Business Credit Profile
In a recent article via the SBA.gov Community, I wrote an article explaining the ten can’t miss business credit profile tips for small business owners. It’s essential to realize that in today’s lending and credit environments your business credit profile plays a key role. 
From a lenders perspective, a business with a creditworthy profile is a safe risk and one that they would be willing to extend credit to. In the article I list the ten essential tips which I believe is a helpful road map that lenders would want business owners like you to know.
Here is a quick overview of the ten essential tips:
1) Keep all company data identical – this tip is a key to avoiding duplicate credit files or a potential decline of credit due to mismatched data.
2) Leverage the good credit you already have – in the article I go over the benefit of adding existing trade references to your file so you can boost your rating quickly.
3) Make certain your profile represents a real business – the information about your company does impact the creditworthiness of your business. Don’t ignore the importance of this tip.
4) Pay better than terms – not only should you pay better than terms but be consistent with how you use your credit as well. A steady track record of payments is much more powerful than a single payment.
5) Have a diversity of credit accounts – don’t get accustom to simply relying on vendor credit to build your profiles. Additional credit types such as fleet credit, revolving credit and lease credit is just as important.
6) Monitor your business credit profile regularly – not only should you keep a close eye on your personal credit but you should equally watch over your business credit reports.
7) Correct any inaccurate or outdated information – by watching over your reports you may uncover errors or incorrect information so it’s crucial to correct them as soon as possible.
8) Select the appropriate industry classification code – recently I did a post about selecting the right business sic codes for your company. Be selective and choose the appropriate code.
9) Improve your score by submitting financials – financial statements have a value that is essential to not only the success of your business but also your business credit profile. If a lender can see strong and healthy financials, the easier it will be for them to assess if and how much credit to extend and at what terms.
10) Update and maintain your company’s internet presence – let’s face it, a company web site is an essential tool in today’s business environment. Keeping your site updated is mandatory especially since web mining is one of the ways business credit agencies gather data.
As I stated in the article, your business credit profile is a report card on how your company handles its financial obligations. Nothing can be further from the truth. But I’ll take it a step further, while your profile is your report card, your business credit scores are your actual grades.
Let these ten tips be a road map to building, maintaining and protecting your business credit profile and scores. Although each business credit reporting agency uses different scoring models the tips listed here are applicable to each agency.
Read more about the 10 cant’s-miss business credit profile tips
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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’.