| Many small businesses could benefit from having extra | | | | the state you do business in, as well as filing with the |
| capital available to free up their cashflow, but | | | | IRS for a Tax ID number (sometimes called an EIN |
| unfortunately most will never know that they can | | | | number). These pieces of information are critical to |
| establish and build business credit for their business | | | | filling out a true business credit application. |
| without using their personal credit. | | | | Get Your Company Listed Properly |
| There are 3 critical things that any small business can | | | | Make sure your company is listed with business credit |
| do to make sure they are building business credit. | | | | reporting agencies such as Dun and Bradstreet. You |
| Watch Out For "Business" Credit Cards | | | | can visit them at and see if your company is already |
| Don't apply for credit cards that say they are | | | | listed in their system. |
| "business credit" cards, if the application asks for your | | | | Establishing and building business credit is the most |
| personal information such as your social security | | | | important thing you can do to help grow your business. |
| number. This is a dead give-away that it's a personal | | | | Following these critical steps will help ensure you are |
| credit card in disguise as a business credit card. | | | | able to properly build business credit. |
| Prepare Your Company's Documents | | | | Having these things in place for your small business |
| Make sure your small business is setup properly from | | | | prior to applying for a business loan or line of credit can |
| the beginning. That means having your articles of | | | | mean the difference between being approved or being |
| corporation filed properly with the secretary of state in | | | | denied. |