At least once a day someone will ask me how they can get an 80 Paydex score, believing that it's the be-all-to-end-all that will get them the credit they need. They've usually been skirting around the web trying to find answers and will invariably find themselves falling down the rabbit hole of business credit myths and misinformation. Reach out to me directly if you want to boost your Paydex score (and all of the rest of your business credit scores and ratings.)

The internet is flush with companies who are still promising small business owners they can get "EIN-based" credit. It may take months and thousands of dollars before the business owner realizes he's been rooked. In reality, they are just trying to sell a "golden unicorn" service the only way they can: with misinformation. Reach out to me directly if you want to boost your business credit scores and ratings before you apply.

Do you have a slow payment showing on your business credit report that is bringing down your scores and ratings? Have you thought about disputing it but didn't know how? Or did you successfully dispute a slow payment only to see that it reappeared a month or so later? Let's do a deep dive on the facts about how the slow payment dispute process works so you can make an informed decision as to whether you should dispute that slow payment or not — and why you may not want to.

When someone pulls your business credit report, it sends a message to the credit bureaus about your business. That message may be that your business is strong and thriving and growing over time, or it could say that you're financially strained and desperate for funding. Whatever message that's being sent, it's going to impact your scores and ratings — and that will trigger a cascade of positive or negative messages that will be sent to your other (existing) creditors.

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.

If you're planning to spend money on holiday gifting, buying those gifts now (and doing it the right way) could mean that many of these "seasonal" purchases get reported to the commercial credit bureaus and count toward boosting your business credit scores and ratings. Sometimes it can be as easy as creating a new account in your business name and paying for your purchases using your business debit or credit card! Reach out to me directly if you want to boost your business cr

The one topic that baffles more small business owners than any other is how to legitimately add positive payment history to the D&B file to help build or boost business credit scores and ratings. So I've made a list of the most frequently asked questions, and I've provided the answers to make the process a little easier for anyone who just needs a little help getting from Point A to... well... the best D&B scores they could even imagine.

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.

Right now, while everyone else seems to be standing still and waiting to see how things will turn out — innovators will be charging forward. Head up. Back firm. Shoulders braced. Undaunted.  It's not that they are unafraid... They just understand that fear and uncertainty has motivated some of the greatest successes in our nation's history. Reach out to me directly if you want to be prepared for every potential opportunity by boosting your business credit scores and ratings i

D&B's new security process requires that specific owner's information be entered into the system to verify a principal's identity in order to gain access to the site — and they'll need to undergo an intense identity verification process that may include QR codes, selfies, and accessing your business bank account to verify your ownership. If you need help accessing your file via D&B's new DUNS Profile Manager, give me a call. I can help you get access within just a few minute

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...

When it comes to business credit however, piggybacking or "partnering" is not just considered extremely dangerous, in some cases, it's also illegal. There have recently been a lot of cases where the piggybacker crosses the line between questionable credit-building practices and out-right bank fraud when they use false pretenses to obtain business-based credit cards or commercial loans. Reach out to me directly if you want to boost your business credit scores and ratings.

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

I have worked with lots of business owners who had struggled to achieve credit approvals. I've see the same patterns in behavior over and over again, so it was easy to understand how updating certain information or making a few simple changes to their business practices could have an unbelievable impact and turn things around for them. That's why I outlined five key issues that any business owner can address on their own time, and every single one of them is free!

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

If there is even the slightest possibility your business credit application's approval could render access to cash (hard currency), lenders are now required to perform certain processes to validate the identity of the principal whose name appears on the application. While the goal is to separate your personal CREDIT from your business, when it comes to identity verification, you don't have the option of separating your personal IDENTITY from your business.

D&B's primary focus is NOT on making your business more credible or creditworthy, but rather to protect the financial interests of THEIR customers — the banks, credit card companies, major retailers, insurance carriers, and high-value suppliers who spend millions of dollars each year pulling credit reports on your business. Boosting your business credit scores and ratings is your job. Reach out to me directly if you would like help reaching that goal.

Did you know that you can have a hand in crafting how your business is represented in your D&B report? After all, you — more than anyone...

Hindsight is always 20/20, which is why most successful small business owners say their biggest mistake was using personal credit to...