Apply for a DUNS Number

Are you ready to apply for a D-U-N-S number?

There’s no question the DUNS Number has become the standard identification number for businesses worldwide. Now that you’re ready to apply and get your business DUNS registered there are a few key things you need to know before applying.

First, if you’ve been in business for a while make sure your company doesn’t already have a DUNS number assigned to it.

Conduct a DUNS lookup and check to see if your company is listed. If you find that your business is already listed then you may want to check your report or sign up for a monitoring service.

Secondly, decide how quickly you need to get your DUNS Number. As a for profit company you can either obtain one for free, which takes 30 days, or you can apply for a DUNS Number and receive it in 5 days or less at a cost.

Now before you apply for a DUNS Number you should have the following information on hand:

• The legal name of your business
• Other names associated with your business, also known as your DBA “Doing Business As”
• The physical business address
• The business mailing address
• The business email address
• The company’s main phone number
• The name and title of the individual who will be listed as the D-U-N-S contact of your business
• The number of employees at your location
• Estimate of gross annual sales
• The number of years in business
• Industry classification code

Once you have this information you will be ready to apply for a DUNS Number. Keep in mind, getting a DUNS Number just gets you listed in D&B’s database. Your company’s credit profile will be classified as a marketing file until you have trade lines reporting on your report. This is where the majority of business owners make the mistake of thinking that all suppliers/creditors report to D&B.

DUNS Number Listing

If your company has existing trade references that are not being reported to D&B then you may want to consider their credit builder product which enables you to add up to four trade references to your file. Once you have a D&B file then consider a credit monitoring service so you can manage and protect your company’s good credit standing.

If you don’t have existing trade references consider using our business credit building system. Our system provides a complete database of suppliers, creditors, and lenders that report to business credit agencies such as D&B which makes the business credit building process faster and much easier.

It’s also important to note that once a DUNS Number is assigned, it’s never reused or assigned to another business. Your nine-digit number will be the number you use on credit applications and will enable a supplier or creditor to obtain your D&B business credit report prior to extending credit to your business.

After you apply for a DUNS Number, the next step is to start establishing business credit. Whether you own a corporation, LLC, limited partnership, etc.; the DUNS Number you get is constant – it stays with your business throughout its lifecycle. Why not build a creditworthy business so suppliers, creditors, and lenders can get an accurate and complete picture of your company so you can get the business credit you deserve.

Ready to start building your business credit? Become a member of my Business Credit Insiders Circle and gain access to a proven step-by-step business credit builder system. A system that provides you access to vendor lines of credit, fleet cards, business credit cards with and without a PG, funding sources and lenders that report to all the major business credit bureaus. Submit your name and email below for details and receive a free business credit building audio seminar ($597 value) =>

To Your Success In Business and in Life!

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About the author

Marco Carbajo is a business credit expert, author, speaker, and founder of the Business Credit Insiders Circle. He is a business credit blogger for Dun and Bradstreet Credibility Corp, the SBA.gov Community, About.com and All Business.com. His articles and blog; Business Credit Blogger.com,  have been featured in ‘Fox Small Business’,’American Express Small Business’, ‘Business Week’, ‘The Washington Post’, ‘The New York Times’, ‘The San Francisco Tribune’,‘Alltop’, and ‘Entrepreneur Connect’.