Business Trade Lines In a Recession Can Help Create a Unique Opportunity

It is possible to build business credit, even during hard times. Of course it’s easier to already have business credit when the hard times hit. However, if you find yourself in need of funding to get through this Covid caused rough spot, business trade lines in a recession can help.

Business Trade Lines in a Recession: Build Business Credit Even in Hard Economic Times

When the economy heads south, it can seem impossible to build anything good. Most of us tend to go into survival mode, happy if we can just hang on. Building, growing, and expanding are the last things on our mind. The truth is though, you can use business trade lines in a recession to build business credit.

This can allow you to be in the unique position to take advantage of opportunities during a recession that others will not be able to benefit from, because they are still in survival mode.

Imagine, if a wholesaler offers a special on inventory and you have business credit that allows you to take advantage, while your competitor does not, you have a clear advantage. But how do you do it? How do you use business trade lines in a recession to build business credit? The simple answer is, the same way you do any other time. There is a little more to it however.

Business Trade Lines in a Recession: Where to Start

Before business trade lines in a recession will do you any good, you have to do some prep work. This prep work lays a solid foundation to build strong business credit on, even during a recession. If you skip this part, you are likely to find you can’t even get started with business credit. These first steps truly are essential before you can take advantage of the help business trade lines can offer.

These steps are best taken before you start your business, but if you are already up and running, all is not lost. Just start where you are.

You need to consider how your business is set up. For many new business owners, starting a business just kind of happens. You have something you do that you love, and you decide it’s time to use it to make money. You may find a location or start from your home. Likely you simply mingle funds in your personal bank account. You have a business name but the business address, email, and phone number are all the same as your personal contact information. It is sort of a natural progression.

Hit the jackpot and weather any recession with our best webinar and its trustworthy list of seven vendors who can help you build business credit.

If you want to establish business credit, you have to be purposeful to set up your business separate from yourself. This means doing a few things differently.

How to Establish Your Business as a Separate Entity

First, you have to incorporate. Running as a DBA, sole proprietorship, or partnership really won’t cut it. You can choose from running as a corporation, S-corp, or LLC based on your specific needs, but it needs to be one of these three. Each one comes associated with a different cost and varying levels of protection, but each will serve the purpose of separating your business from yourself.

Next, establish separate contact information for your business. You need a business address, email, and phone number that is different from your personal address, email, and phone number. The phone number should be from a toll-free exchange, and your email address should be associated with your professional website. Do not use a free service such as Gmail or Yahoo, and don’t ignore the professional website part. These days, a poorly put together website can ruin a business.

Pick Your Numbers

After these first steps are complete you need to play the numbers game. In order to establish business credit, your business has to have two numbers associated with it. The first is an EIN. This is an identifying number for a business, similar to a social security number. You can get one for free on the IRS website.

The next is a DUNS number. This is a number assigned by Dun & Bradstreet, the largest and most commonly used business credit reporting agency. To have a business credit file with them, you must have a DUNS number. You can apply for it for free on their website, but note that they will definitely try to sell you other services. Be strong. The number is free and the other services are not necessary.

Separate the Finances

Open a separate bank account for your business. This is the account through which all business financial transactions should run. If your business is already up and running, it may take you some time to get everything switched over, but it will be worth it. Not only will is help separate your business from your personal credit, but it will also help tremendously when it is time to do your taxes.

The Magic of Business Trade Lines In a Recession:

Plant the Seed, Hammer the Nail

Okay, so these steps ensure that your business is on record as a business at all the right places. As soon as something credit related is reporting, it will have a place to go. How do you get something reported though? You need accounts that will report your on-time payments. Lenders will not even consider extending you credit however, if you don’t have a credit score, or if your credit score is bad. How do you break into the circle?

You can find a tiny crack with business trade lines in a recession. These are vendors that sell things you use in the everyday course of business, and they are vital to building business credit. Here’s how it works. They will extend net30 terms on invoices, without a credit check, and then report your invoice payments to the business credit reporting agencies.

For most of these vendors, you will have to make a few initial purchases before they will extend net30 terms. Some want to see a minimum time in business or a certain revenue level as well. We have compiled a list of six easy approval options to help you get started with business trade lines in a recession.

Hit the jackpot and weather any recession with our best webinar and its trustworthy list of seven vendors who can help you build business credit.

Strategic Network Solutions

This company sells eBooks, software, and even office supplies. You do have to register to see their products, but the process if fast and easy. You will have to make a $75 or more initial purchase to be eligible for a net30 account of up to $1,000 for a new business. The credit line can increase in increments of $500 if balances are paid in full and on-time. Strategic Network Solutions reports to Experian and Credit Safe.

Grainger Industrial Supply

Granger industrial Supply sells industrial equipment for outdoors as well as standard tools, and more. To gain net 30 approval you will need a business license, a DUNS number, and bank reference. They report to Dun & Bradstreet.

Summa Office Supplies

Another office supply provider, you can order anything from paper to staples, pens to printer ink, and pretty much anything you can think of in between from Summa. They require a $75 initial purchase, and will approve up to $2,000 on net 30 terms. They report to Eqifax and D&B.

Quill Office Supplies

Quill also sells standard office supplies. You will need to make an initial purchase. They’ll usually put you on a 90 day prepay scheduled, but after ordering for 3 months in a row, they’ll typically approve net 30 terms. They report to Dun & Bradstreet.

Uline

Uline sells a lot of things, but they specialize in packing and shipping equipment and janitorial supplies. You’ll need to place an initial order, and they do ask for a bank reference and two other references. They report to Dun & Bradstreet, so you’ll of course need a DUNS number too.

Hit the jackpot and weather any recession with our best webinar and its trustworthy list of seven vendors who can help you build business credit.

What Comes After Business Trade Lines in a Recession?

Using business trade lines in a recession is all part of the working with starter vendors. After you have a few of these accounts reporting, you can apply for store credit card accounts, then the fleet cards, and finally general use cards. Here’s what you need to know about each type of card, and what happens when you get to the top.

Business Trade Lines In a Recession :Store Cards

It’s hard work to get something going. Rolling a tire, pushing a car to jump start it, and starting a business all take an extra exertion of energy. Once a thing is going, you can sort of set it on cruise control. Store cars are the beginning of your business credit cruising phase.

In building business credit, after you have enough business trade lines in a recession, you can start applying for store credit. These are credit cards issued by specific retailers such as Office Depot and Best Buy. Apply for these accounts, purchase things you need in the everyday course of running your business, and make your payments on-time. Your business credit score will grow stronger by the day.

Business Trade Lines in a Recession: Fleet Cards

Keep cruising through and after enough store cards are reporting, apply for fleet cards. These cards are issued by fleet companies such as Shell and Fuelman. They can be used to purchase gasoline or for automobile maintenance and repairs. Once you have enough of these accounts reporting, it’s time for the general use cards.

Business Trade Lines in a Recession: General Use Credit Cards

General use credit cards are end game. Hold the wheel steady, and you can cruise here forever. These cards consists of the traditional Visa, Master, and American Express cards not associated with a specific store or type of purchase. Use this wisely, continue to make consistent, on-time payments, and your business credit will be rock solid.

Warning Signs

Setting the cruise doesn’t mean you get to be disengaged. Building business credit with business trade lines in a recession takes a lot of work. It feels good when you have a business credit score that is building quickly and you can relax a little. You don’t have to work as hard, but you still have to steer, and watch the signs.

Neglecting to make payments consistently on-time could throw you in a ditch. You’ll have to climb out and start all over again. Be careful.

Why Business Credit?

You may be asking yourself the question, why bother? You may have personal credit that will allow you to get what you need to run your business without needing to work with business trade lines in a recession. It can take time, and better prices may be available elsewhere. What’s the point? Why do you need business credit?

The fact is, it’s never a good idea to have your business transactions on your personal credit report, recession or not. There are a few reasons for this. First, if your personal credit takes a hit, it can affect your ability to run your business.

Also, business credit cards based on personal credit often have a lower credit limit, and business transactions are often very large. If you get close to your limit, your score will take a hit even if you make your payments like you should due to the high debt-to-credit ratio.

By having cards based on your business credit, you can get higher limits, and your personal credit will not be affected by business transactions. This way, you do not have to worry about business transactions keeping you from applying for personal credit you may need to purchase a car or make home improvements.

Build Business Credit With Business Trade Lines in a Recession

Regardless of your personal credit score, you really do have to work with business trade lines in a recession to start your business credit. After you establish your business and prepare the way for your business transactions to be reported to your business credit profile, you will need accounts to report. Most credit cards will not extend credit to a business with no credit, or bad credit. Working with business trade lines that do not do a credit check is a way around that. You can start building business credit in your business name without your personal credit score ever being involved. It’s a win/win for you and for your business.

The post Business Trade Lines In a Recession Can Help Create a Unique Opportunity appeared first on Credit Suite.

Brilliant! How to Start a Business with No Money and Bad Credit in a Recession

Is it really possible to start a business with no money and bad credit in a recession? Absolutely! Pandemic or no pandemic, this is possible.

Learn Start a Business with no Money and Bad Credit in a Recession

Do you know how to start a business with no money and bad credit in a recession? We can help you build business credit, even if your personal credit is not so hot.

This is through building business credit.

Building business credit means that your firm gets chances you never felt you would. You can get brand new equipment, bid on buildings, and cover the company payroll. And you can do this even when times are a bit lean. This is specifically helpful in holiday business enterprises, where you can go for several months with merely hardly any sales.

Because of this, you should really tackle developing your business credit. Enhance and maintain your scores and you will have these opportunities. Do not, and either you do not get these opportunities, or they will cost you a lot more. And no small business owner wants that.

You will need to understand what affects your company credit before you can make it better.

How to Start a Business with no Money and Bad Credit in a Recession: Credit History Length Matters

This is basically how long your business has been using company credit. Needless to say newer firms will have short credit histories. While there is not too much you can particularly do about that, do not stress.

Credit reporting agencies will also inspect your personal credit score and your own background of payments. If your own personal credit is excellent, and particularly if you have a reasonably lengthy credit history, then your personal credit can come to the rescue of your company. That is, you did not just get your first credit card not too long ago.

Naturally the reverse is also right. So if your personal credit history is poor, then it will impact your business credit scores until your company and consumer credit can be separated.

How to Start a Business with no Money and Bad Credit in a Recession: Your Payment History is Important

Tardy repayments will affect your company credit score for a good seven years. If you pay your small business (and personal) debts off, as quickly as possible and as completely as possible, then you can make a very real difference when it concerns your credit scores. Make sure to pay on schedule and you will experience the benefits of promptness.

How to Start a Business with no Money and Bad Credit in a Recession: Your Personal Credit Can Influence Your Business Credit

Are you having a bad business year? Then it could wind up on your personal credit score. And just in case your small business has not been around for too long, it will directly affect your business credit.

How do you fix this? By building business credit.

How to Start a Business with no Money and Bad Credit in a Recession: Build Business Credit

Business credit is credit in a small business’s name. It doesn’t connect to an owner’s personal credit, not even when the owner is a sole proprietor and the solitary employee of the small business. Truly, it is the best method of how to start a business with no money and bad credit in a recession.

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

The Benefits

Due to the fact that small business credit is independent from individual, it helps to protect a business owner’s personal assets, in the event of court action or business bankruptcy.

Also, with two separate credit scores, a business owner can get two separate cards from the same vendor. This effectively doubles purchasing power.

Another advantage is that even start-ups can do this. Visiting a bank for a business loan can be a formula for frustration. But building small business credit, when done the right way, is a plan for success.

Individual credit scores are dependent on payments but also additional factors like credit use percentages.

But for company credit, the scores actually just hinge on if a small business pays its invoices timely.

Learn more here and get started toward building business credit attached to your company’s EIN and not your SSN. Get money even in a recession!

The Process

Growing company credit is a process, and it does not occur automatically. A company must actively work to develop company credit.

Nonetheless, it can be done readily and quickly, and it is much more efficient than developing individual credit scores.

Vendors are a big aspect of this process.

Doing the steps out of order will cause 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 denial 100% of the time.

Business Fundability

A business has to be fundable to lending institutions and merchants.

That’s why, a company will need a professional-looking web site and email address. And it needs to have site hosting bought from a merchant such as GoDaddy.

Plus, company telephone and fax numbers must have a listing on ListYourself.net.

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

A small business will also need a bank account dedicated purely to it, and it must have every one of the licenses essential for operating.

Licenses

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

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

Dealing with the IRS

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

A company can start off as a sole proprietor. But they will probably wish to switch to a sort of corporation or an LLC.

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

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

Sole Proprietors Take Note

If you run 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 business name. Consequently, you can find yourself being directly responsible for all small business financial obligations.

Also, per the IRS, using this structure there is a 1 in 7 chance of an IRS audit. There is a 1 in 50 possibility for corporations! Avoid confusion and noticeably lower the chances of an IRS audit at the same time.

Starting the Business Credit Reporting Process

Start at the D&B web site and get a 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.

Once in D&B’s system, search Equifax and Experian’s sites for the company. You can do this at 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 way, Experian and Equifax will have something to report on.

Vendor Credit

First you should 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 start to get retail and cash credit.

These kinds 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 starter credit when you have none now. Terms are commonly Net 30, instead of revolving.

So, 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 must 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 made use of.

To kick off your business credit profile properly, you ought to get approval for vendor accounts that report to the business credit reporting agencies. Once that’s done, you can then use the credit.

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

Vendor Credit – It Helps

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

This is vital for how to start a business with no money and bad credit in a recession.

You want 3 of these to move onto the next step, which is retail credit.

Learn more here and get started toward building business credit attached to your company’s EIN and not your SSN. Get money even in a recession!

Accounts That Don’t 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 nonetheless be of some worth.

You can always ask non-reporting accounts for trade references. Additionally credit accounts of any sort should help you to better even out business expenditures, thus making financial planning less complicated. These are companies like PayPal Credit, T-Mobile, and Best Buy.

Retail Credit

Once there are 3 or more vendor trade accounts reporting to at least one of the CRAs, then move to retail credit. These are companies which include 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 company’s EIN on these credit applications.

Fleet Credit

Are there more accounts reporting? Then move onto fleet credit. These are businesses like BP and Conoco. Use this credit to purchase fuel, and to fix 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 certain to apply using the small business’s EIN.

Learn more here and get started toward building business credit attached to your company’s EIN and not your SSN. Get money even in a recession!

Cash Credit

Have you been sensibly handling the credit you’ve gotten up to this point? Then move onto more universal cash credit. These are businesses 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 often 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 if being reported and take care of 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.

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

Update Your Record

Update the details if there are mistakes or the information 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. And for Equifax, go here: www.equifax.com/business/small-business.

Fix Your Business Credit

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

Get your 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.

Disputes

Disputing credit report errors commonly means you send a paper letter with duplicates of any proof of payment with it. These are documents like receipts and cancelled checks. Never mail the original copies. Always send copies and keep the original copies.

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

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

You can dispute inaccuracies on your or your business’s Experian report by following the directions 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

Always use credit sensibly! Never borrow more than what you can pay back. Monitor balances and deadlines for payments. Paying in a timely manner and fully will do more to raise business credit scores than almost anything else.

Establishing small business credit pays off. Excellent business credit scores help a company get loans. Your lender knows the company can pay its financial obligations. They understand the business is for real.

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

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

How to Start a Business with no Money and Bad Credit in a Recession: Looking for Some Ideas?

And we would be remiss if we didn’t give you any business ideas! Here are seven great ones from Shopify which we loved.

How to Start a Business with no Money and Bad Credit in a Recession: Takeaways

Once you understand what impacts your small business credit score, you are that much nearer to creating better business credit which will help you learn how to start a business with no money and bad credit in a recession. Don’t let COVID-19 get you down.

Now go get ‘em, tiger!

The post Brilliant! How to Start a Business with No Money and Bad Credit in a Recession appeared first on Credit Suite.

10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding, Part 1

Not All Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding Are Alike

Are crowdfunding platforms for recession funding confusing you? Are you thinking of crowdfunding your business? There are several platforms out there with differing requirements. And they are not even close!

Getting working capital to grow your business doesn’t have to be hard. Many companies these days turn to crowdfunding. A lot of these options

will work for startup ventures.

There Are No Guarantees, Even with Crowdfunding Success

For some companies which crowdfund, the rewards are great. As per the Crowdfunding Blog, the single most successful crowdfunding campaign was for the Pebble Time Smartwatch. So this was as of November of 2018. But before you run out and try to buy one, note one thing. They are now a part of FitBit.

As in, they went out of business in July of 2018. So this is a business which raised over $20 million in 2015! That is no typo. And in point of fact, Pebble holds three of the top six spots in the biggest crowdfunding successes of all time. Together, these three crowdfunding campaigns raked in a staggering $43.39 million.

This is about $8 million more than the town of Huntington, New York (population 203,264) budgeted for highways in 2018. Yes, really.

So there is one thing that should be clear to all. Runaway crowdfunding success is no guarantee whatsoever of actual success.

But now it is time to get to the 10 crowdfunding platforms for recession funding that you should know about.

What frustrates you the most about funding your business? Tell us in the comments.

Quick Tips About Crowdfunding: 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 for recession funding make their money– they take a percentage of any money you can raise. Thus, you will need to take that into consideration. Crowdfunding percent charges vary from 4% to 10%.

Quick Tips About Crowdfunding : What Should I Offer for Perks?

Check with the crowdfunding platforms for recession funding which interest you the most – just in case they don’t allow perks.

But for many crowdfunding platforms for recession funding, yes, you will have to offer perks to your donors. Perks can take many forms– buttons, tees, book marks – every one of those are possible tangible perks. Consider a perk format which can sync with your business. If you sell homemade jam, then perhaps create a unique flavor just for the campaign, and offer bigger and bigger-sized jars depending on donation amount.

If you are a horseback riding stable, offer a complimentary lesson or a postcard with a favorite horse’s image on it, or something like that. Does your startup flip houses? Then consider offering a coupon to a neighborhood home supply company or the like. Be sure to work with them beforehand, of course.

Perks are only limited by your imagination, so be creative! And if you can offer something which people will use a lot, then so much the better.

What frustrates you the most about funding your business? Tell us in the comments.

Pro Tip on Perks

Physical perks are a massive pain! A lot of people love them, and they will stand out. Plus, if a perk is used regularly, it will help to keep your company at the top of your backers’ minds.

However, you also have to ship physical perks. You may be an American company, but that doesn’t mean all of your backers will be in the United States. International shipping is extremely expensive, even for small items. So if you offer physical perks, specify whether you will allow international donor addresses.

But even if everything has to be shipped in the US, you are still left with working with a data base of names and addresses, and a few of these might have misprints or be incomplete.

And you would usually be working with a range of available perks. Did Jane want the stuffed teddy bear or the book mark? Did Alan want the pennant or the tee shirt? Do Jane and Alan live at the same address so perhaps you could mail their perks out together? What if a perk is lost or broken in the mail? And what if it injures someone?

Because of this, if you can do it, you might want to try for digital perks. For a house flipping startup, you might record video footage about home design or repair. For a long haul trucking company, you could offer PDFs with personal recommendations on what to see and do in certain cities you service. And for a nail salon, maybe offer digital coupons for a free month of manicure touch ups.

Great Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 1. Kickstarter

They are the biggest crowdfunding platform. They have over 18 million backers and over 180,000 funded projects. Campaigns are for products and services such as:

Publishing
The arts and film
Comics and illustration
Design and tech

You will need to have a prototype. Projects cannot be for charity, although nonprofits can use Kickstarter. And you can’t offer equity in a company as a perk.

Taboo projects and perks include anything to do with:

Contests and raffles
Cures and medicines
Credit services
Live animals
Alcohol
Weapons

There is a 5% fee on all funds which creators collect. Stripe, their payments processor, will also apply payment processing fees (roughly 3-5%). Campaigns that don’t make it don’t pay a fee. There are also fees of 3% + $0.20 per pledge. Pledges under $10 have to pay a discounted micropledge fee of 5% + $0.05 per pledge.

Great Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 2. Indiegogo

Indiegogo has over 9 million backers. Their minimum goal amount is $500. They charge 5% platform fees. There may be third-party credit card fees. Fees are deducted from the amount raised, not the goal. So if you exceed your goal, you will pay more in fees. They do not take PayPal.

Indiegogo is notable because they offer both fixed and flexible funding. This means, if you do not make your goal – assuming you chose flexible funding – you can at least hold onto what you collected. Hence it is the opposite of how crowdfunding normally works.

You cannot change your fundraising structure from fixed to flexible (or vice versa) once the campaign starts. They recommend fixed funding if you need a minimum amount for your project. Indiegogo recommends regular communications to donors if you choose fixed funding.

Great Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 3. Patreon

Patreon is more for entrepreneurs in the arts space. With Patreon, fans pay your business on a monthly basis. Get more regular funding, and that’s always better for budgeting. Develop a recurring, dependable income stream while connecting directly with fans.

Pay 5% for Lite. For Patreon Pro, pay 8%. And for Patreon Premium, pay 12%.

What frustrates you the most about funding your business? Tell us in the comments.

Great Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 4. CircleUp

CircleUp is only for businesses. Their aim is to help emerging brands and companies raise capital to grow.

CircleUp Growth Partners is CircleUp’s fund currently making direct equity investments into high growth, early stage consumer companies. To qualify, a business must have revenue of $1 – $15 million, raising $1 – $10 million in growth equity. CircleUp Growth Partners is looking for innovative brands that are creating new categories or disrupting existing categories. They want to work with entrepreneurs with a strong vision and unwavering passion for their product.

You can also get a line of credit from CircleUp.

CircleUp says (in its FAQ): “Our commission is intended to be generally consistent with what companies pay to investment bankers in the offline world for similar size fundraising rounds.”

Great Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 5. GoFundMe

Because the name is known, we should mention GoFundMe. But it’s probably not the best choice out there.

In general, GoFundMe is for individuals. Hence you might conceivably use it at the very beginning of your starting up a business. You will need to meet your fundraising goal in order to collect. There are no specific platform fees in America. Industry-standard transaction fees apply and vary depending on the country that the campaign was created in.

GoFundMe is often for personal causes, such as people looking to cover their medical bills. Hence it may not be best for business funding. In addition, given the large numbers of people who use GoFundMe for personal expenses, be aware that a business plea might get lost in the shuffle.

What’s in Part 2 of the 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding You Should Know About?

In Part 2, we’ll round out our list of 10. Discover this new way to get funding for your business.

The post 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding, Part 1 appeared first on Credit Suite.

10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding You Should Know About, Part 2

Check Out These 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding You Should Know About

These 10 crowdfunding platforms for recession funding have been catching our eye lately.

Have you been thinking of crowdfunding your business? There are several recession crowdfunding platforms out there with differing requirements. These are the recession crowdfunding platforms you should know.

Getting working capital to grow your business doesn’t have to be hard. Many companies these days turn to recession crowdfunding platforms. A lot of these options will work for startup ventures. The last 5 of our top 10 crowdfunding platforms for recession funding are a bit more obscure. But first, here are a few tips to help you with your campaign.

Quick Tips About Crowdfunding: Your Campaign

Your campaign’s success is far from guaranteed. But you can capitalize on a few proven approaches. First off, consider these four emotions that you need to engender in donors. Use one or more of them as the focal point of your campaign as a starting point.

Scarcity

If you have thousands of something or other to supply as a perk, it will not be as desirable. If you only have a few copies of a specific perk, that will instill a feeling in some potential donors that they just have to have it. Do this with your larger donation levels only. Therefore, you might want to establish a perk/donation level system similar to this:

Donation Level	Number of Perks
Lowest	1,000
Second lowest	500 (reward also incorporates lowest level reward)
Second highest	50 (reward also includes two lower level rewards)
Highest	10 (reward also incorporates all other levels’ rewards)

Remember: a lot of variety in physical perks will make fulfillment a lot harder, so don’t work with greater than maybe five separate varieties of physical perks– and even that is pushing it.

Building scarcity into your perk tiers is a great way to add perceived value to the perks which attach to your higher level donations.

Urgency

The first two and last two days of a crowdfunding campaign are pretty much always the days with the biggest payoffs. Often, making the campaign longer doesn’t make you significantly more money. So why not open a campaign for only a week? Do not let donors feel they can contribute any old time they feel like it.

Novelty

If you are offering the same old thing as a thousand other places, no one will want to make a donation. Your widget has got to be hotter, cheaper, lighter, or more resilient. Your food should be reduced in calories or higher in nutrition or better-tasting. Or your professional services need to be delivered better or quicker, by friendlier and more skilled employees. And they should come with a money back guarantee your competition does not provide.

Not sure about your own personal creativity? Then talk to creative people you know, and listen to what they say. They might have amazing ideas and it certainly never hurts to ask.

Cool factor

Is your product a work of art? Is it a new, gadget-like innovation? Then it may have a coolness aspect which you can construct your campaign around. But do not be discouraged if it isn’t! These days, some of the most unforgettable advertising campaigns are based around a product the majority of people found uninspiring not ten years ago– insurance.

So house flipping could boast a cool factor if you show off flipping in a neighborhood where a celebrity lives or once lived. A nail shop can show off coolness with exciting new designs not found anywhere else. And a long haul trucking company can showcase a cool factor with some of the more unusual products you’ve hauled.

Quick Tips About Crowdfunding: Crowdfunding Strategy

A few words on strategy:

Your Pitch Video Must be Great

Use an expert to film it and develop the script. Can’t pay for experts? Then try schools, both pupils and educators. Your script doesn’t need to be verbatim but you should have points you wish to make and not babble. Write a script and stay with it. This is not the right time to ad-lib.

If You Have Tangible Evidence of Your Project, then Show it

Put it in your campaign video and on your campaign page. A number of people are naturally doubtful 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 communications with your donors, even in the cover letters you deliver with your perks (even internet perks can include a cover email). You don’t need to be servile, but you absolutely must be diplomatic.

Stretch Goals Should be a Combination of Readily Achievable and Pie in the Sky

If you are crowdfunding for $100,000, a reasonably easy to attain stretch goal is $125,000. Pie in the sky going to be more like $300,000.

Make it abundantly clear what you will do with any added money if you are fortunate enough to get it. Will you buy the property your startup is in? Employ five more people? Replace your old equipment? Launch a brand-new market on another continent? Let your donors know what you are pursuing, so they can dream with you.

Be Gracious if Your Campaign Fails

You may not receive enough to make an appreciable dent in your funding requirements. So give your donors a stake in and an inside look at your business. This will enable them to feel invested. Even if your crowdfunding campaign concludes does not mean a donor cannot send a check or buy extra goods or services. If that happens, then politeness is essential.

Line up the Most Significant and Most Dependable Donors You Can Before You Start

Tell these people to postpone handing over their $1,000 or $10,000 donation till you start your campaign.

And ask them (nicely!) to release their donation during either the first or last day of the campaign.

Make the most of the novelty factor of the first day of the campaign, or the urgency factor of the very last. Just like a busker with a couple of her own bucks in her hat, to motivate people to toss in a few bucks for a song, you want your biggest donors to show other donors that they believe 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 opportunity ends.

Share Your Campaign on Social Media

And ask your family and friends to do so, too. Tweet the link. Incorporate it as a Facebook status. Make it a Tumblr post or a snap on Snapchat or create a blog post about it. Ask your network to publicize the link.

The most effective technique to get your network to help you out is by helping them in return. If your relative’s rock band is on Facebook, share their page, or tweet about it.

Be a collaborative member of your own personal network. Then your contacts will be more likely to help you out when you ask.

And rerun these social media postings. Considering time zones 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 oftentimes use scheduling software such as Hootsuite for this. This includes what is the middle of the night where you live.

In Part 1, we covered 5 great crowdfunding sites you should have on your radar. Here are 5 more to round out 10 crowdfunding platforms for recession funding you should know about. But now we’re going a little more obscure.

More About Our Favorite 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 6. GoGetFunding

GoGetFunding has been around since 2011. It lets fundraisers keep the money they raise, whether they meet their target or not. Flexible funding can be a great option if your company is a somewhat unproven idea and you are unsure whether you will be able to meet your funding needs.

GoGetFunding charges a fee of 6.9%. This somewhat high fee includes both the platform fee and the payment processing fee. Hence this option is actually somewhat more cost-effective than many other crowdfunding options.

What frustrates you the most about funding your business? Tell us in the comments.

More About Our Favorite 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 7. Crowdfunder

Crowdfunder works as what’s called equity crowdfunding. This is where investors purchase equity in promising companies.

Crowdfunder treats its campaigns as deals, and its donors as ‘investors’. Pay a one-time fee to make your campaign discoverable.

Starter listings are $299/month. Premium listings are $499/month. Premium Plus is $999/month.

Types of business which cannot use Crowdfunder include:

Guns/Firearms
Tobacco/Cigarettes/Cannabis
Pyramid Marketing
Adult Products & Entertainment
Gambling
Contests and Raffles
Illegal Substances/Drugs

More About Our Favorite 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 8. Fundable

Fundable is a business crowdfunding platform which lets companies raise capital from investors, customers, and friends. Create an equity or a rewards-based campaign.

In their first year, they generated over $80 million in funding commitments.

Fundable allows equity campaigns.

They charge $179 per month to fundraise. Fees on rewards are: 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction. They do not charge success fees.

More About Our Favorite 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 9. AngelList

At AngelList, you can invest in a startup or even get a job at one. So it can be, essentially, an index fund for startups. Hence if a larger, established company wanted to offer retirement investment opportunities geared to investing in startup companies, AngelList would be a place where they could go.

Hence AngelList is not exactly a business crowdfunding site. Rather, it is a way to connect investors to an array of startup investment opportunities. So investors can try for returns on FinTech or even cryptocurrencies. One of their better-known investments is a business administration site called HoneyBook.

What frustrates you the most about funding your business? Tell us in the comments.

More About Our Favorite 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding: 10. Fundly

Not quite one of our 10 crowdfunding platforms for recession funding, Fundly does allow for crowdfunding for creative ventures. Therefore, if your business has a creative bent, you might find a home there.

Fundly imposes no minimum amount to fundraise in order to keep any raised funds. You can generally withdraw payments within 24 – 48 hours of the donation. They also allow for automatic and scheduled transfers. It is free to create and share an online fundraising campaign.

However, Fundly will deduct a 4.9% fee from each donation you get. A credit card processing fee of 3% is also taken out from each donation. Plus there are nonspecific automatic discounts for larger campaigns.

What frustrates you the most about funding your business? Tell us in the comments.

Takeaways

So for small business owners who want to crowdfund, it pays (quite literally!) to read the fine print. Large and well-known sites such as Kickstarter may get more attention from donors. This is often because they are better known. However, smaller sites on our list of 10 crowdfunding platforms for recession funding – like Fundable – might offer better rates and more personal service.

In the end, though, it is all about the funding. This is true for all of the recession crowdfunding platforms you should know. If your company can meet its goal, then any platform is going to be terrific. If your business cannot, then you will probably do better looking for another form of funding. This includes building business credit. Discover this new way to get funding for your business.

The post 10 Crowdfunding Platforms for Recession Funding You Should Know About, Part 2 appeared first on Credit Suite.

Caught in the Recession Rubble? Build Your Own Empire with a Recession-Proof Self-Employed Business

Wondering how to recession-proof, or social distance proof, your business? These are unprecedented times. Many business owners are wondering how to get business funding. Federal funding is available, but it may not be enough. The self-employed are perhaps taking one of the hardest hits, not even sure their business will be around when this is … Continue reading Caught in the Recession Rubble? Build Your Own Empire with a Recession-Proof Self-Employed Business

Astounding! You Can Even Get a Business Charge Card in a Recession

A business charge card in a recession is not out of the question. And that is despite what is going on with COVID-19.

Amazing! You Can Get a Business Charge Card in a Recession

We took a look at every kind of business charge card and did the research for you. So here are our picks.

Per the SBA, business credit card limits are a whopping 10 – 100 times that of consumer cards!

This demonstrates you can get a lot more funds with business credit. And it also means you can have personal credit cards at retail stores. So you would now have an additional card at the same shops for your company.

And you will not need collateral, cash flow, or financials in order to get business credit.

Business Credit Card Advantages

Perks vary. So, make sure to pick the benefit you like from this selection of alternatives.

Get a Business Charge Card in a Recession with a 0% Introductory APR – Pay Zero!

Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

Take a look at the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. It has no annual fee. There is a 0% introductory APR for the initial one year. After that, the APR is a variable 14.74 – 20.74%.

Get double Membership Rewards® points on day to day company purchases like office supplies or client suppers for the initial $50,000 spent annually. Get 1 point per dollar afterwards.

You will need good to exceptional credit to qualify.

Find it here: https://creditcard.americanexpress.com/d/bluebusinessplus-credit-card/

American Express® Blue Business Cash Card

Also check out the American Express® Blue Business Cash Card. Keep in mind: the American Express® Blue Business Cash Card is identical to the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. However its rewards are in cash instead of points.

Get 2% cash back on all eligible purchases on up to $50,000 per calendar year. After that get 1%.

It has no yearly fee. There is a 0% introductory APR for the initial 12 months. After that, the APR is a variable 14.74 – 20.74%.

You will need good to exceptional credit to qualify.

Find it here: https://creditcard.americanexpress.com/d/business-bluecash-credit-card/

Get a Remarkable Business Charge Card in a Recession with No Annual Fee

No Yearly Fee/Flat Rate Cash Back

Ink Business Unlimited℠ Credit Card

Check out the Ink Business Unlimited℠ Credit Card. Past no yearly fee, get an introductory 0% APR for the initial twelve months. After that, the APR is a variable 14.74 – 20.74%.

You can get unlimited 1.5% Cash Back rewards on every purchase made for your corporation. And get $500 bonus cash back after spending $3,000 in the initial 3 months from account opening. You can redeem your rewards for cash back, gift cards, travel and more through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. You will need excellent credit scores to get approval for this card.

Find it here: https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/unlimited

Check out how our reliable process will help your business get the best business credit cards, even during a recession.

Get an Ironclad Secured Business Charge Card in a Recession

Wells Fargo Business Secured Credit Card

Take a look at the Wells Fargo Business Secured Credit Card. It charges a $25 annual fee per card (up to 10 employee cards). It also requires a minimum security deposit of $500 (up to $25,000) and it is designed to help cardholders set up or rebuild their credit.

Choose this card if you want to earn 1.5% per dollar in purchases with no limits or get one point for every dollar in purchases. You also get 1,000 bonus points for every month your company makes $1,000 in purchases on the card.

Also, you get free FICO scores every month. There are no foreign transaction fees. It is possible to upgrade to unsecured credit. Your account is regularly reviewed, and you may become eligible for an upgrade to an unsecured card with responsible use over time. Approval is not guaranteed and depends on factors including how you manage this and your other accounts.

APR is the current prime rate plus 11.90%. There is no introductory APR period and no sign-up bonus. This is not a card for balance transfers.

Get it here: https://www.wellsfargo.com/biz/business-credit/credit-cards/secured-card/

Get a Business Charge Card in a Recession

Check out how our reliable process will help your business get the best business credit cards, even during a recession.

Get a Secure Business Charge Card in a Recession for Fair Credit Scores

Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business

Take a look at the Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business. It has no yearly fee. There is no introductory APR offer. The regular APR is a variable 24.49%. You can get unlimited 1% cash back on every purchase for your business, without minimum to redeem.

While this card is within reach if you have average credit scores, beware of the APR. However if you can pay on schedule, and completely, then it’s a good deal.

Find it here: https://www.capitalone.com/small-business/credit-cards/spark-classic/

Get a Business Charge Card in a Recession for Fair to Poor Credit, Not Calling for a Personal Guarantee

Brex Card for Startups

Look into the Brex Card for Startups. It has no annual fee.

You will not need to supply your Social Security number to apply. And you will not need to supply a personal guarantee. They will take your EIN.

Nevertheless, they do not accept every industry.

Likewise, there are some industries they will not work with, as well as others where they want added paperwork. For a list, go here: https://brex.com/legal/prohibited_activities/.

To determine creditworthiness, Brex checks a corporation’s cash balance, spending patterns, and investors.

You can get 7x points on rideshare. Get 4x on Brex Travel. Also, get triple points on restaurants. And get double points on recurring software payments. Get 1x points on everything else.

You can have poor credit scores (even a 300 FICO) to qualify.

Find it here: https://brex.com/lp/startups-higher-limits/

Small Business Charge Cards for Luxurious Travel Points – Even in a Recession

Flat-rate Travel Rewards

Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business

Check out the Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business. It has an introductory yearly fee of $0 for the first year, which after that rises to $95. The regular APR is 18.49%, variable due to the prime rate. There is no introductory annual percentage rate. Pay no transfer fees. Late fees go up to $39.

This card is excellent for travel if your expenditures don’t fall under conventional bonus categories. You can get unlimited double miles on all purchases, without limits. Earn 5x miles on rental cars and hotels if you book via Capital One Travel.

Get an initial bonus of 50,000 miles. That’s the same as $500 in travel. However you only get it if you spend $4,500 in the first 3 months from account opening. There is no foreign transaction fee. You will need a good to outstanding FICO rating to qualify.

Find it here: https://www.capitalone.com/small-business/credit-cards/spark-miles/

Bonus Travel Categories with a Sign-Up Offer

Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card

For an excellent sign-up offer and bonus categories, have a look at the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card.

Pay a yearly fee of $95. Regular APR is 17.49 – 22.49%, variable. There is no introductory APR offer.

Get 100,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 in the first three months after account opening. This works out to $1,250 towards travel rewards if you redeem with Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Get three points per dollar of the first $150,000 you spend with this card. So this is for purchases on travel, shipping, internet, cable, and phone services. Plus it includes advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year.

You can get 25% more in travel redemption when you redeem for travel using Chase Ultimate Rewards. You will need a good to exceptional FICO score to qualify.

Find it here: https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/business-preferred

No Yearly Fee

Bank of America® Business Advantage Travel Rewards World MasterCard® credit card

For no annual fee while still getting travel rewards, check out this card from Bank of America. It has no annual fee and a 0% introductory APR for purchases during the initial nine billing cycles. Afterwards, its regular APR is 13.74 – 23.74% variable.

You can get 30,000 bonus points when you make at least $3,000 in net purchases. So this is within 90 days of your account opening. You can redeem these points for a $300 statement credit towards travel purchases.

Earn unlimited 1.5 points for every $1 you spend on all purchases, everywhere, every time. And this is regardless of how much you spend.

Also earn 3 points per every dollar spent when you reserve your travel (car, hotel, airline) through the Bank of America® Travel Center. There is no limit to the number of points you can get and points do not expire.

You will need outstanding credit to get this one (as in, 700s or better).

Find it here: https://www.bankofamerica.com/smallbusiness/credit-cards/products/travel-rewards-business-credit-card/

Hotel Credit Card

Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card

Check out the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ Card from American Express. It has an annual fee of $125. There is no introductory APR offer. The regular APR is a variable 17.24 – 26.24%. You will need good to exceptional credit to get this card.

Points

You can get 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after using your card to make purchases of $3,000 in the first three months. Get 6x the points for eligible purchases at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels. You can get 4x the points at United States restaurants and gasoline stations. And you can get 4x the points on wireless telephone services bought directly from US service providers and on American purchases for shipping.

Get double points on all other qualified purchases.

Rewards

Plus, you get a free night each year after your card anniversary. And you can earn one more free night after you spend $60,000 on your card in a calendar year.

You get complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Silver Elite status with your Card. Also, spend $35,000 on qualified purchases in a calendar year and earn an upgrade to Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status through the end of the following calendar year.

Plus, each calendar year you can get credit for 15 nights towards the next level of Marriott Bonvoy Elite status.

Find it here: https://creditcard.americanexpress.com/d/bonvoy-business/

Get a Flexible Financing Business Charge Card in a Recession

The Plum Card® from American Express

Check out the Plum Card® from American Express. It has an introductory annual fee of $0 for the first year. Afterwards, pay $250 each year.

Get a 1.5% early pay discount cash back bonus when you pay within 10 days. You can take up to 60 days to pay without interest when you pay the minimum due by the payment due date.

You will need good to exceptional credit scores to qualify.

Find it here: https://creditcard.americanexpress.com/d/the-plum-card-business-charge-card/

Get a Business Charge Card in a Recession

Check out how our reliable process will help your business get the best business credit cards, even during a recession.

Get a Business Charge Card in a Recession with Jackpot Rewards That Never Expire

Capital One® Spark® Cash Select for Business

Take a look at the Capital One® Spark® Cash Select for Business. It has no yearly fee. You can get 1.5% cash back on every purchase. There is no limit on the cash back you can get. Also earn a one-time $200 cash bonus as soon as you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months. Rewards never expire.

Pay a 0% introductory APR for 9 months. Then pay 14.49% – 22.49% variable APR after that.

You will need good to outstanding credit to qualify.

Find it here: https://www.capitalone.com/small-business/credit-cards/spark-cash-select/

Get a Terrific Business Charge Card in a Recession for Cash Back

Flat-Rate Rewards

Capital One ® Spark® Cash for Business

Take a look at the Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business. It has an introductory $0 annual fee for the first year. Afterwards, this card costs $95 annually. There is no introductory APR offer. The regular APR is a variable 18.49%.

You can get a $500 one-time cash bonus after spending $4,000 in the first three months from account opening. Get unlimited 2% cash back. Redeem any time without any minimums.

You will need good to excellent credit scores to qualify.

Find it here: https://www.capitalone.com/small-business/credit-cards/spark-cash/

Flat-Rate Rewards and No Yearly Fee

Discover it® Business Card

Have a look at the Discover it® Business Card. It has no annual fee. There is an introductory APR of 0% on purchases for one year. Then the regular APR is a variable 14.49 – 22.49%.

Get unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases, with no category restrictions or bonuses. They double the 1.5% Cashback Match™ at the end of the first year. There is no minimum spend requirement.

You can download transactions| quickly to Quicken, QuickBooks, and Excel. Note: you will need good to exceptional credit to qualify for this card.

https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/business/

Bonus Categories

Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card

Have a look at the Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card. It has no annual fee. There is a 0% introductory APR for the initial year. Afterwards, the APR is a variable 14.74 – 20.74%. You can get a $500 one-time cash bonus after spending $3,000 in the initial 3 months from account opening.

You can get 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year.

Get 2% cash back on the initial $25,000 spent in combined purchases at filling stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases. There is no limit to the amount you can get.

You will need outstanding credit to get this card.

Find it here: https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/cash?iCELL=61GF

Boosted Cash Back Categories

Bank of America® Business Advantage Cash Rewards MasterCard® credit card

Check out the Bank of America® Business Advantage Cash Rewards MasterCard® credit card. Get an 0% introductory APR for the initial 9 billing cycles of the account. After that, the APR is 13.74% – 23.74% variable. There is no yearly fee. You can get a $300 statement credit offer.

Get 3% cash back in the category of your choice. So these are gasoline stations (default), office supply stores, travel, TV/telecom & wireless, computer services or business consulting services. Earn 2% cash back on dining. So this is for the first $50,000 in combined choice category/dining purchases each calendar year. Then get 1% after, with no limits.

You will need outstanding credit to qualify.

Find it here: https://promo.bankofamerica.com/smallbusinesscards2/

The Perfect Business Charge Card in a Recession

Your absolute best business charge card in a recession will hinge on your credit history and scores.

Only you can select which features you want and need. So make sure to do your homework. What is excellent for you could be catastrophic for others.

And, as always, make sure to develop credit in the recommended order for the best, speediest benefits. The COVID-19 situation will not last forever.

The post Astounding! You Can Even Get a Business Charge Card in a Recession appeared first on Credit Suite.

Caught in the Recession Rubble? Build Your Own Empire with a Recession-Proof Self-Employed Business

Wondering how to recession-proof, or social distance proof, your business? These are unprecedented times. Many business owners are wondering how to get business funding. Federal funding is available, but it may not be enough. The self-employed are perhaps taking one of the hardest hits, not even sure their business will be around when this is all over. Here’s one tip that could help. Building business credit can help you establish a recession-proof self-employed business.

7 Steps to Building Business Credit and Establishing a Recession-Proof Self-Employed Business

Our economy is cyclical, with almost predictable ups and downs. Recessions come and go. While some feel it more than others, very few go unaffected. If you are one of the ones feeling the crunch of layoffs and unemployment, try looking at it as an opportunity. It may not feel like it now, but you can overcome the crunch by starting your own business. This is possible despite what your personal credit looks like. How do you build a recession-proof self-employed business?

It takes time, but if you follow the steps and trust the process, you could build quite the empire out of the recession rubble. Take that idea that you have been tossing around and make it a reality. It’s never too late to follow your dreams, and sometimes the harsh realities of a recession are just the kick in the pants needed to get started.

Once you have your idea in place, it is time to get to work building business credit so your recession-proof self-employed business has a strong foundation.

1. Kick Your Business Out of the Nest

It is vitally important to remember to keep your business separate from your personal identity and financing when you want to build business credit when self-employed. During a recession, your personal credit is even more vulnerable. This is due to the very nature of what often happens to personal finances during a recession. Protect your FICO and keep it from affecting your business fundability. Do this by establishing your business as a separate entity. It is essential to building a recession-proof self-employed business.

Incorporate

To have a recession-proof self-employed business, you need to organize your business as a corporation, S-Corp, or LLP. This step is not free, but it is very much worth the cost for a couple of reasons. The first is that it makes building business credit possible by further establishing your business as its own entity.

The second is that it offers some protection for your personal finances from the liabilities of the business. You can choose to form as a corporation, anand S-corp, or an LLC. Choose the one that is the most cost-effectivecost effective for your purposes. They each offer different levels of protection and have different tax regulations associated with them, but they all serve the purpose of separating your business to help build business credit when self-employed.

When it comes to a recession-proof self-employed business, you should think harder about the cost versus the benefit of greater liability protection. While forming a full-on corporation isn’t for everyone, during a recession the benefit of personal protection from business liabilities can be even greater.

Get an EIN

We are a nation run on numbers. We use numbers for virtually everything, including identification. People have social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, PIN numbers, and a number of others in our daily lives. To build business credit, your business needs to have its own identifying number not attached to you.

The IRS can issue an EIN, which is the business equivalent of an SSN. It is free via the IRS website and an important first step in separating your business from yourself.

Hit the jackpot and weather any recession with our best webinar and its trustworthy list of seven vendors who can help you build business credit.

Contact Information

Your business needs its own telephone number, fax number, and address. A virtual address is fine, but don’t rely on a P.O. Box or UPS Box. An 800 number or some other toll-free exchange is best, and be sure to get a business listing in the directories.

Online Image

Set up a dedicated email for your business as well as a professional looking website. Even the most solid of businesses will look like a farce to creditors if they check it out and the website is poorly put together. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but it should be free from errors, all links should work, and it should be professional in appearance. The same is true of an email address that is simply joebusinessowner@gmail.com. The business email address needs to reflect that it is specifically for the business. Something like “businessname@businessURL.com” is more professional.

2. Keep Up with the Numbers

Ditch the shoebox for an actual accounting system. It doesn’t have to be expensive or hard to use. QuickBooks Online is a solid go-to, and there are plenty of other options as well. This will help you when lenders need to see reports, as you can just run them from the system.

Along these same lines, be sure you have a separate bank account for your business, and use it to keep business finances separate from personal finances. Pay yourself a salary from this account, but do not use your personal account for business expenses or your business account for personal expenses.

While this does not directly build business credit, it does further establish your business as a separate entity and allows you to offer creditors a more accurate business financial picture. It can also help recession-proof your self-employed business by helping you to see where you stand and make adjustments if needed before you get into trouble.

3.Apply for a D-U-N-S number

Once the first two steps are complete, you need to sign up for a free D-U-N-S number from Dun & Bradstreet. While they are not the only business credit reporting game in town, they are probably the most commonly used by creditors. Building business credit with them is vital, and to do that, you must have a D-U-N-S number.

When you sign up for the number, they will try to sell you other products and services. Put on blinders and keep moving forward. None of those things are necessary, and the number is totally free. Having a credit score with Dun & Bradstreet, called a PAYDEX, requires both a D-U-N-S and at least three tradelines reporting. It is impossible to have a PAYDEX without a D-U-N-S number.

4. Get on Record

It is also impossible to have a credit score of any type, from any credit reporting agency, without creditors that will report your payments. This is where it gets dicey. You have to have credit to build your credit score. How do you do that? Can you even get credit without a credit score? How do you get credit when creditors are holding on to their funds tighter than ever during a recession?

If you build your recession-proof self-employed business before the downturn, you are golden in this area. It’s hard, but not impossible.

Establish Tradelines

This is where you start. Establish tradelines with starter vendors. These are vendors that will issue invoices with Net 30 terms or longer. While you may need to make a few initial purchases with these vendors to establish yourself as a customer before they will extend these terms, there is no personal credit check. They do sometimes want to see a certain amount of time in business, however.

As you pay the invoices consistently and on-time, these vendors will report your payments to the credit reporting agencies, thus establishing your business credit profile. Some of the most common and easiest to start with are Uline, Quill, and Grainger.

These are the easiest to start with simply because they sell products that most any business can use on a daily basis. Items such as paper, toner, pens, pencils, packing supplies, and even janitorial supplies. After you order from them a few times, apply for net 30 terms, pay on time, and watch your business credit score start to build like a snowball rolling downhill.

Once you have 8 to 10 tradelines reporting your on-time payments to the credit agencies, you can start to apply for various business credit cards. This is where the “recession-proof” part of a recession-proof self-employed business really starts to build.

Order Matters When Applying for Business Credit Cards

Once you start to build a good business credit foundation with starter vendors, you can apply for business credit cards. However, you have to work in order. If you start applying for the highest limit, lowest interest rate credit cards right away, you will be denied every time.

First, apply for store cards. These are credit cards you get from a specific store that you can use only in that store. They typically have low limits and higher interest rates, and they are limited to use either in the issuing store or on their website.

Next, after you have a few of these cards reporting, try applying for fleet credit cards. These cards can only be used for gasoline costs and automobile repair and maintenance.

Lastly, once you have several of these reporting on-time payments to the business credit reporting agencies, you should be in good shape to apply for those cards with lower rates and higher limits that are not restricted by retailer or type of expense.

As you can see, it all starts with building trade lines with starter vendors. Then a whole credit world opens up to you! You just have to apply to each type of card in order.

Hit the jackpot and weather any recession with our best webinar and its trustworthy list of seven vendors who can help you build business credit.

Ask Utilities to Report

The more businesses you have reporting to the credit agencies that you make consistent, on-time payments each month, the faster you will build business credit when self-employed. Everyone has to pay utilities, even during a recession. Creditors care about you making consistent, on-time payments, and payments to utilities count. They are an easy way to start building business credit once you have a credit profile, but you have to ask them to report. They are not required to do so.

Remember, you will still need tradelines. They are necessary to accomplish the task of having at least three accounts reporting and a D-U-N-S to establish your credit profile with them in the first place. Adding utilities will just help the process move faster.

5. Use the SBFE to Help You Build Business Credit When Self-Employed

The SBFE, or Small Business Finance Exchange, is a not-for-profit entity. It gathers data on small businesses from lenders that are SBFE members. They then use this information to create credit products that lenders can use to make credit decisions.

One of the characteristics of a recession-proof self-employed business is that the credit information about it is positive and available to lenders. They can help with that.

How Does it Work?

They use what they call a “give-to-get” model. Members release information about those they extend credit to. In return, members are able to receive information through the SBFE which can help them make future credit decisions.

It all starts with SBFE members reporting payment history and other information about borrowers. Then, the SBFE normalizes the raw data into usable data. This data goes to partners called certified vendors. Some credit agencies, including Dun & Bradstreet, are certified vendors.

Certified Vendors then use the information from the SBFE to create credit reporting products that only other SBFE members can access.

Members have access to the data since they also contribute information.

How Can They Help You Build a Recession-Proof Self-Employed Business?

When you do business with SBFE members, you know your information is being reported. This means you are building business credit. How do you know if your lender or vendor is a member? Ask them. If they are not, consider mentioning that they become a member. However, there are enough members that it should not be difficult to find plenty of them to do business with. Just be certain you are making your payments on time, consistently. Otherwise, you will be doing more harm than good.

6. Keep An Eye on Things

Once you have a D-U-N-S number and some accounts reporting, you will want to keep an eye on your credit report. Credit monitoring serves a couple of different purposes for your recession-proof, self-employed business.

The first purpose is to, of course, ensure your credit report is accurate and complete. If there is missing or incorrect information on your credit report, you will need to get it corrected. Request corrections in writing, and send copies, not originals, of backup documentation.

The other reason it is important to monitor your credit is so you know which accounts are reporting, how many accounts are reporting, and when you qualify to start applying for credit in higher tiers. You need at least 14 accounts reporting to get approval at the cash credit tier, and you will never know if you have that if you are not monitoring your credit score.

You can also watch your score rise. This is powerful motivation and confirmation that your business may indeed be recession-proof. The easiest way to do this is with a credit monitoring service.

7. Pay on Time

None of the steps you take to build business credit when self-employed will matter at all if you do not make your payments consistently on-time. While this is not the only factor in your business credit score, it is the one with the most impact. Whether or not you make your payments each month, on-time, is the number one factor that creditors use to determine your fundability.

Since it is a recession, you will need to be careful. Even the most recession-proof self-employed business can get into trouble. You need to obtain credit and use it, but do not overload yourself to the point you cannot make the payments. Find a responsible balance.

What Does Building Business Credit Have to Do with Building a Recession-Proof Self-Employed Business?

There are a couple of ways building business credit can help you with both your personal finances and business finances during a recession.

Protect Your Personal Credit

Building business credit is essential to business success. Without business credit, your ability to fund your business relies totally on your personal credit. If you have great personal credit you may not think that is such a big deal.

It means, however, that your business financial issues can impact your personal credit as well. This is bad in the best of times but even worse during a recession. Limits on personal credit cards are not as high as those on business cards. That means just by the nature of business transactions you may always carry a balance near your limits.

If that happens, it will affect your debt to credit ratio negatively, which in turn negatively impacts your credit score even if you are making your payments on time. If your business has its own credit, this is not a problem. Limits are higher, so you have more credit to work with, and regardless, it doesn’t affect your personal credit.

Hit the jackpot and weather any recession with our best webinar and its trustworthy list of seven vendors who can help you build business credit.

Access Funds to Build Your Business

Solid business credit gives you access to the funds you need to run your business. You can handle any issues that come along. Even those that require cash outlays larger than what your cash on hand can handle comfortably.

Imagine having access to the funds needed to not only run but also to grow your business, even during a recession. A business that can thrive and grow during hard economic times is the very definition of a recession-proof self-employed business. Building business credit makes that possible.

You Can Build Business Credit with a Recession-Proof Self-Employed Business

If you are caught in the recession rubble, consider it the perfect opportunity to make all your entrepreneurial dreams come true. If you want to build the best recession-proof business possible, these tips will help you. To get started, you simply have to separate your business from yourself. Once you have it established as a separate entity, you can get to work applying for tradelines that will report your payments to the credit agencies. From there, if you follow these steps, your business credit score will help you build your empire out of the rubble.

The post Caught in the Recession Rubble? Build Your Own Empire with a Recession-Proof Self-Employed Business appeared first on Credit Suite.

Beat any Recession: Build Business Credit in 30 Days

You, too, can beat any recession: build business credit in 30 days! Here’s how and why.

Building better business credit means that your small business gets chances you never felt that you would. You can get brand-new equipment, bid on buildings, and cover the company payroll. And you can do so even when times are a bit lean. This is specifically helpful in seasonal businesses. That is because you can go for calendar months with just hardly any sales.

Due to this, you need to tackle growing your company credit. Enhance and maintain your scores and you will have these chances. Do not, and either you do not get these business opportunities, or they will set you back you a lot more. And no business owner wants that.

You will need to understand what affects your small business credit before you can make it better.

Hit the jackpot and weather any recession with our best webinar and its trustworthy list of seven vendors who can help you build business credit.

Beat any Recession: Build Business Credit in 30 Days: Credit History Length Is Vital

This is in a nutshell how long your business has been making use of company credit. Obviously newer businesses will have short credit histories. While there is not too much you can specifically do about that, do not fret.

Credit reporting agencies will also look into your personal credit score and your very own background of payments. If your own personal credit is good, and in particular if you have a fairly extensive credit history, then your individual credit can come to the rescue of your company. That is, you did not just get your very first credit card not too long ago.

Obviously, the opposite is also true. Hence, if your private credit history is poor, then it will have a bearing on your business credit scores until your business and personal credit can be split.

Beat any Recession: Build Business Credit in 30 Days: Do not Let Your Credit Utilization Rate Harm Your Business

Your credit utilization rate just means the amount of cash you have on credit. So it is then divided by your total available credit. Lenders typically do not like to see this go above 30%. Therefore, for each $100 in credit, do not borrow on more than $30 of that.

If this percent is climbing, you’ll need to spend down. And work off your financial obligations prior to borrowing more.

Beat any Recession: Build Business Credit in 30 Days: Your Payment History Truly Matters

Late repayments will affect your company credit score for a good seven years. If you pay your business (and personal) debts off, as quickly as possible and as fully as possible, guess what happens? That is when you can make a very real difference when it relates to your credit scores.

Make sure to pay on schedule and you will reap the rewards of promptness.

Beat any Recession: Build Business Credit in 30 Days: Your Personal Credit Can Affect Your Business Credit

A bad business year could wind up on your personal credit score. And just in case your small business has not been around for too long, it will directly have an effect on your corporate credit.

Fortunately, you can unlink them both by taking steps to uncouple them. As an example, you can get credit cards solely for your business, or you open up business checking accounts and other bank accounts (or even get a business loan). And then the credit reporting bureaus will start to treat your private and corporate credit separately.

Also, make sure to incorporate. Or at least file a DBA (doing business as) status.

You can also pay for your company’s invoices with your business credit card or checking account. And make certain it is the company’s full name on the bill and not your own.

Hit the jackpot and weather any recession with our best webinar and its trustworthy list of seven vendors who can help you build business credit.

Beat any Recession: Build Business Credit in 30 Days: The Credit Reporting Bureaus Can Just Plain Get It Wrong

Just the same as each and every organization out there, credit reporting agencies just like Equifax and Experian are only as good as their data. If your firm’s name is similar to another’s, or your name is a lot like another company owner’s, there can potentially be some oversights.

So keep an eye on those reports, and your company report at Dun & Bradstreet, PAYDEX. Remain on top of these reports and challenge charges with records and crystal clear communications. Do not just allow them to stay wrong! You can fix this!

And while you’re at, it you should also be monitoring the credit reporting bureau which just handles personal and not company credit. So, that is TransUnion. If you do not know the way to pull a credit report, do not worry. It’s simple.

Beat any Recession: Build Business Credit in 30 Days: The Method

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

Because of this, an entrepreneur’s business and personal credit scores can be very different.

The Benefits

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

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

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

Personal credit scores rely on payments but also various other elements like credit usage percentages.

But for business credit, the scores actually merely depend on whether a company pays its debts punctually.

Business Credit in a Recession

This credit links to your EIN and not your SSN, and is readily available without a personal guarantee. It is readily available no matter individual credit.

Business credit establishing is an exceptional choice in an economic recession, as it isn’t based on how well the economy is doing. It additionally develops an asset which will retain worth so long as your scores stay high.

The Process

Building company credit is a process, and it does not occur automatically. A company needs to proactively work to develop business credit.

Nevertheless, it can be done easily and quickly, and it is much speedier than developing individual credit scores.

Merchants are a big aspect of this process.

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

Company Legitimacy

A business needs to be reliable to lending institutions and vendors.

Therefore, a business will need a professional-looking web site and e-mail address. And it needs to have site hosting from a company such as GoDaddy.

In addition, business telephone and fax numbers ought to have a listing on ListYourself.com.

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

A company will also need a bank account dedicated only to it, and it needs to have every one of the licenses essential for running.

Licenses

These licenses all must be in the accurate, correct name of the company. And they need to have the same company address and phone numbers.

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

Working with the Internal Revenue Service

Visit the IRS website and get an EIN for the small business. They’re totally free. Pick a business entity like corporation, LLC, etc.

A company can begin as a sole proprietor. But they will more than likely want to switch to a sort of corporation or partnership.

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

A business entity will matter when it comes to taxes and liability in case of litigation. A sole proprietorship means the business owner is it when it comes to liability and tax obligations. No one 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 company name. As a result, you can find yourself being directly responsible for all small business financial obligations.

In addition, according to the IRS, with this arrangement there is a 1 in 7 chance of an IRS audit. There is a 1 in 50 chance for corporations! Avoid confusion and drastically reduce the odds of an IRS audit as well.

Beginning the Business Credit Reporting Process

Begin at the D&B website and get a totally free D-U-N-S number. A D-U-N-S number is how D&B gets a small 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.

Once in D&B’s system, search Equifax and Experian’s web sites 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 so, Experian and Equifax will have activity to report on.

Vendor Credit

First you must establish trade lines that report. This is also called 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 obtaining retail store 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 initial credit when you have none now. Terms are ordinarily Net 30, instead of revolving.

Hence, 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.

Details

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

To kick off your business credit profile properly, you need to get approval for vendor accounts that report to the business credit reporting bureaus. When that’s done, you can then make use of the credit.

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

Vendor Credit – It Helps

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

You want 3 of these to move onto the next step, which is retail credit.

Uline Shipping Supplies

Uline Shipping Supplies is a true starter vendor. You can find them online at www.uline.com. They offer shipping, packing, and industrial supplies, and they report to D&B and Experian.

You need to have a D-U-N-S number. They will request 2 references and a bank reference. The initial few orders might need to be paid in advance to initially get approval for Net 30 terms. Also, you may have to buy some things you don’t need.

Quill

Quill is an additional true starter vendor. You can find them online at www.quill.com. They sell office, packaging, and cleaning supplies, and they report to D&B.

Since Quill reports to two separate credit reporting bureaus, you get two credit experiences with them. Place an initial order first unless the D&B score is established.

Usually they will put you on a 90-day prepayment schedule. If you order items monthly for 3 months, they will typically approve you for a Net 30 Account.

Grainger Industrial Supply

Grainger Industrial Supply is also a true starter vendor. You can find them online at www.grainger.com. They sell safety equipment, plumbing supplies, and more, and they report to D&B. You will need a business license, EIN, and a D-U-N-S number.

For under a $1000 credit limit they will approve nearly any person with a business license.

Accounts That Don’t Report

You can always ask non-reporting accounts for trade references. And also credit accounts of any sort ought to help you to better even out business expenses, thereby making budgeting simpler. These are providers like PayPal Credit, T-Mobile, and Best Buy.

Retail Credit

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

Use the small business’s EIN on these credit applications.

Fleet Credit

Are there more accounts reporting? Then move to fleet credit. These are businesses like BP and Conoco. Use this credit to purchase fuel, and repair and maintain vehicles. Make certain to apply using the company’s EIN.

Hit the jackpot and weather any recession with our best webinar and its trustworthy list of seven vendors who can help you build business credit.

Cash Credit

Have you been responsibly handling the credit you’ve gotten up to this point? Then progress to more universal cash credit. These are businesses like Visa and MasterCard. Keep your SSN off these applications; use your EIN instead.

These are typically 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 attend to any errors as soon as possible. Get in the practice 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.

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

Update Your Record

Update the details if there are mistakes or the relevant information 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. And for Equifax, go here: www.equifax.com/business/small-business.

Fix Your Business Credit

So, what’s all this monitoring for? It’s to contest any problems in your records. Errors in your credit report(s) can be taken care of. But the CRAs often 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.

Disputes

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

Fixing credit report inaccuracies also means you precisely spell out any charges you contest. Make your dispute letter as clear as possible. Be specific about the concerns with your report. Use certified mail so that you will have proof that you mailed in your dispute.

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

You can dispute inaccuracies on your or your company’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 Business Credit Building

Always use credit sensibly! Don’t borrow more than what you can pay off. Monitor balances and deadlines for payments. Paying off on schedule and completely will do more to raise business credit scores than pretty much anything else.

Establishing company credit pays off. Great business credit scores help a company get loans. Your credit issuer knows the business can pay its debts. They understand the small business is bona fide.

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

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

Beat any Recession: Build Business Credit in 30 Days: Takeaways

Once you learn what influences your company credit score, you can build business credit in 30 days.

Hit the jackpot and weather any recession with our best webinar and its trustworthy list of seven vendors who can help you build business credit.

The post Beat any Recession: Build Business Credit in 30 Days appeared first on Credit Suite.

Do Nothing Until You Read Our LenCred Recession Finance Review

Everything You Need to Know About LenCred – Don’t Be Afraid to Ask!

LenCred is one of several lending companies in the online space. They are based in Bentonville, AR. Check out our LenCred Recession Finance Review.

LenCred works with startup and established business owners who need between $25,000 – $150,000 in financing to start, build, or grow their companies. They do NOT have any revenue requirements and the companies who work best with them have between $0 and $250,000 in annual revenues. That’s their first requirement to be a good fit.

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

LenCred Recession Finance: Background

LenCred is located online here: lencred.com. Their physical address is in Bentonville, Arkansas. You can call them at: (479) 268-4353 (Arkansas) and (888) 783-1503 (toll free). Their contact page is here: lencred.com/contact. You can email them at: info@lencred.com.

LenCred Recession Finance: Unsecured Business Credit Lines

There is a $50,000 guaranteed minimum for a line. You can get $25,000 – 150,000 or more. You will need solid credit, but it does not have to be perfect. Keep your personal credit utilization rate under 30%.

Their unsecured business credit lines allow small business owners to build corporate credit.

LenCred Recession Finance: Fees

Various sources report 6%, 8%, or 9% fees. However, there are currently no fees listed on the site.

LenCred Recession Finance: SBA Loans

They do not get SBA Loans or give them out. Rather, they can help companies apply for these. The LenCred team has the knowledge and experience to guide a business owner to the right SBA loan program and approved SBA lender. If they don’t qualify for an unsecured business line of credit, an SBA loan may be the next best option.

LenCred Recession Finance: Equipment Financing

LenCred has both equipment leases and loans. This lender specializes in helping entrepreneurs and small business obtain capital in the simplest way possible. And equipment financing is one of those ways.

$1,000 – $5 million is available. However, this lender does not seem to actually provide equipment financing.

LenCred Recession Finance: Fees

Various sources report 6%, 8%, or 9% fees. However, there are currently no fees listed on the site.

Find out why so many companies are using our proven methods to improve their business credit scores, even during a recession.

LenCred Recession Finance: Advantages

Advantages are that unsecured business funding is often a great way for startups to get the money they need, and they do not seem to have an annual revenue requirement unless you have bad personal credit. This particular lender also seems to be flexible when it comes to borrowers with less than stellar credit.

LenCred Recession Finance: Disadvantages

The biggest disadvantage is that this lender does not clearly list fees – so do they charge them, or not? Another disadvantage is that entrepreneurs who have been relying on their personal credit cards to fund their businesses are probably going to have too high a credit utilization rate to qualify for LenCred’s offerings.

Big Disadvantage

Another basic disadvantage is that, as of right now, LenCred is not a part of the SBA Paycheck Protection Program as a lender. Will they be? Currently, online lenders are generally not a part of that program.

An Important Alternative to LenCred Recession Finance – Our Credit Line Hybrid

Our credit line hybrid is a form of unsecured business financing. This program helps clients get funding based strictly on personal credit quality. Our lenders will not ask for financials, bank statements, business plans, resumes, or any of the other burdensome document requests that most conventional lenders demand.

If your personal credit score is at least 680, then you can potentially qualify for $5,000 – $150,000. And we don’t even ask for you to provide collateral.

A Terrific Alternative to LenCred Recession Finance – Establishing Business Credit

This is credit in a business’s name. It doesn’t link to an entrepreneur’s consumer credit, not even if the owner is a sole proprietor and the solitary employee of the small business.

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

The Advantages

Since company credit is distinct from personal, it helps to protect 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 different cards from the same vendor. This effectively doubles buying power.

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

Personal credit scores rely on payments but also other elements like credit usage percentages.

But for small business credit, the scores really merely depend on if a company pays its debts on time.

The Process

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

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

Merchants are a big aspect of this process.

Undertaking the steps out of order 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 business needs to be fundable to loan providers and vendors.

That’s why, 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 also, business phone and fax numbers need to have a listing on ListYourself.net.

Additionally, the business phone number should be toll-free (800 exchange or similar).

A small business will also need a bank account dedicated strictly to it, and it needs to have every one of the licenses necessary for operating.

Licenses

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

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

Find out why so many companies are using our proven methods to improve their business credit scores, even during a recession.

Working with the Internal Revenue Service

Visit the Internal Revenue Service website and obtain an EIN for the small business. They’re totally free. Choose a business entity like corporation, LLC, etc.

A company can begin as a sole proprietor. But they will more than likely want to change to a variety of corporation or an LLC.

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

A business entity will matter when it involves taxes and liability in the event of litigation. A sole proprietorship means the entrepreneur is it when it comes to liability and taxes. Nobody else is responsible.

Sole Proprietors Take Note

If you run a small business 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. Hence, you can find yourself being personally liable for all company financial obligations.

But only use a DBA filing as a steppingstone to incorporating. Corporate business entities are truly separate from their owners. Particularly during a recession, it is vital to protect your home and other personal assets from seizure in the event of a business failure. You may not want to think about it – but that doesn’t mean it can never happen.

Starting Off the Business Credit Reporting Process

Start at the D&B web site and obtain a free D-U-N-S number. A D-U-N-S number is how D&B gets a business 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 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.

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

Vendor Credit

First you should establish 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 credit for stores and more universal credit like with Visa.

These varieties 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 to start with, what is trade credit? These trade lines are credit issuers who will give you preliminary credit when you have none now. Terms are ordinarily 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.

Find out why so many companies are using our proven methods to improve their business credit scores, 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 to revolving store credit. These are businesses which include Office Depot and Staples.

Fleet Credit

Are there more accounts reporting? Then move to fleet credit. Use this credit to buy fuel, and to repair, and take care of vehicles.

Cash Credit

Have you been responsibly handling the credit you’ve up to this point? Then move to more universal credit, from service providers like Visa and MasterCard.

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

Monitor Your Business Credit

Know what is happening with your credit. Make sure it is being reported and attend to any inaccuracies ASAP. Get in the practice of checking credit reports and digging into the details, and not just the scores.

We can help you monitor business credit at Experian and D&B for 90% less. See: creditsuite.com/monitoring.

Update Your Information

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

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 generally want you to dispute in a particular way.

Disputes

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

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

A Word about Business Credit Building

Always use credit smartly! Never borrow beyond what you can pay off. Monitor balances and deadlines for repayments. Paying off punctually and completely will do more to raise business credit scores than just about anything else.

Building small business credit pays off. Good business credit scores help a small business get loans. Your lender knows the business can pay its financial obligations. They understand the business is bona fide.

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

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

LenCred Recession Finance Review: Upshot

The companies which will most likely do well with LenCred need financing and have low personal credit utilization rates. Companies which will not do well are those where the entrepreneur has been relying too heavily on personal credit. That drives up their credit utilization rate.

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 a fine-toothed comb. And decide if this option will be good for you and your company. In addition, consider alternative financing options that go beyond lending. So these include building business credit. In order to best decide how to get the money you need to help your business grow.

The post Do Nothing Until You Read Our LenCred Recession Finance Review appeared first on Credit Suite.

Beat any Recession: Build Business Credit in 30 Days

Beat any Recession: Build Business Credit in 30 Days You, too, can beat any recession: build business credit in 30 days! Here’s how and why. Building better business credit means that your small business gets chances you never felt that you would. You can get brand-new equipment, bid on buildings, and cover the company payroll. … Continue reading Beat any Recession: Build Business Credit in 30 Days