYDEX report at: www.dnb.com/about-us/our-data.html. Get your company’s Experian report at: www.businesscreditfacts.com/pdp.aspx?pg=SearchForm. And get your Equifax business credit report at: www.equifax.com/business/credit-information.

Dispute Any Errors to Improve Your Chances to Get Business Funding for Bad Credit

Disputing credit report mistakes generally means you mail a paper letter with copies of any proofs of payment with it. These are documents like receipts and cancelled checks. Never mail the originals. Always send copies and retain the originals.

Fixing credit report inaccuracies also means you precisely detail any charges you contest. Make your dispute letter as crystal clear as possible. Be specific about the problems with your report. Use certified mail to have proof that you mailed in your dispute.

Dispute your or your business’s Equifax report by following the instructions here: www.equifax.com/small-business-faqs/#Dispute-FAQs.

You can dispute inaccuracies on your or your small business’s Experian report by following the instructions here: www.experian.com/small-business/business-credit-information.jsp.

And D&B’s PAYDEX Customer Service telephone number is here: www.dandb.com/glossary/paydex.

A Word about Building Business Credit and How to Get Business Funding for Bad Credit

Always use credit smartly! Don’t borrow beyond what you can pay off. Track balances and deadlines for payments. Paying promptly and completely does more to boost business credit scores than almost anything else.

Establishing business credit pays. Excellent business credit scores help a small business get loans. Your loan provider knows the business can pay its debts. They recognize the company is for real.

The company’s EIN connects to high scores and lenders won’t feel the need to ask for a personal guarantee.

It is the simplest way to get business funding for bad credit.

Getting Business Funding for Bad Credit: Takeaways

Business credit is an asset which can help your small business for many years to come. It is the most surefire way to get business funding for bad credit. And, while you’re at it and improving your business credit, you may want to work on improving your personal credit. It is a similar process in the sense that you need to pay your bills on time, correct any errors, and add any missing information.

Because one way around trying to get business funding for bad credit is to stop having bad credit in the first place.

Learn more here and get started toward growing company credit.

The post Is it Possible to Get Business Funding for Bad Credit? appeared first on Credit Suite.

Raise Your Recession Business Banking Rates and Get Funding Even in a Bad Economy

Do You Need to Know Just How Banks Determine Your Recession Business Banking Rates?

Banks are in the business of judging your company’s creditworthiness. This has a direct relationship to several important issues. Ignore these at your peril! It pays to take the time to try to understand how your recession business banking rates will work.

Recession Era Funding

The number of American financial institutions and also thrifts has been decreasing gradually for a quarter of a century. This is from consolidation in the market along with deregulation in the 1990s, decreasing obstacles to interstate banking. See: https://www.fundera.com/blog/happened-americas-small-businesses-financial-crisis-six-years-start-crisis-look-back-10-charts

Assets concentrated in ever‐larger banks is troublesome for local business proprietors. Big financial institutions are a lot less likely to make small loans. Economic recessions mean financial institutions become more careful with financing. For this reason, you need to understand your business bank ratings. It’s the only way you will be able to improve them.

Your Recession Business Banking Rates – It All Has to do With Your Bank Credit Score

But what’s that all about?

Did you know there are many ways you can ravage your bank credit score? It is, regrettably, quite easy to run a power saw through your bank rating. Your recession business banking rates can easily end up taking a hit.

But before going any further, do you know the difference between bank credit ratings and small business credit?

Business credit is the full and complete amount of cash that your small business can receive from all manner of lenders. That means credit unions, credit card companies, and also renting businesses. And it also means vendors, under what’s called trade credit or vendor credit or trade lines.

A bank credit score, on the other hand, is a measure of the full amount of borrowing ability which a company can get from the banking system only.

Bank Credit Scores Explained

A company can get more business credit fast . That is, as long as it has at least one financial institution reference. Plus it must have an average day to day account balance of at the very least $10,000 for the most recent three months. This setup will generate a bank credit rating of a Low-5. So this means it is an Adjusted Debt Balance of from $5,000 to $30,000.

A lower score, like a High-4, or balance of $7,000 to $9,999 will not result in an automatic turn down of the small business’s loan application. But it will slow down the approval process.

What is a Bank Rating?

A bank rating is a measure of the average minimum balance as kept in a business bank account over a 3 month long period. Hence a $10,000 balance| will rate as a Low-5, a $5,000 balance will rate as a Mid-4, and a $999 balance will rate as a High-3, etc.

A company’s chief goal ought to always be to maintain a minimum Low-5 bank rating (or, an average $10,000 balance) for a minimum of 3 months. This is because, without at the very least a Low-5 score, most financial institutions will assume a business cannot pay back a loan or a business line of credit.

Yet there is one point to keep in mind – you will never see this number. The financial institution will keep this number in its back pocket.

The Bank Rating Ranges

The numbers work out to the following ranges:

To get a High-5 rating, your business will need to have an account balance of $70,000 to $99,999. For a Mid-5 score, your business has to have an account balance of $40,000 to $69,999. And for a Low-5 score, your company should hold onto an account balance of $10,000 to $39,000. So your small business needs this level bank rating or better to get a bank loan.

For a High-4 score, your small business needs to have an account balance of $7,000 to $9,999. And for a Mid-4 rating, your company must have an account balance of $4,000 to $6,999. So for a Low-4 score, your company will need to have an account balance of $1,000 to $3,999.

Your Recession Business Banking Rates – It Can Be Scary Easy to Damage Your Bank Rating

And now, without further ado, here are 7 ways you can leave your bank score in tatters. These methods can all too easily hurt your recession business banking rates.

7th Way to Ruin Your Bank Credit

Don’t maintain a minimum balance for at least three months. Since every bank score cycle has a basis in the last 3 months, a seesawing balance will harm your bank score.

6th Way to Ruin Your Bank Credit Rating

Don’t bother to assure that your company bank accounts are on report the exact same way as all your small business records are. And do not assume they are on report with the exact same physical address (no post office box) and contact number. Sow confusion here by editing one and not another, or not dealing with an error if there is one.

Have a look at our expert research on bank ratings, the obscure reason why you will – or won’t – get a bank loan for your company.

Fifth Way to Destroy Your Bank Credit

To support # 6, don’t make sure that each and every credit agency and trade credit vendor likewise lists the business name and address the precise same way. This is every keeper of financial records, earnings and sales taxes. It includes web addresses and email addresses, directory assistance, etc.

No loan provider is going to think of the myriad ways that a company may be listed, when they check out the business’s creditworthiness. So if they cannot find what they need fast, they will refute an application. Or it won’t be on the report to a company credit reporting bureau such as Experian, Equifax or Dun & Bradstreet.

For that reason, if they are not able to locate what they need quickly, they will simply reject the application. So make certain your documents are a mess!

4th Way to Damage Your Bank Credit Rating

Never handle your bank account responsibly. This means that your small business must not avoid writing non-sufficient funds (NSF) checks at all costs. Such is due to the fact that those decimate bank ratings. Non-sufficient funds checks are something which no company can afford to let happen.

Balancing checkbooks and accounts is so boring anyway. You’ve got adequate cash without even making sure, right?

Third Way to Ruin Your Bank Credit Rating

To add to # 4, do not add overdraft protection to your bank account ASAP, to avoid NSFs. Why bother thinking in advance or preparing for the future? Everything is going to be terrific permanently, right?

Writing checks insufficient funds (NSFs) is a sure way to wreck your bank score.

2nd Way to Damage Your Bank Credit Rating

Do not let your business show a positive cash flow. The cash coming in and leaving your business’s bank account should reflect a positive free cash flow.

A positive free cash flow is the quantity of revenue left over after a firm has paid all its expenses. According to Investopedia, it “represents the cash a company can generate after required investment to maintain or expand its asset base. It is a measurement of a company’s financial performance and health.”

When an account shows a positive cash flow it indicates your small business is generating more revenue than you use to run the firm. That means the bank will feel your small business can cover its costs.

So if you really intend to wreck your bank score, get whatever’s expensive for your company so your costs overtake your profits. Doesn’t every factory merit luxurious carpets in the loading dock?

Have a look at our expert research on bank ratings, the obscure reason why you will – or won’t – get a bank loan for your company.

First Way to Damage Your Bank Credit Rating

Financial institutions have quite the motivation to lend to a small business with consistent deposits. And an entrepreneur must also make regular deposits to keep a positive bank rating. The business owner has to make a lot of regular deposits, greater than the withdrawals they are making, to have and maintain a great bank rating. If they can do that, then they will have a great bank credit score.

Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, right? So be a free spirit!

Your Recession Business Banking Rates – It is Way too Easy to Destroy Your Company’s Bank Score – Even Though You Will Never See It

You, the entrepreneur must never make consistent deposits. And these deposits ought to never be more than the withdrawals you are making, to ruin your bank credit.

If you can do these things, then your company will have a horrible bank credit score. And then a bad bank credit score means your firm is much less likely to get small business loans. This is how you can truly muck up your recession business banking rates.

Your Recession Business Banking Rates – Just Kidding: Of Course We Do Not Actually Want You to Destroy Your Company’s Bank Credit Rating!

But your recession business banking rates are a thing of value. You should want to protect and nurture it. So, where do you go from here?

The First Great Way to Rescue Your Bank Credit Rating

Probably the easiest way to achieve and maintain an excellent bank credit rating is to deposit at least $10,000 into your company bank account. And keep it there for as much as six months. While you will still have to make regular deposits, this one simple step will assist in 3 ways. One, you will have kept an excellent minimum balance for at the very least 3 months. Two, you will probably not overdraw with such a great balance. And three, you will be at the magic minimum for a Low-5 bank credit rating. Thus you will be dealing with our # 4 and # 7, above.

And you may even have the ability to get around our # 3. But we still highly recommend overdraft protection.

Have a look at our expert research on bank ratings, the obscure reason why you will – or won’t – get a bank loan for your company.

The 2nd Excellent Way to Rescue Your Bank Credit Rating

A 2nd thing you can do is make certain your small business account details are consistent across the board, everywhere. While it may take some work order to make certain every little thing is right, you will be dealing with our # 5 as well as # 6, above.

The Third Great Way to Rescue Your Bank Credit Score

A 3rd thing you can do is make consistent deposits, as well as make sure they are greater than the quantities you are withdrawing each month. This will take care of our # 1 and also # 2.

Your Recession Business Banking Rates –Takeaways

Your bank score is not to be trifled with. The financial institutions maintain a mystery about them. Still, failing to keep your bank credit rating high will make it a whole lot harder to do well in business. In this way, you can defend and improve your recession business banking rates.

The post Raise Your Recession Business Banking Rates and Get Funding Even in a Bad Economy appeared first on Credit Suite.

How to Find Funding for Your Business as an Immigrant Entrepreneur

Immigrants face adversity in many areas. As an immigrant entrepreneur, one area may be that you struggle to find funding for your business. However, you do have options. Here’s what you need to know. As an Immigrant Entrepreneur, You Need Funding Options that Work There are some special things to think about when it comes … Continue reading How to Find Funding for Your Business as an Immigrant Entrepreneur

How to Find Funding for Your Business as an Immigrant Entrepreneur

As an Immigrant Entrepreneur, You Need Funding Options that Work

There are some special things to think about when it comes to funding a business as an immigrant entrepreneur. For example, loans may require you have a Social Security number. The good news is, qualifying for permanent residency means you can apply for a Social Security number.

Another issue is the potential for a language barrier. Also, a lack of business credit or time in business can be a huge barrier to getting the business funding you need. This is because it affects fundability.

Immigrant Entrepreneur: Fundability

Fundability is the ability of your business to get funding. It is the same whether you are from this country originally or not. Still, building fundability could be a little more difficult for non-citizens.

The foundation of fundability is in how your business is set up. This is a first step you can take that should not be affected too much by immigrant status. Your business has to be set up to be a fundable entity separate from you, the owner. Here’s how you start.

Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.

Contact Information

The first step is to get your business its own contact information. This should include phone number, address, and email address. That doesn’t mean you have to get a separate phone line. You don’t even need a separate location. You can run your business from wherever you want.

In fact, you can get a business phone number and fax number that will work over the internet instead of phone lines. In addition, you can use a virtual office for a business address.

EIN

You also need an EIN for your business. This is an identifying number for your business that works like a Social Security Number works for individuals. The process for getting an EIN is a little different for immigrant entrepreneurs. Specifically those without a Social Security Number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. You cannot apply online. Instead, you have to fill out IRS Form SS-4. You can do so by phone, fax, or mail. This step is essential. Furthermore, the entire process can take some time. Do it sooner rather than later.

Incorporate

Incorporating your business as an LLC, S-corp, or corporation is necessary to fundability. It lends credence to your business as one that is legitimate. It also offers some protection from liability.

Business Bank Account

You need a dedicated business bank account. There are a few reasons for this. When you apply for funding as an immigrant entrepreneur, this will make your business look more like one that is standing on its own. It separates your business from you, the owner.

There’s more to it however. There are several types of funding you cannot get without a business bank account. Many lenders and credit cards want to see one with a minimum average balance. In addition, you cannot get a merchant account without a business account at a bank. That means, you cannot take credit card payments. Studies show consumers tend to spend more when they can pay by credit card.

Licenses

For a business to be legitimate it has to have all of the necessary licenses it needs to run. If it doesn’t, warning bells are going to start ringing. Do the research you need to do to ensure you have all of the licenses necessary to legitimately run your business at the federal, state, and local levels.

Website

These days, you do not exist if you do not have a website. However, if it appears to be unprofessional it will not bode well for you with consumers or potential lenders. Take the time and money necessary to have your website professionally designed and ensure it works well. Your business email should have the same URL as your business website.

Of course, much more goes into fundability. This is just the beginning. However, setting your business up to be fundable on the front end will give it the best possible start. It will make finding business funding a smoother process in the long-term.

Credit History

For loans, consistent, positive personal credit history is important. If you do not have that, you will likely need a cosigner.

However, business credit building is not dependent on citizenship or residency. Starter vendors that you can use to start the process aren’t looking for Social Security numbers. This means, you can get your business credit profile started as an immigrant entrepreneur without a ton of hassle. That is, if you set up your business in the way described above.

How Do You Build a Business Credit History as an Immigrant Entrepreneur?

The first step is to get a D-U-N-S number. Then, you have to get accounts that will report to the business credit reporting agencies. These are the same steps that apply to all entrepreneurs, not just immigrants.

D-U-N-S Number

The D-U-N-S number is what D&B uses to get your company into their system. A D-U-N-S number plus payment experiences leads to a PAYDEX score. Of course, any employees of an American business must have authorization to work there. That means either citizenship or having an immigration status allowing a person to work.

Starter Vendors

These are companies that will extend net terms on invoices without a credit check. They typically have other eligibility requirements to help reduce risk on their end. These may include a number of things. For example:

A minimum average balance in a dedicated business bank account
A minimum amount of time in business
Minimum annual revenue

Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.

Many require some combination of these and others.

These types of vendors will issue invoices with net 30, net 60, or net 90 terms. That just means you have either 30, 60, or 90 days to pay the balance. Once you do, these starter vendors will report your payment to the business credit reporting agencies. That includes Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax. Most accounts either report to one or two of these agencies. The more of these types of accounts you can get reporting, the faster your business credit will grow. Then, you will be able to apply for more traditional business accounts. Store cards, fleet cards, and just regular business credit cards will all become options open to your business.

Immigrant Entrepreneur: Find the Funds

Once your business is set up to be fundable, and you have your D-U-N-S number, you can start to get funding. There are a few options. The ones that will work best in the beginning, before you have established business credit, are the ones that do not require a credit check. These include venture capital, angel investors, and crowdfunding.

Venture Capital and Angel Investments

If you do not mind giving up some of the equity in your businesses, venture capital could be an option. Venture capitalists are usually looking for exceptional companies. If your business is truly innovative you can try to get funds from Unshackled Ventures or One Way Ventures.

Angel investing can be formal, using and organizations set up specifically for that purpose. Alternatively, it can be informal funding from family and friends. Gust.com can be a great place to look for this type of financing as an immigrant entrepreneur.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding can be another good way to get funding. Remember, it’s not a guarantee however. Kickstarter allows permanent residents of several countries to run campaigns on its platform. They tend to be countries in North America, Europe, and Oceania. In Asia, currently the only eligible countries are Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Indiegogo is another option. The list of eligible countries is similar, but they also have an option for China. If your business is creative, consider Patreon. It’s unclear where they stand on citizenship, so you’ll have to directly contact someone there to get the word on your eligibility.

There are two different types of crowdfunding, equity crowdfunding and rewards-based crowdfunding. For equity crowdfunding, you will be offering equity in your business in return for funds. With rewards -based crowdfunding, you offer some other type of incentive. It could be anything from a sample product to a thank you card.

Immigrant Entrepreneur: Alternative Financing

Of course, there is no guarantee you will be able to meet all of your financial needs through crowdfunding, venture capital, angel investors, or any combination of those options. It is highly likely you will need something else. Traditional loans may be hard early on, especially if your credit isn’t great. Yet, there are other options.

Credit Line Hybrid

A credit line hybrid allows you to fund your business without putting up collateral, and you only pay back what you use.

You do need decent personal credit. However, it doesn’t have to be as high as a traditional lender would require. It should be at least 680. You can’t have any liens, judgments, bankruptcies or late payments either. Furthermore, in the past 6 months you should have less than 4 credit inquiries. You should have less than a 45% balance on all business and personal credit cards. It’s best if you have established business credit and personal credit.

If you do not meet the other requirements, it’s okay. You can take on a credit partner that does. Many business owners work with a friend or relative to fund their business. If a relative or a friend meets all of these requirements, they can partner with you to allow you to tap into their credit to access funding.

Benefits of a Credit Line Hybrid

Using a credit line hybrid has a lot of benefits. First, it is unsecured, meaning you do not have to have any collateral to put up. Next, the funding is “no-doc.” That means you don’t have to provide any bank statements or financials.

Not only that, but approval is typically up to 5x that of the highest credit limit on the personal credit report. Often, you can get interest rates as low as 0% for the first few months, allowing you to put the savings back into your business.

Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.

The best part is you can use this type of financing to help build your business credit.

Alternative Lenders

There are some alternative lenders that work better for immigrant entrepreneurs than others. For example, Lending Club offers business loans and does not appear to check citizenship or status. There is also Stilt. They only offer personal loans. But, they specialize in immigrant borrowers and borrowers holding visas. Personal loans aren’t the best way to fund a business, but if you need to bridge a gap left from other funding types, it could work.

Minimal eligibility criteria for a Stilt loan is you must have a physical presence in the United States. You also have to have an American bank account in your name, with an American address. If you have already set your business up to be fundable, these things are taken care of. You do not have to have a Social Security number to qualify.

Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Grants

There are grants available to immigrant entrepreneurs. One great source to help find them is Grant Watch. It has a search section devoted strictly to immigrants.

Other good sources to try are the Office of Refugee Resettlement and the Wilson-Fish program.

The Wilson-Fish alternative model is currently only available in 12 states and one single county. They include:

Alabama
Alaska
Colorado
Idaho
Kentucky
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Nevada
North Dakota
South Dakota
Tennessee
Vermont
and San Diego County, CA

These programs concentrate on early employment and immigrant self-sufficiency.

Immigrants who are members of a minority have more options. This includes women and Latinx entrepreneurs. They can qualify for grants and loans from the Minority Business Development Agency. Grants.gov is also a good source.

There is Funding Available for Immigrant Entrepreneurs

As an immigrant entrepreneur, you have options. While there are definitely challenges that are unique to you when looking for business funding, there is hope. Anyone can build fundability and business credit, and once you have that, funding is a breeze. Until then, these options can help you get started.

The post How to Find Funding for Your Business as an Immigrant Entrepreneur appeared first on Credit Suite.

Get Home-Based Business Recession Funding

Get Home-Based Business Recession Funding Without Jeopardizing Your Personal Assets

A home-based business can get expensive in a hurry. Between supplies and the phone system, to the printer ink and postage, and don’t forget your computer, you might be experiencing negative cash flow before your business really starts to take off. So here are some ideas for getting funding which don’t involve getting a loan from someone in your family. Get home-based business recession funding the right way, now!

Home-Based Business Recession Funding – Background

The number of US banks as well as thrifts has been decreasing gradually for 25 years. This is coming from consolidation in the marketplace along with deregulation in the 1990s, decreasing barriers to interstate banking. See: https://www.fundera.com/blog/happened-americas-small-businesses-financial-crisis-six-years-start-crisis-look-back-10-charts

Assets focused in ever‐larger financial institutions is problematic for local business proprietors. Big financial institutions are a lot less likely to make small loans. Economic declines indicate banks end up being more careful with lending. Thankfully, business credit does not depend on financial institutions.

Get Home-Based Business Recession Funding with a Loan from The Small Business Administration

The SBA says that over half of American businesses are based out of a home. And they have a number of loan programs you can take advantage of. Note: the SBA doesn’t provide the loan; they work with the lender and they make these programs available to you, the small business owner.

SBA Loans

There are two primary kinds of SBA loans you can generally secure. One kind is CAPLines. There are in fact 4 types of CAPLines that can work for your business.

You can also acquire a lower loan amount faster using the SBA Express program. A lot of these programs offer BOTH loans and revolving lines of credit.

From the SBA … “CAPLines is the umbrella program under which SBA helps business owners meet short-term and cyclical working capital needs”. Loan amounts are offered up to and including $5 million. Loan qualification criteria are the same as with other SBA programs.

Working Capital

Borrowers must use the loan proceeds for short term working capital/operating needs. If the proceeds are used to acquire fixed assets, lender must refinance the portion of the line used to acquire the fixed asset into an appropriate term facility no later than 90 days after lender discovers the line was used to finance a fixed asset.

Microloans

These are not for a lot of money. The SBA facilitates microloans of up to $50,000, but the average amount is around $13,000. You can use an SBA microloan for:

Working capital
Furniture or fixtures
Inventory or supplies
Machinery or equipment

However, they won’t let you use it for buying real estate or to pay off business debts.

General Small Business Loans

Ah, the 7(A). It’s available for most forms of small business although, like the CDC/504 loan, you can’t get one if your business’s profits depend on sales made by an ever-increasing number of participants. You also can’t get one if your business derives (either directly or indirectly) more than 2.5% of its gross revenue through the sale of products or services, or the presentation of any depictions or displays, of an indecent sexual nature. Since this is not too terribly well-defined, it’s hard to say whether it would include lingerie (although it most likely includes marital aids). You might need to check with your lender.

There are also some restrictions on franchises. Again, it’s always best to check the fine print and, if you have questions, talk to your lender.

Demolish your funding problems with our rock-solid guide about 27 killer ways to get cash for your business. Get money even during the worst of a recession.

Get Home-Based Business Recession Funding with SBA Express

You can get approval for up to and including $350,000. Interest rates vary, with SBA enabling banks to charge as much as 6.5% over their base rate. Loans in excess of $25,000 will call for collateral.

Approval Details

To get approval you’ll need good personal and company credit. Plus the SBA specifies you must not have any blemishes on your report. An acceptable bank score requires you have at least $10,000 in your account over the last 90 days.

You’ll likewise need a resume showing you have business sector experience and a well put together business plan. You will need three years of business and personal tax returns, and your business returns should show a profit. And, you’ll need a recent balance sheet and income statement, thereby showing you have the funds to pay back the loan.

Collateral

To get approval you’ll need account receivables, but only if you have them. When it comes to the collateral to make up for the risk, generally all business assets will serve as collateral, and some personal assets including your residence. It’s not unusual to need collateral equivalent to 50% or more of the loan amount. You also need articles of incorporation, business licenses, and contracts with all third parties, and your lease.

Microloans (but not from the SBA)

There are other microloan providers. You can try the Association for Enterprise Opportunity to find a local microlender.

Bank Loans

What if you need more than a microloan, or your business falls into too many SBA exceptions? Then apply for a bank loan for your home-based business recession funding. Be prepared to put up collateral, which could be equipment or inventory or the like. Pay back your loan on time or else your business’s credit score will suffer.

Business Credit Cards

Another option is business credit cards. However, be aware that you must pay off business credit cards just like personal credit cards. A high credit utilization rate (the amount of credit you use, divided by the total amount of credit available to your company) of greater than 30% can bring down your business credit score. This can make it harder to borrow money or get another business credit card. Therefore, be vigilant with these and pay them off as soon as is practical.

Get Home-Based Business Recession Funding with Crowdfunding

You might want to try with a service such as Kickstarter or GoFundMe. Always make sure you read the fine print, because many crowdfunding platforms require that you give all of the funding back if you do not make your goal by the end of the crowdfunding campaign (IndieGoGo has a flexible funding option). Also, crowdfunding platforms take a percentage of the donations, and they generally will push to have you deliver on your promises, so you’ll have to actually do what your business is supposed to be doing – or face a potential lawsuit.

You will need to make a lot of choices before you even launch a business crowdfunding campaign.

How Much?

Your very first decision should be: just how much do I need to crowdfund? If you need $1 million, you are going to need to crowdfund more than that. Why? Because that is how crowdfunding platforms make their money – they take a percentage of whatever money you can raise. Therefore, you will need to take that into consideration. Crowdfunding percent costs range from 4% to 10%.

Will I Succeed?

Another decision is about how successful you believe your campaign is going to be. If you are extremely confident that you will be 100% funded at the end of your campaign, then traditional funding is for you. If you aren’t sure, then try GoFundMe’s flexible funding. With flexible funding, you, the campaign runner, can retain your donations even if your campaign fails. However, for this privilege, you will need to pay an increased fee to GoFundMe. Other crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter don’t provide this option.

Your Campaign Strategy

A few words on strategy:

Pitch Videos

Your pitch video needs to be good. Use an expert to film it and create the script. Can’t pay for professionals? Then try schools, both students and instructors.

Your script does not need to be verbatim but you must have points you wish to make and not rattle on. Create a script and stay with it. This is not the time to improvise.

Show the Evidence

If you have physical evidence of your project, then make sure to show it in your campaign video and on your campaign webpage. This means a photo of your health club’s sign or a short video recording of your prototype robot.

Address Skepticism

A lot of people are understandably skeptical about crowdfunding. An image and a tangible thing will go a long way to assuring them that your project isn’t vaporware.

Manners Matter

Say please, thank you, and you’re welcome to everyone. Use these magic words in your pitch and in your correspondence with your donors, even in the cover letters you send with your perks (even internet perks can include a cover email message). You do not need to be servile, but you absolutely must be polite.

Don’t Be Greedy!

If you need $250,000 for your campaign, but you call for $1,000,000, that does not do anybody any good.

You’ll just look like you wish to bum off others’ generosity. Instead, account for your expenditures as clearly and transparently as you can. And incidentally, if you misuse your funding, you could find yourself in an unpleasant meeting with your state’s attorney general. So be honest!

Stretch Goals

Your stretch goals should be a combination of easily achievable and pie in the sky. If you are crowdfunding for $100,000, a rather easy to achieve stretch goal is $125,000.

Pie in the sky is going to be more like $300,000. Make it perfectly clear what you will do with any added funds if you are lucky enough to get it. Will you buy the property your business operates in? Employ five additional people? Replace your outdated equipment? Open up a brand-new market on some other continent? Let your donors know what you are striving for, so they can dream with you.

Courtesy Counts

Be polite if your campaign falls short. Even if you use GoFundMe’s flexible funding option, you nevertheless might not get enough to make a significant dent in your funding needs. If you hoped for $100,000 and you just got $500, your best option is to simply return the money.

If you almost got there with $95,000, then say thanks to everybody who donated and see what you can do, despite the fact that there’s a shortfall. And let them know what you’re doing! Perhaps you’ll buy your building next year, or hire four people as opposed to five.

Once more, give your donors a stake in and an inside look at your startup. This will enable them to feel invested. And they might just decide to make up the deficiency on their own. Even if your crowdfunding campaign concludes doesn’t mean a donor cannot send a check or purchase extra goods or services. If that happens, then politeness is crucial.

Donor Strategy

Line up the most significant and most trustworthy donors you can before you start. Tell your mother or your brother in law or your former high school soccer coach to postpone on handing over their $1,000 or $10,000 donation till you begin your campaign.

And ask them (nicely!) to release their money at a very precise time. Which time? The first or very last day of the campaign (split the anticipated funding as well as you are able; if the division isn’t close to half and half, then ask for the bigger chunk of donations to come on the very last day of the campaign). Benefit from the novelty factor of the very first day of the campaign, or the urgency factor of the very last.

Much like a busker with a few of her own bucks in her hat, to encourage people to throw a few bucks for a song, you want your most significant donors to show other donors that they have confidence in you and in your project. And you also want them to suggest your other donors that they had best get in on investing in your startup before the chance ends.

Social Media

Share your campaign on social media sites and ask your friends and family to do so, too. Tweet the link. Add it as a Facebook status. Make it a Tumblr blog post or a snap on Snapchat or publish a blog post about it. Ask your network to publish the link. The best method to get your network to help you out is by assisting them in return. If your relative’s band is on Facebook, share their page, or tweet about it.

Be a participating member of your very own personal community, and your contacts will be far more likely to help you out when you ask. And repeat these social media posts. Considering timezones and our all-too hectic lives, people may not see your message the first time around. Mix it up and deliver it at odd hours (you can normally use scheduling software like HootSuite for this), including what is the middle of the night where you live.

Demolish your funding problems with our rock-solid guide about 27 killer ways to get cash for your business. Get money even during the worst of a recession.

Get Home-Based Business Recession Funding with Unsecured Business Credit Cards

Many of these cards report to the consumer credit reporting agencies. They all require a personal guarantee from you. You can get approval in general for one card max as they discontinue approving you when you have two or more inquiries on your report.

Most credit card providers feature business credit cards including Capital One, Chase, and American Express. These have rates much like consumer rates and limits are also similar.

Some of them report to the consumer reporting agencies, some report to the business bureaus. Approval requirements are similar to consumer credit card accounts.

Inquiries

Usually, when you apply for a credit card you put an inquiry on your consumer report. When other lenders see these, they won’t approve you for more credit because they have no idea how much other new credit you have lately obtained.

So they’ll only approve you if you have less than two inquiries on your report within the most recent six months. Any more than that will get you declined.

Get Home-Based Business Recession Funding with Our Credit Line Hybrid

With this form of business financing, you work with a lender who specializes in securing business credit cards. This is a very unusual, very little know of program which few lending sources offer. They can typically get you three to five times the approvals that you can get on your own.

This is due to the fact that they are familiar with the sources to apply for, the order to apply, and can time their applications so the card issuers won’t reject you for the other card inquiries. Individual approvals typically range from $2,000 – 50,000.

The result of their services is that you ordinarily get up to five cards that resemble the credit limits of your maximum limit accounts now. Multiple cards create competition, and this means they will raise your limits, ordinarily within 6 months or less of original approval.

Approvals

Approvals can go up to $150,000 per entity like a corporation. With hybrid credit line they actually get you three to five business credit cards that report solely to the business credit reporting agencies. This is huge, something the majority of lenders don’t offer or promote. Not only will you get cash, but you build your business credit also so within three to four months, you can then use your new corporate credit to get even more money.

Rates

The lender can also get you low introductory rates, regularly 0% for 6-18 months. You’ll then pay normal rates after that, typically 5-21% APR with 20-25% APR for cash advances. And they’ll also get you the best cards for points. So this means you get the very best rewards.

Just like with anything, there are big benefits in partnering with a source who concentrates on this area. The results will be far better than if you try to go at it on your own.

Qualifications

You have to have excellent personal credit right now, preferably 685 or higher scores, the same as with all business credit cards. You shouldn’t have any derogatory credit on your report to get approval. And you must also have open revolving credit on your consumer reports right now and you’ll have to have five inquiries or less in the most recent six months reported.

Fees

All lenders in this space charge a 9-15% success based fee and you only pay the charge off of what you secure. Keep in mind, you get a ton of additional rewards and about three to five times more cash through this program than you’d get on your own, which is why there’s a fee, the same as all other lending programs.

You can get approval using a guarantor and you can even use a number of guarantors to get even more money. There are also other cards you can get making use of this very same program but these cards only report to the consumer reporting agencies, not the business reporting agencies. They are consumer credit cards versus business credit cards.

Benefits

They offer similar benefits including 0% intro annual percentage rates and five times the amount of approval of a solitary card but they are a lot easier to qualify for.

You can get approval with a 650 score and seven inquiries (or fewer) in the last six months and you can have a bankruptcy on your credit and other negative items. These are a lot easier to get approval for than UBF company credit cards.

With all preceding cards above, you have to have good consumer credit in order to get approval but what if your personal credit isn’t really good, and you do not have a guarantor?

This is the time when building business credit makes a great deal of sense even if you have good personal credit, establishing your business credit helps you get even more money, and without a personal guarantee.

Demolish your funding problems with our rock-solid guide about 27 killer ways to get cash for your business. Get money even during the worst of a recession.

Get Home-Based Business Recession Funding with Private Investors and Alternative Lenders

Private investors and alternative lenders also offer credit lines. These are a lot easier to qualify for than conventional SBA loans. They also need much less documentation for approval. These alternative SBA credit lines generally demand good personal credit for approval.

Unlike with SBA, many of them don’t require good bank or business credit approval. Nearly all of these kinds of programs require two years’ of tax returns. Tax returns need to show a profit. Rates can vary from 7% or greater and loan amounts range from $25,000 into the millions. Loan amounts are often based upon the revenues and/or profits on tax returns. At times lenders may ask for other financials including a profit and loss statement, balance sheets, and income statements.

Merchant Cash Advances

Merchant cash advances have rapidly become the most popular way to get financing, in large part because of the effortless qualification process. Businesses with $10,000 in revenue can get approval, with the business owner having scores as low as 500.

Some sources have now even begun to offer credit lines that accompany their loans. You must have at least $10,000 in revenue for approval. You should be in business for at minimum one year, though three years is better. Lenders generally want to see a credit score of 650 or better for approval.

Loan amounts are frequently around $20,000. Lenders generally do pull your business credit, so you ought to have some credit already and at times lenders will want to see tax returns.

Rates vary, due to the risk for this program, and there usually are not a lot of funding sources who offer it.

Get Home-Based Business Recession Funding with Credit Lines

A credit line, or line of credit (LOC), is an agreement between a borrower and a bank or private investor which establishes a maximum loan balance which a borrower can access.

A borrower can gain access to funds from their line of credit anytime, so long as they don’t go over the maximum set in the agreement, and so long as they meet any other requirements of the bank or investor including making on time payments.

Advantages

Credit lines deliver many one of a kind benefits to borrowers which include versatility. Borrowers can utilize their line of credit and just pay interest on what they use, unlike loans where they pay interest on the sum total borrowed. Credit lines can be reused, so as you acquire a balance and pay that balance off, you can use that accessible credit again, and again.

Details

Credit lines are revolving accounts similar to credit cards, and compare to various other types of funding including installment loans. Often, lines of credit are unsecured, much the same as credit cards are. There are some credit lines that are secured, and for that reason easier to be granted

Credit lines are the most routinely requested loan type in the business world although they are very popular, authentic credit lines are few and far between, and tough to find. Many are also very tough to get approval for calling for good credit, good time in business, and good financials. But there are various other credit cards and lines that few people know about that are available for start-ups, bad credit, and even if you have no financials.

Get Home-Based Business Recession Funding with Securities as Collateral for Financing

You can get financing irrespective of personal credit if you have some kind of stocks or bonds. You can also get approval if you have somebody intending to use their stocks or bonds as collateral for financing.

Personal credit quality doesn’t matter as there are no consumer credit requirements for approval. You can get approval for as much as 90% of the value of your stocks or bonds. Rates are frequently below 2%, making this one of the lowest rate credit lines you’ll ever see. You can nevertheless earn interest as you usually do on your stocks and bonds.

Get Home-Based Business Recession Funding with Building Company Credit

Business credit is credit in a company name, in association with the business’s EIN number, and not the owner’s Social Security Number. When undertaken correctly, you can obtain company credit without a personal credit check and no personal guarantee. This is something all other cards above can’t deliver.

You can get three types of company credit cards. First is vendor credit, which offers net 30 terms to set up a business credit profile. Then is retail credit, where you will get credit cards with high limits at most stores.

Next is fleet credit. It’s credit to fuel, service, and maintain business vehicles. And then there’s cash credit, which includes Visa, MasterCard, and American Express cards that you can use anywhere. You can get these without any credit check or guarantee. Limits are typically $5,000 – $10,000 to get started, and can exceed $50,000.

Takeaways

Stop asking your family for handouts! There are lots of ways to get home-based business recession funding.

The post Get Home-Based Business Recession Funding appeared first on Credit Suite.

Fundbox Recession Funding – Check Out Our Research on This Rock Solid Way to Get Financing Even in a Recession

Itching for Business Financing? Then Check out Our Review of Fundbox Recession Funding

Fundbox is one of several lending companies online. They offer Invoice Financing (which is not the same as Invoice Factoring). Our Fundbox recession funding review can help you make the best decision for your business.

Fundbox has raised more than $100 million in capital from Silicon Valley investors such as General Catalyst Partners, Khosla Ventures, Blumberg Capital, Entrée Capital, and Spark Capital. They count Jeff Bezos of Amazon as one of their investors.

We look at the specifics and drill down into the details.

Fundbox Recession Funding Review: Background

Fundbox is located online here: https://fundbox.com/. Their physical address is:

300 Montgomery St.
San Francisco, CA 94104.

You can call them at: (855) 572-7707. Their contact page is here: https://fundbox.com/company/contact-us/. You can email them at: support@fundbox.com. The company has been in business since 2013.

Invoice Financing

Rather than purchasing your accounts receivables for a percentage of the money owed to you, they will instead finance the full amount in the form of what is essentially a loan. And then you will pay it back as your customers pay their invoices. Fundbox does not communicate directly with your customers; you will continue to do so.

Payment plans are either 12 or 24 weeks. There is no penalty for repaying early. If you repay early, Fundbox will waive all remaining fees. If you finance your invoices with Fundbox, the fees are flat.

To qualify, you must have at least 6 months invoicing history in your accounting software. And you must have at least $50,000 in annual revenue.

Fees

Fundbox’s fees can vary, depending on customer and over time. You will pay the same amount each week. See: https://fundbox.com/pricing/.

Determine if you can meet a regular payment schedule during an economic downturn.

Demolish your funding problems with our rock-solid guide about 27 killer ways to get cash for your business. Get money even during the worst of a recession.

Revolving Business Lines of Credit

They also offer revolving business lines of credit. You can get line of credit up to $100,000. You will need to allow Fundbox to connect with your accounting software, such as QuickBooks. Fundbox would like to see at least two months of activity in any supported accounting software or three months of transactions in a business bank account.

Your business should be based in one of the 50 United States or one of their supported US territories. Their approved territories are Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

Fundbox Pay

Fundbox has a B2B payment system (in a way, like Square or PayPal). This enables merchants to get paid faster on Net 60 accounts. It also allows buyers to qualify for net terms wherever Fundbox is accepted. Applying will not affect your personal credit. See: https://fundboxpay.com.

Accounting Software they Support

Fundbox Pay supports several types of accounting software, including:

Clio
Ebility
FreshBooks
Harvest
InvoiceASAP

They also support:

Jobber
Kashoo
PayPal
QuickBooks Desktop and Online
Zoho

Fundbox Recession Funding Review: Advantages

Advantages to Fundbox recession funding include their exceptional flexibility in connecting to your business bank account, and fast approval. Another advantage is that Fundbox stays out of your relationship with your clients. Your clients need never know that you are working with Fundbox.

Fundbox Recession Funding Review: Disadvantages

The main disadvantage is less than fully transparent fee information. However, if you sign up for Fundbox, they will let you know what your fees are.

Fundbox Recession Funding Review: The Bottom Line

The businesses which do best with Fundbox will be those which can pay back their debts on time or even early. But this is the case with virtually all online lenders, of course.

In addition, entrepreneurs with poor credit will be able to turn to Fundbox. This is vital as most other online lenders will not do the same. And it is even more important during a recession.

Companies without a long time in business might also do well. While neither a minimal time in business nor a minimal annual or monthly revenue requirement is spelled out on the site, there has got to be some sort of minimum in both areas.

As might be expected, companies which miss payments will not do so well with Fundbox recession funding – but that is the case with all online lenders.

Demolish your funding problems with our rock-solid guide about 27 killer ways to get cash for your business. Get money even during the worst of a recession.

Fundbox Recession Funding Review: Alternative Funding

Of course we recommend business credit building as a reasonable alternative to Fundbox.

The Advantages

Since small business credit is separate from personal, it helps to safeguard a business owner’s personal assets, in the event of legal action or business bankruptcy. Also, with two separate credit scores, a small business owner can get two separate cards from the same vendor. This effectively doubles buying power.

Another benefit is that even start-ups can do this. Heading to a bank for a business loan can be a recipe for disappointment. But building business credit, when done right, is a plan for success.

Individual credit scores depend upon payments but also other elements like credit usage percentages. But for business credit, the scores truly just hinge on if a business pays its invoices on a timely basis.

The Process

Growing business credit is a process, and it does not happen without effort. A business needs to actively work to build company credit. Nonetheless, it can be done readily and quickly, and it is much faster than establishing personal credit scores. Vendors are a big part of this process.

Carrying out the steps out of order will lead to repetitive rejections. Nobody can start at the top with business credit. For example, you can’t start with retail or cash credit from your bank. If you do, you’ll get a rejection 100% of the time.

Small Business Fundability

A business has to be fundable to lending institutions and vendors. For this reason, a small business will need a professional-looking web site and e-mail address, with website hosting from a company like GoDaddy. Plus business phone and fax numbers ought to have a listing on ListYourself.net.

Additionally the business telephone number should be toll-free (800 exchange or the equivalent).

A company will also need a bank account devoted strictly to it, and it has to have all of the licenses essential for operation. These licenses all have to be in the accurate, appropriate name of the small business, with the same business address and phone numbers. Note that this means not just state licenses, but potentially also city licenses.

Working with the Internal Revenue Service

Visit the Internal Revenue Service website and get an EIN for your business. They’re free of charge. Select a business entity such as corporation, LLC, etc. A business can begin as a sole proprietor but will most likely wish to switch to a form of corporation or LLC to limit risk and make best use of tax benefits.

A business entity will matter when it involves tax obligations and liability in case of a lawsuit. A sole proprietorship means the entrepreneur is it when it comes to liability and tax obligations. Nobody else is responsible.

If you operate a business as a sole proprietor at least file for a DBA (‘doing business as’) status. If you do not, then your personal name is the same as the business name. As a result, you can wind up being directly responsible for all business debts.

In addition, per the Internal Revenue Service, by having this arrangement there is a 1 in 7 possibility of an IRS audit. There is a 1 in 50 chance for corporations! Avoid confusion and dramatically reduce the odds of an IRS audit as well.

Demolish your funding problems with our rock-solid guide about 27 killer ways to get cash for your business. Get money even during the worst of a recession.

Instigating the Business Credit Reporting Process

Start at the D&B web site and obtain a free DUNS number. A DUNS number is how D&B gets a corporation into their system, to produce a PAYDEX score. If there is no DUNS number, then there is no record and no PAYDEX score.

Once in D&B’s system, search Equifax and Experian’s web sites for the company. You can do this at https://www.creditsuite.com/reports. If there is a record with them, check it for correctness and completeness. If there are no records with them, go to the next step in the process. In this manner, Experian and Equifax will have activity to report on.

Vendor Credit

First you must establish trade lines that report. This is vendor credit.

And with an established business credit profile and score you can start getting retail and cash credit.

These varieties of accounts often tend to be for the things bought all the time, like shipping boxes, outdoor work wear, ink and toner, and office furniture.

But first off, what is trade credit? These trade lines are credit issuers who will give you preliminary credit when you have none now. Terms are generally Net 30, instead of revolving.

Hence if you get approval for $1,000 in vendor credit and use all of it, you will need to pay that money back in a set term, like within 30 days on a Net 30 account.

Details

Net 30 accounts need to be paid in full within 30 days. 60 accounts must be paid in full within 60 days. Unlike with revolving accounts, you have a set time when you must pay back what you borrowed or the credit you made use of.

To kick off your business credit profile the right way, you should get approval for vendor accounts that report to the business credit reporting agencies. As soon as that’s done, you can then make use of the credit.

Then pay back what you used, and the account is on report to Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, or Equifax.

Not every vendor can help in the same way true starter credit can. These are merchants that will grant an approval with minimal effort. You also want them to be reporting to one or more of the big three CRAs: Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax, and Experian.

Retail Credit

Once there are 3 or more vendor trade accounts reporting to at least one of the CRAs, move onto retail credit. These are companies such as Office Depot and Staples.

Use the business’s EIN on these credit applications.

Fleet Credit

Are there more accounts reporting? Then progress to fleet credit. These are companies such as BP and Conoco. Use this credit to buy fuel and fix and take care of vehicles. Make sure to apply using the small business’s EIN.

Cash Credit

Have you been responsibly handling the credit you’ve up to this point? Then move to more universal cash credit. These are companies like Visa and MasterCard. Use your EIN to apply.

These are often MasterCard credit cards. If you have more trade accounts reporting, then these are feasible.

Monitor Your Business Credit

Know what is happening with your credit. Make certain it is being reported and deal with any errors ASAP. Get in the habit of checking credit reports. Dig into the specifics, not just the scores.

We can help you monitor business credit at Experian and D&B for 90% less than it would cost you at the CRAs.

Update the info if there are inaccuracies or the info is incomplete.

Challenging Mistakes

So, what’s all this monitoring for? It’s to contest any errors in your records. Mistakes in your credit report(s) can be taken care of. But the CRAs usually want you to dispute in a particular way.

Disputing credit report inaccuracies normally means you send a paper letter with duplicates of any evidence of payment with it. These are documents like receipts and cancelled checks. Never mail the original copies. Always send copies and retain the original copies.

Disputing credit report errors also means you precisely detail any charges you contest. Make your dispute letter as understandable as possible. Be specific about the problems with your report. Use certified mail so that you will have proof that you sent in your dispute.

A Word about Business Credit Building

Always use credit sensibly! Never borrow more than what you can pay back. Keep an eye on balances and deadlines for payments. Paying promptly and fully will do more to boost business credit scores than nearly anything else.

Building business credit pays. Good business credit scores help a small business get loans. Your loan provider knows the small business can pay its debts. They understand the business is bona fide. The company’s EIN connects to high scores, and credit issuers won’t feel the need to ask for a personal guarantee.

Business credit is an asset which can help your small business for years to come. And you can even build it during a recession.

Fundbox Recession Funding Review: Some Final Thoughts

And finally, as with every other lending program, whether online or offline, always remember to read the fine print and do the math. Go over the details with care. And decide if this option will be good for you and your company.

In addition, consider alternative financing options that go beyond lending, including building business credit. Recession funding exists but it is harder to get. So make sure to try Fundbox recession funding.

Only you can best decide how to get the money you need to help your business grow. Today, we want to hear from our audience! Share your voice with us about your experiences with online lenders. And let us know your opinion of our Fundbox review.

The post Fundbox Recession Funding – Check Out Our Research on This Rock Solid Way to Get Financing Even in a Recession appeared first on Credit Suite.

Check Out Our Fundation Group LLC Recession Funding Review and Make Your Best Business Financing Decision Today

Will Our Fundation Group LLC Recession Funding Review Help Satisfy Your Need for Business Funding? We Put It to the Test

Fundation Group LLC is one of many lending companies online. They provide term loans and lines of credit. Foundation confirmed the information we found about them online. We look at the specifics and drill down into the details. So check out our Fundation Group LLC recession funding review.

Fundation Group LLC Recession Funding Review: Background

Fundation Group LLC is located online here: http://www.fundation.com/. Their physical address is located in Reston, VA. Plus you can call them at: (888) 390-0064. So their contact page is here: https://fundation.com/about/.

Their capital base has come from Goldman Sachs; Garrison Investment Group; and Midcap Financial, LLC.

Fundation Group LLC Recession Funding Review: Term Loans

Funding as soon as one business day. Up to $500,000 is available; terms go up to 4 years. Payments are twice per month. No specific collateral is needed. They want a personal guarantee. Fundation will take out a UCC-1 blanket lien for most borrowers.

They do not seem to have a time in business requirement anymore. Fundation also does not seem to have an annual revenue or personal credit requirement anymore.

Fundation Group LLC Recession Funding Review: Fees

Rates are risk-based; the higher the risk, the higher the rate.

Interest rates are not listed; they will be determined based on several factors. There are no prepayment fees.

Cost of Loans

Several factors are considered when Fundation decides on the cost of a loan. These factors include time in business and seasonality. They also include financial metrics. So these metrics include profit margin and amount of debt.

Fundation Group LLC Recession Funding Review: Lines of Credit

Up to $150,000 is available. The new balance after each draw is amortized in equal installments over 18 months. Payments are monthly. No specific collateral is needed. They want a personal guarantee. Fundation will take out a UCC-1 blanket lien for most borrowers.

They do not seem to have a time in business requirement anymore. Fundation also does not seem to have an annual revenue or personal credit requirement anymore.

Fundation Group LLC Recession Funding Review: Fees

There are no prepayment fees. Just pay the outstanding balance plus accrued interest if you prepay
your loan or line of credit.

Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring. It’s a worthwhile investment, saving you money even during a recession.

Fundation Group LLC Recession Funding Review: Advantages

Advantages include no apparent time in business requirement. Their maximum loan amount is fairly high.

Fundation Group LLC Recession Funding Review: Disadvantages

Disadvantages are they want personal guarantees for pretty much everything and will take out a UCC blanket lien.

A Fantastic Alternative – Establishing Business Credit

Business credit is credit in a small business’s name. It doesn’t attach to an owner’s individual credit, not even when the owner is a sole proprietor and the solitary employee of the small business.

As such, a business owner’s business and individual credit scores can be very different.

The Advantages

Because business credit is distinct from personal, it helps to protect a small business owner’s personal assets, in case of a lawsuit or business bankruptcy.

Also, with two distinct credit scores, a small business owner can get two different cards from the same merchant. This effectively doubles buying power.

Another benefit is that even startup ventures can do this. Visiting a bank for a business loan can be a formula for disappointment. But building small business credit, when done right, is a plan for success.

Personal credit scores depend upon payments but also other factors like credit utilization percentages.

But for small business credit, the scores actually only depend on whether a business pays its invoices punctually.

The Process

Establishing company credit is a process, and it does not occur without effort. A company has to actively work to establish company credit.

However, it can be done readily and quickly, and it is much quicker than establishing consumer credit scores.

Vendors are a big aspect of this process.

Performing the steps out of sequence will cause repetitive denials. Nobody can start at the top with small business credit. For example, you can’t start with retail or cash credit from your bank. If you do, you’ll get a rejection 100% of the time.

Business Fundability

A company must be fundable to credit issuers and vendors.

For that reason, a company will need a professional-looking web site and e-mail address. And it needs to have site hosting from a company like GoDaddy.

And, company phone and fax numbers must have a listing on ListYourself.net.

In addition, the company telephone number should be toll-free (800 exchange or the equivalent).

A small business will also need a bank account devoted strictly to it, and it needs to have all of the licenses essential for operation.

Licenses

These licenses all must be in the perfect, appropriate name of the company. And they must have the same business address and phone numbers.

So keep in mind, that this means not just state licenses, but potentially also city licenses.

Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring. It’s a worthwhile investment, saving you money even during a recession.

Dealing with the Internal Revenue Service

Visit the IRS web site and acquire an EIN for the small business. They’re totally free. Select a business entity such as corporation, LLC, etc.

A company can get started as a sole proprietor. But they will most likely wish to switch to a kind of corporation or an LLC.

This is in order to minimize risk. And it will make best use of tax benefits.

A business entity will matter when it pertains to tax obligations and liability in case of litigation. A sole proprietorship means the business owner is it when it comes to liability and taxes. No one else is responsible.

Sole Proprietors Take Note

If you operate a company as a sole proprietor, then at least be sure to file for a DBA. This is ‘doing business as’ status.

If you do not, then your personal name is the same as the small business name. Therefore, you can end up being directly responsible for all small business debts.

Plus, according to the Internal Revenue Service, by having this arrangement there is a 1 in 7 probability of an IRS audit. There is a 1 in 50 probability for corporations! Prevent confusion and noticeably reduce the chances of an IRS audit at the same time.

Setting off the Business Credit Reporting Process

Begin at the D&B web site and obtain a totally free D-U-N-S number. A D-U-N-S number is how D&B gets a business into their system, to produce a PAYDEX score. If there is no D-U-N-S number, then there is no record and no PAYDEX score.

By doing this, Experian and Equifax will have something to report on.

Vendor Credit

First you must build trade lines that report. This is also referred to as vendor credit. Then you’ll have an established credit profile, and you’ll get a business credit score.

And with an established business credit profile and score you can begin to get retail and cash credit.

These sorts of accounts have the tendency to be for the things bought all the time, like marketing materials, shipping boxes, outdoor work wear, ink and toner, and office furniture.

But first off, what is trade credit? These trade lines are credit issuers who will give you initial credit when you have none now. Terms are often Net 30, rather than revolving.

So, if you get approval for $1,000 in vendor credit and use all of it, you must pay that money back in a set term, such as within 30 days on a Net 30 account.

Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring. It’s a worthwhile investment, saving you money even during a recession.

Retail Credit

Once there are 3 or more vendor trade accounts reporting to at least one of the CRAs, then move onto retail credit. These are companies like Office Depot and Staples.

Just use your SSN and date of birth on these applications for verification purposes. For credit checks and guarantees, use the business’s EIN on these credit applications.

Fleet Credit

Are there more accounts reporting? Then move to fleet credit. These are companies like BP and Conoco. Use this credit to buy fuel, and to fix and maintain vehicles. Just use your SSN and date of birth on these applications for verification purposes. For credit checks and guarantees, make sure to apply using the company’s EIN.

Cash Credit

Have you been sensibly handling the credit you’ve up to this point? Then progress to more universal cash credit. These are companies such as Visa and MasterCard. Just use your SSN and date of birth on these applications for verification purposes. For credit checks and guarantees, use your EIN instead.

These are frequently MasterCard credit cards. If you have more trade accounts reporting, then these are doable.

Monitor Your Business Credit

Know what is happening with your credit. Make certain it is being reported and deal with any mistakes ASAP. Get in the practice of taking a look at credit reports. Dig into the particulars, not just the scores.

We can help you monitor business credit at Experian and D&B for 90% less.

Update Your Data

Update the details if there are inaccuracies or the details is incomplete.

Fix Your Business Credit

So, what’s all this monitoring for? It’s to contest any mistakes in your records. Mistakes in your credit report(s) can be corrected. But the CRAs normally want you to dispute in a particular way.

Disputes

Disputing credit report errors typically means you send a paper letter with duplicates of any proofs of payment with it. These are documents like receipts and cancelled checks. Never send the originals. Always send copies and retain the original copies.

Fixing credit report inaccuracies also means you precisely itemize any charges you contest. Make your dispute letter as understandable as possible. Be specific about the issues with your report. Use certified mail so that you will have proof that you sent in your dispute.

A Word about Building Business Credit

Always use credit responsibly! Don’t borrow beyond what you can pay off. Track balances and deadlines for repayments. Paying punctually and fully will do more to boost business credit scores than pretty much anything else.

Building business credit pays. Great business credit scores help a business get loans. Your credit issuer knows the business can pay its financial obligations. They know the company is bona fide.

The business’s EIN attaches to high scores and loan providers won’t feel the need to demand a personal guarantee.

Business credit is an asset which can help your business for years to come. Learn more here and get started toward growing company credit.

Fundation Group LLC Recession Funding Review: Upshot

A company needing higher amounts will likely do better with Fundation. But there are negatives.

Entrepreneurs will find they have to give up a personal guarantee and, on top of that, have a UCC blanket lien held by Fundation. A company that fails and ends up going out of business could be particularly harsh for an entrepreneur – so companies which are unsure of the chances of their success would do well to seek out other types of funding, where they either hand over a personal guarantee or a UCC blanket lien but not both.

And finally, as with every other lending program, whether online or offline, always remember to read the fine print and do the math. Go over the details with a fine-toothed comb, and decide whether this option will be good for you and your company. In addition, consider alternative financing options that go beyond lending, including building business credit, in order to best decide how to get the money you need to help your business grow.

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