Just How To Start Investing In The Stock Market The very best method to begin purchasing the securities market is to select a location of competence. When you begin purchasing the stock exchange, you intend to choose from firms that do organisation in an area with which you are currently acquainted, or that sell a …
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You know when it’s nearing the 4th of July and you go shopping for fireworks? As a kid, you look for the biggest one, assuming it will have the most impact. You want it to not only look pretty, but also have a powerful boom. Finding business startup loans can be similar to finding the perfect fireworks for your summer celebration.
How can you possibly compare business startup loans to fireworks? It’s really easy when you consider the sheer number of options available when it comes to start up loans, just as there are an overwhelming number of options when you are choosing fireworks.
Credit Line Hybrid Financing: Get up to $150,000 in financing so your business can thrive.
These are like the sparklers of business startup loans. They seem easy at first, but if you grab the wrong end, they are not fun at all! Why are SBA loans lumped with traditional loans? Basically, SBA loans are traditional loans with a government guarantee. Generally, applications are processed and funds are dispersed through traditional lenders.
However, not everyone is eligible for a traditional loan. For those that do not meet the requirements of traditional loans, SBA loans are a viable option. However, the requirements and government red tape still trip a lot of borrowers up. Here are the best SBA options for business startup loans.
This loan program features federally funded term loans in amounts up to $5 million. In addition to functioning as business startup loans, these funds can be used to expand an existing business, purchase equipment, or to fund working capital, among other things. Banks, credit unions, and other specialized institutions partner with the SBA to process and disburse the cash.
The minimum credit score to qualify is 680. There is also a required down payment of at least 10% for the purchase of a business, commercial real estate, or equipment. The minimum time in business is 2 years, but for start ups, business experience equal to two years meets this requirement.
These loans are also available up to $5 million. Terms range from 10 to 20 years, and funding can take from 30 to 90 days. They require a minimum credit score of 680, and collateral is the asset it is financing. There is also a down payment requirement of 10%, which can increase to 15% for a new business.
Like 7(a) loans, there is a 2-years in business requirement, but for startups, if management has equivalent experience that fits the bill.
Online lenders are like the roman candles of business startup loans. They carry more punch than sparklers, meaning they are easier to get your hands on than traditional or SBA loans. However, if you mishandle them you can be in for a rude awakening. Here are a couple to help you start your search.
Upstart is an online lender that uses a completely innovative platform for loans. The company itself questions the ability of financial information and FICO on their own to truly determine the risk of lending to a specific borrower. Instead, they use a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to gather alternative data. They then use this data to help them make credit decisions.
This alternative data can include such things as mobile phone bills, rent, deposits, withdrawals, and even other information less directly tied to finances. The software they use learns and improves on its own. You can use their online quote tool to play with different amounts and terms to see the various interest rate possibilities. Typically, business loans are available ranging from $1,000 to $50,000. Interest rates vary greatly, ranging from 7.5% to 35.99%. Repayment terms can be either 3 -year or 5-year.
Obtaining financing from OnDeck is quick and easy. First, you apply online and receive your decision once application processing is complete. If you receive approval, your loan funds will go directly to your bank account. The minimum loan amount is $5,000 and the maximum is $500,000.
Just like any other online lender, they do have certain requirements to qualify for a loan. For example, a personal credit score of 600 or more. Also, you must be in business for at least one year. Annual revenue must be at or exceed $100,000. In addition, there can be no bankruptcy on file in the past 2 years and no unresolved liens or judgements.
Now, for that one diamond in the rough. The one you spot across the tent that promises awe and wonder. You aren’t sure if it will pay off because you’ve never actually seen one like it in action before. You wait in anticipation to use it as the big finish at the end of the show and, this time, you are not disappointed. That’s the credit line hybrid.
What if there were an option that allowed you to have an even better interest rate than a secured loan, and yet get the money faster and easier than any type of traditional funding. Imagine being able to get business funding without having to supply bank statements or credit stubs? Now, consider that you could get funding in a few days rather than weeks without supplying any collateral or documents? This is exactly what the credit line hybrid allows you to do.
Basically, it allows you to fund your business without putting up collateral, and you only pay back what you use. It’s like revolving credit, without the need for collateral, but with lower interest rates than most credit cards.
It’s not as hard as you may think to qualify. Of course, good personal credit is key, but your score doesn’t have to be as high as with traditional loans. Your credit score should be at least 685. Also, you can’t have any liens, judgments, bankruptcies or late payments. Furthermore, in the past 6 months you should have less than 5 credit inquiries. Lastly, you should have less than a 45% balance on all business and personal credit cards. It’s also preferred that you have established business credit as well as personal credit.
Credit Line Hybrid Financing: Get up to $150,000 in financing so your business can thrive.
If you do not meet all of the requirements, it’s okay. You can take on a credit partner that meets each of these requirements. Many business owners work with a friend or relative to fund their business. If a relative or a friend meets all of these requirements, they can partner with you to allow you to tap into their credit to access funding.
There are many benefits to using a credit line hybrid. For example, it is unsecured, meaning you do not have to have any collateral to put up. Also, the funding is “no-doc.” This means you don’t have to provide any bank statements or financials.
Going further, typical approval is up to 5x that of the highest credit limit on the personal credit report. Sometimes you can even get interest rates as low as 0% for the first few months, allowing you to put that savings back into your business.
The process is pretty fast, especially with a qualified expert to walk you through it. One other benefit is this. With the approval for multiple credit cards, competition is created. This makes it likely, if you handle the credit responsibly, that you can get interest rates lowered and limits raised every few months.
Of course, location and platform are key elements to any good fireworks show. You want to have a great, safe place to shoot from. Beyond that, you want to make sure there is nothing to obstruct vision. Fundability is the platform from which you shoot off your business startup loans for all to see the beautiful results.
What’s fundability? It’s the ability of your business to get funding. It embraces a number of far reaching factors, but it all starts with the foundation.
The foundation of fundability is in how your business is set up. It has to be recognizable to lenders as a fundable entity separate from you, the owner. How do you make that happen? Well, like any foundation, it is best to start at the beginning. If you start with a fundable foundation from the inception of the business, everything will run more smoothly. However, if your business is already up and running, then you may not have that option. That’s okay, it’s never too late to start, but start now. The longer you wait the harder it will be.
The first step in setting up a foundation of fundability is to ensure your business has its own phone number, fax number, and address. What may be surprising is, that doesn’t mean you have to get a separate phone line, or even a separate location. You can still run your business from your home or on your computer. You don’t even have to have a fax machine.
In fact, you can get a business phone number and fax number pretty easily that will work over the internet instead of phone lines. In addition, the phone number will forward to any phone you want it too so you can simply use your personal cell phone or landline if you want. Whenever someone calls your business number it will ring straight to you.
Faxes can be sent to an online fax service, if anyone ever happens to actually fax you. It may seem outdated, but it does help your business appear legitimate to lenders.
You can use a virtual office for a business address. How do you get a virtual office? What is that? It’s not what you may think. This is a business that offers a physical address for a fee, and sometimes they even offer mail service and live receptionist services. In addition, there are some that offer meeting spaces for those times you may need to meet a client or customer in person.
The next thing you need to do is get an EIN for your business. This is an identifying number for your business that works in a way similar to how your SSN works for you personally. You can get one for free from the IRS.
Incorporating your business as an LLC, S-corp, or corporation is necessary to fundability. Lenders are more likely to believe you are a legitimate business if your business is incorporated. Incorporation also offers some protection from liability.
Which option you choose does not matter as much for fundability as it does for your budget and needs for liability protection. The best thing to do is talk to your attorney or a tax professional. When you incorporate, you become a new entity. That means you start over with credit history and time in business.
This is why you have to incorporate as soon as possible. In itself it is necessary for fundability, but time in business affects fundability also. The longer you have been in business the more fundable you appear to be. That starts on the date of incorporation, regardless of when you actually began doing business.
You have to open a separate, dedicated business bank account. There are a few reasons for this. First, it will help you keep track of business finances. It will also help you keep them separate from personal finances for tax purposes.
There’s more to it however. There are several types of funding you cannot get without a business bank account, and some lenders and credit cards want to see a business account with a minimum average balance. In addition, you cannot get a merchant account without a business account at a bank. Without that, you can’t take credit card payments. Studies show consumers tend to spend more when they can use a credit card.
Credit Line Hybrid Financing: Get up to $150,000 in financing so your business can thrive.
For a business to be legitimate it has to have all of the necessary licenses it needs to run. If it doesn’t, red flags are going to fly up all over the place. Do the research to ensure you have all of the licenses necessary to legitimately run your business at the federal, state, and local levels.
Let’s be real. There’s a lot more at stake when you are choosing business startup loans than when you are choosing fireworks. In the end however, the goal is the same. You want the one that gives you the most bang for your buck.
The post Find Business Start Up Loans and Watch Your New Business Explode appeared first on Credit Suite.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
And we would be remiss if we didn’t give you any business ideas! Here are seven great ones from Shopify which we loved.
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.
Spending your hard-earned cash in an interest-bearing account is maybe among the best as well as simplest methods to make the cash benefit you. Possibilities are, your cash will certainly not function as tough for you if you do not have the finest cost savings account passion price. Right here is exactly how you can …
Spending your hard-earned cash in an interest-bearing account is maybe among the best as well as simplest methods to make the cash benefit you. Possibilities are, your cash will certainly not function as tough for you if you do not have the finest cost savings account passion price.
Right here is exactly how you can begin generating income today with your interest-bearing account rate of interest:
– Keep track of the passion interest-bearing account rates of interest supplied by both standard along with on-line financial institutions;
– Check out the information and also small print of “high rate of interest return interest-bearing account” as you have the power to make even more for your cash with this kind of interest-bearing account as long as you can stay on par with the dedication as well as abide by the problems and also terms;
– There are different sorts of interest-bearing accounts that might satisfy your details requirements and also needs to generate income that you might wish to discover even more such as cash market interest-bearing account, and so on
– With your meticulously picked high interest-bearing account rates of interest, you can begin setting aside a section of your cash right into the account frequently. You will certainly be amazed to locate that you have actually collected much financial savings particularly with interest-bearing account rate of interest that is worsened.
– Aside from the cash market interest-bearing account, you might additionally intend to place your cash and also make from it in a deposit slip (CD) that functions as a time down payment. Keep in mind that with this kind of financial investment, the longer your cash is kept in the financial institution as CD, the greater the return will certainly be for you.
– Another type of financial investment is with the cost savings account passion price you obtain from financial savings bonds. You can pay in the bond at any type of time yet doing so might cost you the gained rate of interests.
You can certainly generate income from interest-bearing account rates of interest as long as you agree as well as dedicated to conserve, or spend your cash in the most effective interest-bearing account. The relevance of conserving cash needs to not be delegated to the history as it is as crucial, of not more crucial than making money.
You have to establish your objectives plainly as well as wisely in gaining your cash from cost savings account rate of interest price. It will certainly likewise aid to differentiate your cost savings account where you straight down payment that part of your cash from your pay to your monitoring account the one that you make use of for your day-to-day costs.
When you do it instantly and also make conserving one of your great practices, gaining cash from your financial savings account rate of interest price must be a wind specifically.
– Another kind of financial investment is via the cost savings account passion price you obtain from cost savings bonds. You have to establish your objectives plainly as well as wisely in making your cash from financial savings account passion price. It will certainly likewise assist to identify your cost savings account where you straight down payment that section of your cash from your reimbursement to your monitoring account the one that you utilize for your everyday costs. You can establish up a high yielding cost savings account rate of interest price.
The post Interest-bearing Accounts Interest Rate How To Start Earning Money Today appeared first on ROI Credit Builders.
Spending your hard-earned cash in an interest-bearing account is maybe among the best as well as simplest methods to make the cash benefit you. Possibilities are, your cash will certainly not function as tough for you if you do not have the finest cost savings account passion price.
Right here is exactly how you can begin generating income today with your interest-bearing account rate of interest:
– Keep track of the passion interest-bearing account rates of interest supplied by both standard along with on-line financial institutions;
– Check out the information and also small print of “high rate of interest return interest-bearing account” as you have the power to make even more for your cash with this kind of interest-bearing account as long as you can stay on par with the dedication as well as abide by the problems and also terms;
– There are different sorts of interest-bearing accounts that might satisfy your details requirements and also needs to generate income that you might wish to discover even more such as cash market interest-bearing account, and so on
– With your meticulously picked high interest-bearing account rates of interest, you can begin setting aside a section of your cash right into the account frequently. You will certainly be amazed to locate that you have actually collected much financial savings particularly with interest-bearing account rate of interest that is worsened.
– Aside from the cash market interest-bearing account, you might additionally intend to place your cash and also make from it in a deposit slip (CD) that functions as a time down payment. Keep in mind that with this kind of financial investment, the longer your cash is kept in the financial institution as CD, the greater the return will certainly be for you.
– Another type of financial investment is with the cost savings account passion price you obtain from financial savings bonds. You can pay in the bond at any type of time yet doing so might cost you the gained rate of interests.
You can certainly generate income from interest-bearing account rates of interest as long as you agree as well as dedicated to conserve, or spend your cash in the most effective interest-bearing account. The relevance of conserving cash needs to not be delegated to the history as it is as crucial, of not more crucial than making money.
You have to establish your objectives plainly as well as wisely in gaining your cash from cost savings account rate of interest price. It will certainly likewise aid to differentiate your cost savings account where you straight down payment that part of your cash from your pay to your monitoring account the one that you make use of for your day-to-day costs.
When you do it instantly and also make conserving one of your great practices, gaining cash from your financial savings account rate of interest price must be a wind specifically.
– Another kind of financial investment is via the cost savings account passion price you obtain from cost savings bonds. You have to establish your objectives plainly as well as wisely in making your cash from financial savings account passion price. It will certainly likewise assist to identify your cost savings account where you straight down payment that section of your cash from your reimbursement to your monitoring account the one that you utilize for your everyday costs. You can establish up a high yielding cost savings account rate of interest price.
The post Interest-bearing Accounts Interest Rate How To Start Earning Money Today appeared first on ROI Credit Builders.
There are many options for funding a startup. The most popular is small business start up loans. However, not everyone can just go to the bank and get a loan. Things like income and credit score get in the way. There are options if you find yourself in this situation.
While business start up loans are the most popular option for funding a start up, sometimes you have to think outside of the box. Sometimes you have to stack different types of funding to get what you need. Here are some funding options, some loans and some not, that you should consider outside of traditional loans.
Score the best business credit cards for your business, even when a recession looms.Check out our professional research.
What if there were an option that allowed you to have an even better interest rate than a secured loan, and yet get the money faster and easier than any type of traditional funding. Consider if you could get business funding without having to supply any bank statements or credit stubs? Just think, you could get funding in a few days rather than weeks without supplying any collateral or documents. That is exactly what the credit line hybrid lets you do.
It is revolving, unsecured financing. It allows you to fund your business without putting up collateral, and you only pay back what you use.
How hard is it to qualify? Not as hard as you may think. You do need good personal credit. That is, your personal credit score should be at least 685. In addition, you can’t have any liens, judgments, bankruptcies or late payments. Furthermore, in the past 6 months, you should have less than 5 credit inquiries. Also, you should have less than a 45% balance on all business and personal credit cards. It’s also preferred that you have established business credit as well as personal credit.
If you do not meet all of the requirements, it’s okay. You can take on a credit partner that meets each of these requirements. Many business owners work with a friend or relative to fund their business. If a relative or a friend meets all of these requirements, they can pair with you to allow you to tap into their credit to access funding.
This type of funding has many benefits. First, it is unsecured. That means you do not have to have any collateral. Next, you do not have to provide any bank statements or financials.
Not only that, but generally approval is up to 5x that of the highest credit limit on your personal credit report. Sometimes, you can get interest rates as low as 0% for the first few months, allowing you to put that savings back into your business.
The process is pretty fast, especially with a qualified expert to walk you through it. Another benefit is, with the approval for multiple credit cards, there is competition. This makes it easier, and even likely if you handle the credit responsibly, that you can get interest rates lowered and limits raised every few months.
Credit cards get a bad rap. Yet, if you know what you are doing, they can work well to help fund a start up in addition to small business startup loans. The draw is that these are accessible even with a credit score that isn’t great. However to be fair, the lower the credit score, the higher the interest rate. Also, there are limits on how low they will go with a credit score.
Typically, most business owners are eligible for a credit card of some sort. They do a credit check, but your credit doesn’t have to be as high as it would to gain approval for traditional small business start up loans.
The downside of business credit cards is that they usually have a high interest rate. The upside is that many of them offer rewards in the form of cash or points that can be helpful.
This is an increasingly popular option for startup funding. Here is how it works. Crowdfunding is a type of investment option. You get a lot of smaller investments from a lot of people. Hence the term, crowdfunding. This is different from getting the bulk of your small business funding from one or two larger investors.
First, you have to figure out which crowdfunding platform is best for your situation. Kickstarter and Indiegogo are two of the most popular. Be sure to take note of the rules each platform has for when you gain access to funds. They can vary greatly.
Investopedia defines angel investors as those who “… invest in small startups or entrepreneurs. Often, angel investors are among an entrepreneur’s family and friends. The capital angel investors provide may be a one-time investment to help the business propel or an ongoing injection of money to support and carry the company through its difficult early stages.”
They are usually a lot less formal than regular investors. An angel investor can be anyone. Like, it could be your mom or someone you met through networking.
The best way to find angel investors is to ask people you know. Also, you can try an angel investors website or network. For example, Gust keeps a database of investors, companies, and programs. Startups can even search for business plan competitions and other opportunities.
Small business start up loans are a specialty of The Small Business Administration. These programs are designed for borrowers with lower credit scores than those required for traditional loans.
Score the best business credit cards for your business, even when a recession looms.Check out our professional research.
This program offers federally funded term loans of up to $5 million. Funds can be used for expansion, purchasing equipment, and working capital in addition to startup. SBA partner lenders, usually banks, process these loans and disburse the funds.
The lowest credit score to qualify is 680. There is also a down payment requirement of at least 10% for the purchase of a business, commercial real estate, or equipment. The minimum time in business is 2 years. For startups, business experience equivalent to two years will serve this purpose.
These loans are also available up to $5 million. Funds can be used to buy machinery, facilities, or land. Typically, these loans are used for expansion. Like 7(a) loans, partner lenders process and disburse funds. These are especially great for real estate purchases.
Terms for 504 Loans range from 10 to 20 years, and funding can take from 30 to 90 days. They also require a minimum credit score of 680. The asset being financed is required for collateral. In addition, the down payment requirement of 10% remains, but can increase to 15% for a new business.
Again, you must be in business at least 2 years, or management has to have equivalent experience if the business is a startup.
Microloans are available in amounts up to $50,000. They work for starting a business purchasing equipment, buying inventory, or for working capital. Community based non-profits administer microloan programs as intermediaries, with financing coming directly from the Small Business Administration.
The minimum credit score is 640, and the collateral and down payment requirements vary by lender.
If your personal credit score isn’t the best, consider looking at private lender options.
These are alternative lenders that have less strict eligibility requirements. They do have higher interest rates and less favorable terms than traditional loans however, so choose wisely.
BlueVine requires that you be in business for at least 6 months. If you have at least $120,000 in annual revenue, you may qualify for a loan from them. The minimum credit score for a line of credit from BlueVine is 600. Furthermore, if you want invoice factoring, you can get approval with a score as low as 530, 3 months in business, and $10,000 in monthly revenue.
Kiva is different. How different? They are actually very different. For example, the interest rate is 0%. That means, even though you have to pay it back, a loan from them is free money. They don’t check your credit at all. However, you have to get at least 5 family members or friends to throw some money in to help fund your business. In addition, you have to pitch in a $25 loan to another business on the platform.
Accion may be a good fit for small business start up loans also. It’s a nonprofit that offers microloans. Installment loans are available to both startups and already existing businesses through Accion. The minimum credit score is 575. You don’t have to already be in business, but if you are not, you must have less than $500 in past due debt. In addition, your business needs to be home or incubator based.
Fundability, in the simplest terms, is the ability of your business to get funding. When lenders consider funding your business, does it appear to them to be a good idea to make the loan? What do they look at to make that determination?
You see why it makes a difference. Lenders have to perceive lending to your business as profitable. But what makes a business fundable? How do you become fundable?
First, you have to have a fundable foundation. That includes the following.
The first step in setting up a fundable foundation is to ensure your business has its own phone number, fax number, and address. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to get a separate phone line, or even a separate location. There are ways around that.
The next thing you need to do is get an EIN for your business. This is an identifying number for your business that works in a way similar to how your SSN works for you personally. You can get one for free from the IRS.
Score the best business credit cards for your business, even when a recession looms.Check out our professional research.
Incorporating your business as an LLC, S-corp, or corporation is necessary to fundability. It offers liability protection and helps separate your business from you as the owner, among other things.
Which option you choose does not matter as much for fundability as it does for your budget and needs for liability protection. The best thing to do is talk to your attorney or a tax professional. Also important to note is that, when you incorporate, you become a new entity. You’ll also lose any positive payment history you may have already accumulated, and your time in business will start over.
This means it is vital to incorporate as soon as possible. It’s important for fundability and building business credit, but time in business makes a difference for those things as well. The longer you have been in business the more fundable you appear to be. That starts on the date of incorporation, regardless of when your business actually opened.
You have to open a separate, dedicated business bank account. First, it will help you keep track of business finances. It will also help you keep them separate from personal finances for tax purposes.
Furthermore, it is much easier to show you meet the minimum income a lender requires for small business start up loans if you have everything in a separate business account.
For a business to be legitimate it has to have all of the necessary licenses it needs to run. If it doesn’t, red flags are going to fly up all over the place. Do the research you need to do to ensure you have all of the licenses necessary to legitimately run your business.
There is much more to fundability than these foundational factors, but none of it matters if you don’t have the foundation in place. Taking care of that piece at startup is the way to go.
There are many ways to fund a startup. Small business start up loans are just one of them. The truth is, most businesses have to access more than one option to make things work. If you can start debt free with angel investors or crowdfunding, do that. If not, these other options are just what you need to get up and running.
The post Small Business Start Up Loans and Other Funding Options appeared first on Credit Suite.
If you are reading this, I suspect you are a minority looking to start a business. You either need to know where to start when it comes to finding a business loan, or you have already tried and are having trouble. Maybe you are wondering to yourself “Are there minority loans to start a business?” This is a logical thought, because it would seem it would be easier for minorities to get loans geared specifically toward them.
The truth is, there are some types of loans that are easier than others for minorities to get, but they may not be what you expect. In contrast, some of them probably look exactly like you think they will. Here’s how to find the best minority loans to start a business.
In this MBDA study that was recently reprinted, “Disparities in Capital Access between Minority and Non-Minority-Owned Businesses: The Troubling Reality of Capital Limitations Faced by MBEs,” Robert Fairlie, Ph.D. and Alicia Robb, Ph.D. looked at both national and regional studies over several decades. They found that limited financial, human, and social capital, as well as racial discrimination, were the major reasons for the disparities between non-minority and minority businesses. The study is 10 years old, but many of the realities remain the same.
Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.
There are minority specific loan programs out there. Most of them, however, work better for existing businesses rather than for starting a business. Your better option is to simply find loans that, minority specific or not, will work despite the challenges that are unique to minorities when it comes to starting a business.
Also, work to build your business in a way that will make it appear fundable to lenders, regardless of who the owner is.
According to Forbes, these are major challenges faced by minority business owners in getting business funding.
Lower Net Worth
In general, the level of wealth for Latino and African Americans is 11-16 times less than for Caucasians. White business owners typically have more working capital when they start their business.
Lack of Collateral
For the most part, banks are not as likely to approve loans to applicants with less collateral to use against a loan. Lower net worth means less home ownership and fewer high-value assets to sell if a loan defaults. This combination of less security and net worth means banks will likely issue smaller loans that need to be paid back quickly, slowing long term growth.
Poor Location
Businesses owned by minorities in locations that have not traditionally supported new business are not as likely to get funding.
Little to No Credit History
Credit is a huge factor for banks when considering loan applications. Since minority business owners tend to have lower credit scores, for all the reasons already listed, it is harder to get the best rates and terms.
Absolutely. You just have to know where to look. The first stop is the Small Business Administration. As a general rule, they do not lend money themselves. However, they do offer a federal guarantee on loans made by traditional lenders. This makes it easier for borrowers that may not otherwise qualify to get a loan.
In addition, the SBA offers valuable resources that can help business owners and entrepreneurs prepare for the loan application process as well as running a business.
When it comes to minority loans to start a business, one of the best SBA options is the SBA Community Advantage Loan program.
These are designed to meet the needs of small businesses in neglected markets. Of course, that includes minorities. The goal is to get local lenders to increase loans up to $250,000. It does this by backing up to 85% of the loan amount. It helps small business owners who might not be able to get traditional financing.
Consequently, credit decision makers overlook factors such as poor credit or low revenue if the business has the potential to stimulate the economy or create jobs in underserved areas.
Loan amounts range from $50,000 to $250,000 with a maximum interest rate of 11%. Terms range up to 25 years.
Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.
Accion is a non-profit that offers loans in all states. Funds are available to the following:
Loan amounts start from $300 and go up to $250,000. Business owners can use them to help build businesses from the beginning. In addition, Accion will provide you with ways to strengthen your chances of approval should you not qualify.
The qualifications for Accion loans vary by location. You can enter your zip code to see the eligibility requirements for where you live. I entered several different zip codes to get a feel for what I was looking at. Sometimes the minimum credit score was 575. Other times there was no minimum credit score requirement. In addition, there were other requirements that varied by location including not being 30 days late on credit cards, loan payments, or bills. Not being late on rent or mortgage payments over the past year also popped up as a qualifier in some locations.
Kiva is a good place to start to find business startup loans. There is no credit check. It is absolutely free. You have to repay the money, but the interest rate is 0%. The only thing required from you is a thorough business credit profile. Also, you must loan $25 to another business on the site. Last is the requirement that you raise funds from a certain number of friends and family. Usually, it is at least five people from your own network that need to be willing to pitch in.
Since you are reading about minority loans to start a business, it’s likely your business is in the very early or planning stage. This is the perfect time to set your business up to be fundable, build business credit, and increase your chances for funding approval from all financing sources.
Fundability is the ability of your business to get funding. The first step in building fundability and business credit is to have a fundable foundation. These are the building blocks you need.
The first step in setting up a foundation of fundability is to ensure your business has its own phone number, fax number, and address. That’s not to say you have to get a separate phone line, or even a separate location. You can still run your business from your home or on your computer. You do not even have to have a fax machine.
Actually, you can get a business phone number and fax number pretty easily that will work over the internet instead of phone lines. In addition, the phone number will forward to any phone you want it too so you can simply use your personal cell phone or landline if you want. Whenever someone calls your business number it will ring straight to you.
Faxes can be sent to an online fax service, if anyone ever happens to actually fax you. This part may seem outdated, but it does help your business appear legitimate to lenders.
You can use a virtual office for a business address. How do you get a virtual office? What is that? It’s not what you may think. This is a business that offers a physical address for a fee, and sometimes they even offer mail service and live receptionist services. In addition, there are some that offer meeting spaces for those times you may need to meet a client or customer in person.
The next thing you need to do is get an EIN for your business. This is an identifying number for your business that works in a way similar to how your SSN works for you personally. Some business owners used their SSN for their business. This is what a lot of sole proprietorships and partnerships do. However, it really doesn’t look professional to lenders, and it can cause your personal and business
credit to get all mixed up. When you are looking to increase fundability, you need to apply for and use an EIN. You can get one for free from the IRS.
Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.
Incorporating your business as an LLC, S-corp, or corporation is necessary to fundability. It shows your business is legitimate. It also offers some protection from liability.
Which option you choose does not matter as much for fundability as it does for your budget and needs for liability protection. The best thing to do is talk to your attorney or a tax professional. What is going to happen is that you are going to lose the time in business that you have. When you incorporate, you become a new entity. You basically have to start over. You’ll also lose any positive payment history you may have accumulated as well.
This is why you have to incorporate as soon as possible. Not only is it necessary for fundability and for building business credit, but so is time in business. The longer you have been in business the more fundable you appear to be. That starts on the date of incorporation, regardless of when you actually started doing business.
You have to open a separate, dedicated business bank account. There are a few reasons for this. First, it will help you keep track of business finances. It will also help you keep them separate from personal finances for tax purposes.
There’s more to it however. There are several types of funding you cannot get without a business bank account. Many lenders and credit cards want to see one with a minimum average balance. In addition, you cannot get a merchant account without a business account at a bank. That means, you cannot take credit card payments. Studies show consumers tend to spend more when they can pay by credit card.
For a business to be fundable it has to have all of the necessary licenses it needs to run. If it doesn’t, red flags are going to fly up all over the place. Do the research you need to do to ensure you have all of the licenses necessary to legitimately run your business at the federal, state, and local levels.
I am sure you are wondering how a business website can affect your ability to get funding. Here’s the thing. These days, you do not exist if you do not have a website. However, having a poorly put together website can be even worse. It is the first impression you make on many, and if it appears to be unprofessional it will not bode well for you with consumers or potential lenders.
Spend the time and money necessary to ensure your website is professionally designed and works well. Pay for hosting too. Don’t use a free hosting service. Along these same lines, your business needs a dedicated business email address. Make sure it has the same URL as your Website. Don’t use a free service such as Yahoo or Gmail.
Having these things helps establish your business as a separate entity from yourself as the owner. This is not only important for fundability, but also in building business credit, which is essential to fundability also.
You may need to use one of the minority loans to start a business listed above to get your feet off the ground. Don’t stop there though. You have to work on building a fundable foundation and building business credit at the same time. This is essential to opening doors to more and better financing opportunities as your business grows.
The post How to Get Minority Loans to Start a Business appeared first on Credit Suite.
It’s 2020, time for smarter hiring practices. Hiring is costly, but bad hiring can be devastating to a business. Learn how to perfect this essential business skill. Plus, nine other ways to take your small business to the next level this year.
Our research ninjas at Credit Suite smuggled out ten amazing business tips for you! Be fierce and score in business with the best tips around the web. You can use them today and see fast results. You can take that to the bank – these are foolproof! Start with smarter hiring practices and more and watch your business grow and thrive.
Stop making stupid decisions and start powering up your business. Demolish your business nightmares and start celebrating as your business fulfills its promise.
And these brilliant business tips are all here for free! So, settle in and scoop up these tantalizing goodies before your competition does!
Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about working with our old friend, Excel. HubSpot says this old workhorse program is on many if not most resumes. That is, for people looking for office jobs. There are any number of traditional uses for Excel. The article provides instructions for how to create a business model. That’s worth the price of admission all by itself.
So, instead, we want to concentrate on one specific use in the article.
There are any number of time tracking apps and software out there. But before you go and plunk down serious money for one or learn a new system (even if it’s free), our old friend Excel can also do the job.
All you really need is a spreadsheet with the following:
| Dates Covered | 1/17/2020 | to | 1/23/2020 | ||
| Date | Time In | Lunch Start | Lunch End | Time Out | Hours Worked |
| 1/17/2020 | 8:45:00 AM | 1:00:00 PM | 1:30 PM | 5:00 PM | 7:45 |
| 1/18/2020 | 9:00 AM | 12:00 PM | 1:00 PM | 5:30 PM | 7:30 |
| 1/19/2020 | 8:15 AM | 12:15 PM | 1:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 9:00 |
| 1/20/2020 | 8:30 AM | 11:30 AM | 12:00 PM | 5:30 PM | 8:30 |
| 1/21/2020 | 9:00 AM | 11:45 AM | 12:30 PM | 5:00 PM | 7:15 |
| 1/22/2020 | 9:00 AM | 12:00 PM | 12:45 PM | 4:15 PM | 6:30 |
| 1/23/2020 | 9:15 AM | 12:30 PM | 12:45 PM | 5:45 PM | 8:15 |
| Total Hours Worked | 54:45:00 | ||||
Here’s how the formulas work. Let’s start with cell A1 (that’s where you type Dates Covered). In cell A3, put the first date of the time period you’re covering. Obviously, if your time period is longer or shorter, add cells accordingly. In our example, you put the last date of the time period in cell A9.
For cell B1, type =A3. This gets you the first date of the time period. In cell A4, type to. And in cell A5, type =A9 (if you’re adding or subtracting dates, then you want the cell including the last date after the equals sign).
Format cells B3 through E9 under Custom. Add h:mm AM/PM as the format. For cells F3 through F9, format under Time, 13:30. In cell F10, format it under Time, 37:30:55.
The F3 formula is: =(C3-B3)+(E3-D3). Place your cursor in the right lower corner of cell F3 until you see a black cross. Pull down until cell F9 and you’ll get the right formula for all of the cells where you need it.
The F10 formula is: =SUM(F3:F9). Everything else is just formatting and depends on how pretty you want the spreadsheet to be.
To calculate salary, add a column where you convert the hours to regular format (it’s probably easiest to do this manually). Hence, 8:30 should be written as 8.5. Add one more column and type in =(cell name*salary), where cell name is the designation of the cell with the converted format and salary of course is what you pay on an hourly basis.
When your company gets larger, Excel might no longer be a feasible way to handle your time tracking. But until it is, this hardworking program can be your best friend.
The next awesome tip is about competing with the 700-pound gorilla in the room: Amazon. Small Business Bonfire notes smaller enterprises can successfully compete. They are often nimbler and can be quicker to react to new information or business conditions. Those are huge advantages. Here are a few more.
There are only a few areas where Amazon can truly offer a personalized sales experience. For example, when installation is offered. And even then, installation isn’t offered everywhere. It’s a lot more likely to be available if you live in a major urban center (like I do).
So, you, as a small business owner, have got something that Amazon doesn’t.
In your shop, you can greet customers by name if you know them. And you can use data to give them personalized recommendations. While Amazon tries to do so with offering related products, they don’t always hit their marks.
You’re smarter than Amazon’s suggestion database.
I guarantee it.
If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Make smarter hiring practices a part of your business’s DNA in 2020, and more.
Our following life-changing tip concerns upping your website rankings in search. Success Harbor lays it all out for us.
Now, we’ve blogged about a lot of their suggestions already. Here, they’re in a convenient format. But I will caution you: some of the information is out of date. For example, they suggest getting backlinks from StumbleUpon. Well, they shut their doors in June of 2018.
So, take their suggestions with a grain of salt.
We suggest, of course, to create as good a website as you can. That means speed, links that work, user security, and relevance. Because what helps you succeed in search will also help you succeed in business.
For our next sensational tip, we looked at improving and optimizing your website for voice search. Doers Empire says that voice search is getting big – which is exactly what our SEO people are telling us. Current reports say a good 3.5 billion voice searches go on every day. Yeah, that’s billion with a B.
We recommend reading the entire article as there are details which you shouldn’t miss. So, instead, we’ll concentrate on one area only.
You may have heard the term before (at least, I hope you have). If you haven’t, no sweat. Here’s what they are.
Let’s say you go shopping for a birthday present for the six-year-old daughter of a friend. And you know this little girl loves animals. The more exotic, the better.
Instead of searching for just gifts, your search might look something like this.
Show me zebra-striped barrettes for a little girl. The seller must offer free shipping.
You’ll get a lot fewer results this way. But the chances of them being on point are extremely high.
By being specific in your prose on blogs and product and landing pages, you’ll get prospects who are a lot closer to buying. They know what they want. And once search serves them with choices, they’ll decide.
You may pick the first return you get. Or the one with the best prices, or a seller you know and trust. Maybe you’ll select a local retailer or made in the USA or even a seller where you have an account and can get loyalty points.
To make your search even faster, you might even specify those particulars from the start. If you only get one search result, then so what? If it’s precisely what you want and need, you have no need for a second search result.
Specify. You’ll never regret it.
This tip is so cost-effective, and it works! Word Stream tells us all about improving your pay per click (PPC) budget. Paid search can be a godsend. It can get your product or service in front of so many more people! So, don’t spend an arm and a leg on it.
A lot of this article is about budgeting and forecasting, so please check it out for the details.
Our biggest takeaway from it was to keep in mind that results in search aren’t immediate. So, be patient! And recognize that any budgeting will need to take multiple month payments into consideration.
You won’t be an overnight success. But with smart paid search planning, your not-so fast success won’t come at the expense of too much of your company’s budget.
Grab this mind-blowing tip while it’s hot!
It’s 2020, time to bring smarter hiring practices to your business.
Small Business Bonfire says there are some understandable legal pitfalls when it comes to hiring and firing.
The article provides valuable advice for both hiring and firing. It really should be read in its entirety – we highly recommend it. This includes doing a business background check, of course.
But first, here are some personal stories/observations on both.
Hiring – a Personal StoryOf course, your intrepid blog writer has been hired in places. And I have also done hiring in some places.
My first tip is to make candidates feel comfortable. Remember, you were in the exact same situation before. Being kind costs your company nothing (whereas the hiring process for just one new employee can run about $4,000). And being kind can help more introverted candidates shine.
Not all of your employees have to be live wires, unless you’re hiring for the Sales Department. Hiring some of the quieter people out there can help better balance your workforce. Going out of your way to make them comfortable can help some people who otherwise may not interview well most of the time. More perspectives are good for any business.
Yeah, I have been through this as well. And I have had to fire people. It’s never easy. It shouldn’t be.
My suggestion is to, assuming the person wasn’t actively stealing from the company or harassing your other employees, make it easy for them to collect unemployment. There are states where there are a lot of restrictions on who can collect. You may be disappointed in a hire who didn’t work out and didn’t really do much. But keep your personal feelings out of it if you can.
You may be less than thrilled with your ex-employee. But your okay could be all that’s standing between them getting an unemployment check and being able to feed their family – or not. You’re angry at them, maybe. But you’re probably not angry at their spouse or significant other. And for God’s sake, you’re not angry at their children. Right?
So, don’t begrudge them the ability to collect on insurance that you and they have paid into. You won’t get that money back by being nasty.
Do this, and you’ll be able to sleep at night.
If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Make smarter hiring practices a part of your business’s DNA in 2020, and more.
Check out this spectacular tip, all about building higher-performing teams through leadership. Talk about your smarter hiring practices! Proof Hub notes that their first suggestion is to do just that – to engage in smarter hiring practices and bring in people who you feel can excel. And, they need to be people who you feel will work well together.
We wanted to focus on one particular tip.
We found this to be a fascinating idea. Now, of course teams are composed of individuals. Their roles and responsibilities must be clearly defined. Underperformers should be shored up and helped, so they can succeed.
But this particular tip is about when things go a little, shall we say, ca-ca.
When one person is continually blamed for problems, it doesn’t just hurt them. It doesn’t just make their work life miserable. It can also make others’ work lives miserable. If you have put together a good team who like to work together, then blaming X for really anything is going to be felt by the entire team.
We would like to add not just addressing the entire team when things go haywire. We also strongly suggest any personal issues for one employee in particular be handled in private.
Because dressing down an employee in front of others, no matter how well-deserved, makes people uncomfortable.
Do the right thing and wait for a time when you’re not in front of the rest of the team. HR may need to be involved, of course. It can’t always be one on one. Just, eliminate the audience.
Treat that employee like you would want to be treated.
It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you more effectively handle your short huddle-style meetings. Great Game tells us a company huddle should be handled more or less like an actual sports huddle.
That is, check your current game conditions. What works, and what doesn’t?
Check the score. That is, what are your numbers?
And plan the next play. As in, what are your upcoming plans?
But our fave tip was to get all fired up. Being psyched about who you are, and what you do, is a great way to lead your business into future success. Dare we say? It helps make your smarter hiring practices really pay off.
Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on creating compelling content, even when your company and your industry aren’t exactly excitement fests. Noobpreneur reveals all about garnering attention even when you’re industry is kind of, for lack of a better word, dull.
Sorry.
So, how do you do it? We really liked the examples and ideas this article had, so we recommend reading it in its entirety. Hence, we’ll zero in on just one of their ideas.
We firmly believe in this! Consider these Friday posts. While they aren’t about business credit, per se, they are about running a small business. Marketing is a huge part of business, and it can lead directly to success. Furthermore, the better you can market yourself and your business, the better you’ll handle important business moments such as meeting with investors or talking to a lender about a loan.
Going utterly off-topic is a poor idea pretty much 100% of the time. Why?
Because your readers aren’t coming to your blog for your movie reviews if your company is all about baking cookies. With no connection to your main topic, your readers will see the off-topic post for what it is – a waste of their time.
Ouch.
There’s nothing wrong with branching out a bit. But you need a connection to the main topic at hand. Without that connection, you just look like you’re trying to be all things to all people. And that never works out.
We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on attracting investor attention with your personal attributes. Startup Professionals says a personal connection between you and angel investors and venture capitalists can be the difference between success and failure.
They cited a few examples of how you can become catnip to investors. Here are a few that we especially loved.
Yeah, we know. There are a lot of wacko geniuses out there. But stability goes a lot further with investors. You could be brilliant. But if the investors think there’s a chance you’ll crash and burn, they’ll lose interest. And if they think you’ll skip town with their funds, then they’ll be happy to have the law on you.
You don’t have to be a salesperson. The two suggestions in the article were to personalize communications and to listen as well speak. And let’s face it, that’s good life advice anyway.
Many investors want to see you’re already on you’re way. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to already be profitable. It’s more that you have set goals and have met some of them. This doesn’t just show you’re operating well. It also shows that you’re capable of making SMART goals and follow through.
This, we felt, is key. This doesn’t just show that you know your stuff. It also means that you keep up with your industry. And it means that you are willing and able to continue your education. You don’t rest on your laurels. You read, you network with people in your field, and even return to school if necessary. And you care about being right.
Pro tip: it’s not just investors who love that.
So, which one of our brilliant business tips was your favorite? And which one will you be implementing now?
If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Make smarter hiring practices a part of your business’s DNA in 2020, and more.
The post Start Smarter Hiring Practices in 2020 and More –10 Brilliant Business Tips of the Week appeared first on Credit Suite.
Every business needs strong business credit. Make it a goal in this new year to learn how to start business credit, and how to keep it strong so you can grow your business into more than you ever imagined.
The new year is full of promise. We make resolutions, set goals, and determine to stick with it all, until what was once a resolution becomes a habit. Then, a few weeks later in most cases, we are back to the way things were. We are eating the same, slipping into old habits, and nothing is really any different. Sometimes though, one or two things stick.
Learning how to start business credit really can be one of those things that sticks if you use or process and support system along the way.
In most cases, you can’t access the funding your business needs without credit. As a business owner, you not only have to worry about your personal credit, but you also have to pay attention to the credit rating of your business.
Whether you are new to business ownership or you already run an established business, you need to know how to start business credit building. It is vitally important to have separate credit for your business.
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To do this, you need to establish your business as separate from yourself. Even if you have stellar 
personal credit, you don’t want it messing with your business credit. The reverse is true as well.
If something unfortunate happens on the personal credit side, you do not want your business to suffer. On the flip side, if your business struggles and its credit suffers, you want your personal credit protected as much as possible.
Business credit doesn’t build on its own however.. It takes some work to set things up right. It’s not hard, but it does take some effort.
The first step is to make sure your business has an address and phone number that is different from what you use personally. You can use VoIP phone services and virtual business address options to keep from having to get a whole new phone line or buy a building if you are running your business from home.
Next, you have to incorporate. There are a few options.
This is the most definitive separation, but it is also the most complicated and expensive. Before choosing this option, be certain there are reasons other than starting business credit. If it isn’t necessary for some other reason, there are other, less complicated, and less costly options.
This option basically offers the same separation as the C Corp, but you pay taxes at the personal level. This is in contrast to the C Corp model where you pay on both the personal level and corporate level resulting in double taxation. It is also cheaper than incorporating as a C Corp. If it isn’t necessary to file as a C corp, this is a good alternative.
Forming a Limited Liability Corporation results in less liability, thus the name, and offers enough separation to serve the purpose of starting business credit. If you are not required to be a C Corp or S Corp, this is the easiest and most cost-effective way to create the separation of business and personal credit needed.
You may think you cannot do this. After all, doesn’t every credit application ask for an SSN? You need to apply for an EIN. Your SSN connects to you, personally, and it is pretty much a given that anything connected to it credit wise will end up on your personal credit reports.
No matter what you do to separate your business, if you apply with your SSN it’s likely going to hit your personal credit report.
The process of applying for and EIN is easy. The IRS has an online form, and as soon as they verify the information, you receive your number. It typically happens almost immediately.
Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) is the largest and most commonly used business credit reporting agency (CRA). They issue a 9-digit DUNS number to each credit file. Application is easy and free, and once you have that number, you will be even closer to establishing credit for your business separate from your own.
Check out our best webinar with its trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit.
If you are using the same bank account for business and personal expenses, stop. For starting business credit, you need a separate business bank account. Some vendors and credit cards want to see a dedicated business account with a minimum balance before approval. It will also help to have the expenses already separate come tax time.
There are two ways to go about this. Typically, a combination of the two is the best bet for starting business credit quickly. First, if you are already working with any vendors, ask them about opening a credit line. Since you already have a relationship with them, they may be more willing to do so without checking your credit. If they agree, be sure the account is in your business name and lists your business information, not your personal information. Then, ask if they will report payments to the business credit reporting agencies.
Either way, you will also need to start working with starter vendors. This is a vital step in starting business credit. You cannot skip it. What are starter vendors? These are vendors in the vendor credit tier that will offer net terms on invoices without checking credit. Then, they will report those payments to the business CRAs. If you can get accounts with existing vendors also, you will build a strong credit score faster, but you still need to work with starter vendors.
Sometimes utility companies are willing to report payments to credit agencies also. You almost always have to ask though. The worst they can do is say no. If they do, you haven’t really lost anything. If they say they will, starting business credit will only go faster.
Talk to everyone, including telephone, electric, gas, and even internet. Make sure they are in your company name with your company’s contact information first however.
Once you have your name, EIN, and separate contact information, you need to use it to apply for business credit cards. This has to be done in order as well. The vendor credit tier is actually the bottom of 4 different credit tiers. The other three are made up of varying levels of business credit cards. When starting business credit, after the vendor credit tier, you can step up to the retail credit tier.
These are the cards that are issued by specific stores and can only be used at the stores that issue them. For example, a card issued by Office Depot that can only be used for purchases from Office Depot would be in this tier.
Once you get enough cards in the retail credit tier, you can apply for cards in the fleet credit tier. Those are the cards that can only be used for fuel and automobile maintenance and repairs. A couple of examples of companies that issue these types of cards are Fuelman and WEX.
After that comes the cash credit tier. Those are the standard cards you can use anywhere for anything. They typically have higher limits and lower interest rates. Once you qualify for these cards, all that is left is to keep your business credit strong.
There is no point in starting business credit if you are not going to keep it going strong. You have to make your payments on time and handle it responsibly. Planning plays a big role in this. Do not overspend, and try not to use credit that you cannot pay back in a timely manner. You don’t have to pay it off all at once. You need to make payments to build credit anyway, but be sure you can make the payments.
In addition to handling credit responsibly, you need to monitor your credit reports. Even if you are just beginning to establish business credit, go ahead and get a copy of your business credit report. There may not be anything on there, but you need to know when changes are made. This original report will give you a baseline.
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We can help you monitor your business credit for a fraction of what it costs with the credit reporting agencies. Go here to find out more.
Each CRA has a different process for dealing with problems on your report. You will have to find out from each one what their process is for reporting mistakes. However, the standard is that you mark the mistake on the report and send them a copy. Also, provide the correct information along with any back up documentation. Documentation may include proof of payment such as receipts, copies of bank statements, proof of change of address, and more. Send it all certified mail, and always send copies of documentation, not originals.
Remember mistakes can include things other than payment information. Make certain you clear off anything that should be on your personal credit report, and vice versa. Keep an eye on information that may need to be updated as well, such as phone number and address.
The short answer is, nope. While the process of separating your business from yourself as the owner is definitely easiest handled in the original set up process, it can be done at any time. If you are already up and running it will take you some extra time and expense to change any marking materials and directories that already list your personal contact information. It can also take some time to go through the incorporation process. It’s worth it though.
While having an online presence doesn’t really affect your business credit score, a poor online presence, these days isn’t very conducive to success. In fact, so many people head to the internet first these days, if you don’t have a website you might as well not even exist. The thing is, you need to have a professional website. You don’t want something that is just thrown together.
This isn’t just for your potential customers, but also for potential lenders. You never know what type of research a lender may do other than pulling a credit report. If they see a poorly executed website, it will look unprofessional. That will not bode well for your approval chances. Be sure you have a business email with the same URL as the website also. You shouldn’t use your personal email address any more than your personal phone or mailing address.
The best way to stick with it and keep working toward your goals is to have a solid support system. That is exactly what CreditSuite is. We can help you with every step of the process from finding starter vendors that will get your business credit score rolling to monitoring your credit so you know where you stand. Building business credit isn’t hard, but it is definitely a process that requires intentionality and dedication. Let this year be the year you take the plunge and gain access to all the business funding you need to successfully run and grow your business.
The post Start the New Year Off with a Bang: How to Start Business Credit in 2020 appeared first on Credit Suite.