It seems everyone working on their business credit report tend to focus on D&B's Paydex score as being the most significant factor, but there are actually six other scores that can have an even higher influence on being able to the approvals they want and need for their company. If you've ever wondered what those scores are, what they mean, or how they can impact your company's creditworthiness and credit approvals, you're going to want to read this blog post (and then give m

Did you know that your payment history can drop off your report? Most small businesses go into the credit-building process believing that all they need to do is establish a Paydex score and they will be on their way. Then a year or so down the road, when they need their corporate credit to be in it's best possible condition, they find that all those payments they added back then have dropped off their report and their scores and ratings are no longer where they once were.

I tend to monitor my clients' corporate credit even more closely than my own, so imagine my surprise when I accidentally discovered that D&B had created a duplicate DUNS number for my own company! Fortunately, I know the drill, so a hastily submitted support ticket was enough to fix the problem. So this post is just a reminder to all of you to take a few minutes to complete your annual business credit checkup.

People complain when their payments to lenders and financial organizations aren't reflecting in their D&B business credit report.  Their frustration doubles when they can't submit those lenders and creditors as "trade references".  What they don't realize is that some of those transactions may actually be showing up, but in the Small Business Financial Exchange... and that could be a much bigger benefit for their business. Reach out to me if you want to boost your business cr

Is your D&B report reflecting your company's strength and creditworthiness? Is your business data up-to-date and accurate? Do you have...

Most small business owners view business credit inquiries in the same terms as personal credit inquiries, but — in reality — that couldn't be further from the truth! While there are certain circumstances where having your D&B report pulled could count against your company, its important for business owners to understand inquiries and what they mean to your scores and ratings. Reach out to me directly if you want to better understand business credit scores, ratings and inquir

Whether you sell groceries, houses, newspapers, slacks, cars, cupcakes or cannabis, the details of your business are as intricate and individual as the fingerprints on your front door glass. While you might share similar types of suppliers based upon your industry, you'll likely use a different plumber, or advertise in a different market, or buy your business cards from a different printer. Reach out to me directly if you want to add your existing payment history to your bus

Some credit enhancement companies will try to talk you into using the same old cookie-cutter creditors they use on all their other clients. I encourage my clients to save time and money by submitting their existing vendors and suppliers to D&B. When those creditors provide strong responses to D&B's questions, their answers will carry a heavier weight, accomplish ten times more in the creditbuilding process, and can usually get your credit file built out in just a fraction o

Adding just one vendor to your D&B file has the potential to boost your scores and ratings by up to 90%. What most small business owners don't realize, though, is that choosing which vendors you can use to get payment habits reported to the business credit bureaus isn't as hard as you might think, especially if you consider that even small mom-and-pop shops, contractors, and suppliers right in your own neighborhood are often among the most beneficial to your scores and rating

Small businesses open new accounts and get approvals for commercial credit every day. So does it really matter if you have D&B scores and ratings in place before you apply? I guess that depends on whether you are content with the approvals you're getting, or if you would rather get exactly what you asked for! Reach out to me directly if you want to boost your business credit scores and ratings.

Did you know you can have 1000 payments in your D&B credit report and still not have a full D&B rating? All the payments in the world won't mean a thing if D&B doesn't consider your company to be a viable enterprise. In fact, they may even block your vendor payment history from flowing into your file if your rating isn't complete. A missing D&B rating can stymie your company's creditworthiness. Reach out to me directly if you want to boost your business credit scores and r

For those who think all you need to do to qualify for business funding is an 80 Paydex score... think again! An 80 Paydex score is easy to achieve — requiring just three on-time payments to three different suppliers that will report to D&B. But the Paydex is just one of six scores and ratings in your company's credit profile, and there are a lot more factors impacting the other five. Reach out to me directly if you want to boost all of your business credit scores and rating

When you're first starting a business and income is limited, you need to pinch every penny and make sure you're spending every dollar as wisely as possible. For most small business owners, that starts in the decision about how you're going to structure your business, because the last thing you want to do is cripple your new company and destroy your own personal FICO scores in the process. The pennies you pinch here could cost you a fortune later.

There are some credit consultants who tell their clients to use a virtual address so they look more corporate or professional. Unfortunately, what they don't tell their clients is that trying to pass off a virtual address or mail-drop location as a physical address can actually cause more harm than good. Using a virtual address can actually corrupt your corporate data and make your business appear less credible. Reach out to me directly if you want to understand why.

Nine times out of ten, adding your own existing payment history to your business credit report is going to be far more beneficial than following someone else's cookie-cutter roadmap. If you have already been paying bills and making purchases in your day-to-day operations, those transactions are the ones that are going to say more about your company's capability and credibility than any cookie-cutter tradelines ever will. Reach out to me directly if you want to boost your busi

As you may have noticed, much of the training I provide focuses on the importance of adding payment history to your corporate credit report as a means of boosting your scores and ratings. But today, I'd like to provide a little insight into what a huge difference you can make when you add the right kinds of vendor and supplier payment history to your commercial credit report. Your company's creditworthiness is one of the most important representatives you have.

Are you like Sam? Sam told me he didn't have any vendors. He said, "I don't have any credit. All I ever use are local guys and small...

Any time your business applies for credit or opens a new vendor account, there is a high probability that the creditor or supplier will check your business credit report. If your company has established a credit profile with one or more of the major corporate credit bureaus, an inquiry will be generated. For the most part, inquiries are a normal part of doing business and help validate your business information, strengths, needs and viability.

You're filling out a credit application. Everything is going along just fine until you get to that box at the bottom... You know the one — where you're being asked to provide a personal guaranty — and, suddenly, you hit the brakes. Why is it, when you are working so hard to separate your business credit from your personal credit, those suppliers or lenders wanting you to mix them all together again? Reach out to me directly if you want to boost your business credit scores

If you are working to build up your business credit scores and ratings, you may want to check out these three examples of clients who are...