Additionally, payment history can make up 50 — 100 %
of your business credit score, depending on which scoring model is being used, so overall it tends to be a more significant factor with business credit than with personal.
In today's fast paced business world more partners, lenders, and potential accounts need to make quick decisions as to which suppliers, borrowers, and partners they want to work with; decision - makers use a variety
of business credit scores, indexes, and reports to discard unqualified candidates from being considered for a partnership or a loan.
However, third - parties do offer this convenience: They can package together
all of your business credit scores in one report.
Equifax offers a variety
of business credit scores that are used for credit and collection decisions, equipment leasing, etc.:
Not exact matches
But learning the basics
of how
credit scores work and why you should care could make a massive difference to your small
business.
Furthermore, they have lacked the technology to look at the whole health
of a
business and judge them solely based on
credit score, a factor that shouldn't reflect if they can repay a loan or not.
In December, JPMorgan Chase said it will use alternative lender OnDeck's
credit -
scoring technology, in an attempt to more quickly underwrite
credit to some
of the giant bank's 4 million small
business customers.
Having a good
credit score will help you scale your
business and obtain loans, financing and further lines
of credit for big purchases.
After all, it is counterproductive to neglect your company's
credit rating in favor
of focusing on
business outreach and development as that action would be hypocritical given that damaging the company's
credit score would be detrimental to progress.
A number
of business credit bureaus will generate a
business credit score, including Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax, Experian and FICO.
Some 45 percent
of entrepreneurs surveyed didn't even know they had a
business credit score.
In September 2015, Biz2
Credit conducted a study that showed Latino small -
business loan applications grew 18 percent, yet their owners lag behind in the necessary factors needed to secure financing, such as annual revenue, age
of business and
credit scores.
The study found that nearly 40 percent
of small
business owners who didn't know their
business credit score anticipated growth
of less than 5 percent, while nearly three quarters who did, envisioned growth
of up to 20 percent.
Many banks will take your
business credit score into account, but if your small
business still is in its early years, your chances
of securing a loan from a traditional lending institution are notoriously slim.
And especially in the case
of a
business or a borrower who has lower
credit scores, it's usually higher interest rates and fees that compensate for the higher risk the lender is taking.
If you hope to start or a grow a
business, you'll need to learn how to judge the status
of your
credit score and why it matters to your lender.
Business credit scores are a little more like the wild west
of the
credit industry.
There are two types
of credit scores — personal and
business.
Typically, these
businesses describe their loans as faster and more readily available to customers than bank loans, because they leverage technology to evaluate risk on a number
of factors, as opposed to relying solely on
credit scores.
Mike Michalowicz, author
of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, shares four tips on building
business credit and improving your
credit score.
Bern Lefson, a certified mentor at
SCORE, the nonprofit dedicated to helping small
businesses that is supported by the U.S. Small
Business Administration, says there is a consistent trend
of consumers carrying less cash and making more transactions with
credit cards.
If you own a small firm and have been in operation for less than three years and have a
credit score of below 650, you likely won't be able to secure a small
business loan from a large bank.
Until your
business reaches a substantial size ($ 5 million to $ 10 million in annual revenue or more), the bank is going to rely heavily on your personal financial statement and personal
credit score to determine the creditworthiness
of your
business.
You can try to boost your
score by reducing the balance on your
business credit cards or requesting a
credit - line increase to lower the percentage
of your available
credit in use.
He estimates that approximately 25 %
of all loans issued in Canada are to people with low
credit scores, and while he believes people with higher
credit scores will make up a growing proportion
of Canada Drives» customer base going forward, he has built a
business (and brand) around an ability to get that 25 % into cars.
Additionally, a
credit card processing company will look at how long you have been in
business and even your own
credit score to determine the level
of risk involved in providing you with
credit card services.
Similar to your personal
credit score, you
business credit score is based on your
credit - use history, how many lines
of credit you have, how you pay your bills, the size
of your company, and how long your company has been in
business.
A good personal
credit score can help you acquire your first lines
of business credit.
If you're a small
business owner, you have one more piece
of information to consider on top
of your three different personal
credit scores.
Let's take a look at 3
of the most common
business credit scores & reporting agencies:
So instead
of building
business credit, I'm adding to my already sterling personal
credit score.
The
Business Credit Risk Score, Early Default Score, Business Delinquency Score and the Business Delinquency Financial Score include the option of using personal credit data and commercial credit
Credit Risk
Score, Early Default
Score,
Business Delinquency
Score and the
Business Delinquency Financial
Score include the option
of using personal
credit data and commercial credit
credit data and commercial
creditcredit data.
By putting a balance on your card each month and paying it off by the due date, you can quickly improve your
business credit score by creating a record
of timely payments.
According to Experian, Intelliscore Plus ℠ is a statistically based
credit - risk
score that can combine
business and proprietor
credit data to predict the likelihood
of serious delinquency in the next 12 months.
The FICO SBSS
score will be used for term loans, lines
of credit, and commercial loans up to $ 350,000 from the Small
Business Administration (SBA).
Enter the age
of your
business, your
credit score, the amount
of money you need and how you'll use it.
There are a lot
of factors — three major
credit reporting bureaus, personal
credit scores,
business credit scores, and different algorithms for rating your creditworthiness.
Unlikely though it may seem, building your personal
credit score is one
of the first steps to building a
credit history for your
business.
Notice that while most
of the factors are similar to those used to calculate your personal
credit scores, others are unique to
business credit scores.
A strong history
of business credit with timely payments to vendors and suppliers may help boost your SBSS
score.
Then, when you receive a
business loan or line
of credit — sometimes called trade
credit — information about your payment history is compiled by one or more
business credit reporting agencies, including Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, Equifax and FICO and turned into a
business credit score.
Levi King is the co-founder and CEO
of Nav, the only site giving
business owners to their personal and
business credit scores, along with streamlined access to financing options.
Through their network
of over 10,000 independent Vendors, and utilizing their multi-level
credit scoring model, they are able to approve a wide range
of customers from large corporations to small
businesses, including new entities.
For example, a healthy restaurant might get turned down for a loan if the
business owner has a personal
credit score of 600 and doesn't have a track record
of several years in
business.
(Solid
business credit scores can open a number
of other doors as well).
(New York, NY) March 24, 2010 — On Deck Capital (www.ondeck.com), a leading provider
of small
business financing solutions, announced today announced today that over $ 50 million
of loans have now been made to more than 2,000 Main Street small
businesses using its proprietary performance lending system which evaluates
businesses based on electronic performance data rather than relying solely on the
business owner's personal
credit score.
Each
of the major
credit bureaus uses its own formula, but factors such as how long you've been in
business, your
credit utilization, and the lines
of credit you have opened in the last six months are likely to affect your
score.
MCA providers typically give more weight to the underlying performance
of a
business than the owner's personal
credit scores.
Rather than relying on personal assets such as a car, boat or home to secure the loan, unsecured lenders look exclusively at a borrower's
credit worthiness to determine eligibility, making those with high
credit scores and a long, solid
credit history the best candidates for an unsecured
business line
of credit.
Typically, there are actions you can take (such as putting up more collateral or improving your
credit score) to get a better interest rate and reduce the total expense
of funding your
business.