Building Business Credit (Separate from your own)

thanks for the great information. i'm assuming 80 is a great #? i'm not familiar enough with how that works.

how do you write up a business plan? i've seen some that are so long it's outrageous. are you using computer software or a template? thanks.

It does make all the difference in the world having a line of credit to get allot more done.....keep rising to the top!

Everyone Can Make A Difference!
John A

Anything about 70 is good, although 80 gets you much further! I believe the higher is 100.

Thanks for the info. I have a DUNS #, but need to work on the business credit end. I will look into this eventually, once I get my other tasks behind me!

And I have been trying to write mine on my own with my college textbook written by my teacher. It is a LONG process! I found this link: http://www.shop.reidepot.com/Cook/BusinessPlan.html . I am VERY tempted to purchase it. Its $39. Has anyone used it before on here? (Steve Cook's REI business plan template).

Tammy,

There is a software out there, I need to remember the name of it that is what a lot of professional use. Looking it up now....

Business Plan Pro

http://www.businessplanpro.com/ppc/business_plan_software_c.php?gclid=CN...

Nice blog

This link on Dean's site explains how to get $250k to $450k for real estate deals without credit Amazing!

http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/buying-foreclosures-reos-...

Hey Tammy

Thanks you and everyone for all the wonderful information. I started the DUNS number process and was wondering there a part that said ...annual income... does it matter what you put there??

John

If you opt to use credit cards to build your credit, you will need a personal guarantee for them. If you get rejected (which you will), you need to respond via a snail mail to the rejection letter. Address all the concerns listed, and then go over what you are doing to build your business to assure your success and ask for a small line to prove yourself.

You CAN build credit for your business by using various vendors who require no personal guarantee. Make sure to have 3-5 accounts that report to DNB.

I don't even remember, but just put an estimate of what you plan on making there. There is a whole profile you can fill out, and its important to keep it updated. There is a place online you can access once every couple of months to make sure everything is current.

Here's some important info! Now, DUN & BRADSTREET may call after a few days or weeks and tell you you NEED to buy this monthly service or you won't build credit. This is NOT the case, you do NOT need this monitoring or whatever they call it. Just utilize the accounts that report to the DNB and it will be reported by the companies automatically. And, ones that don't report, you can call them and ask them to report to DNB and experian. ALl you're going to need to spend money on is the book. In 6 months if you follow it, you'll have credit, and will be able to get a unsecured business line of credit WITHOUT a personal guarantee. (And, you won't have to worry if you have bad personal credit, as your business is separate from you. )

Thought you were part of Deans' team?

Oh well...

Thank for the info Tammy... one last thing I was told that if you dont have business credit and apply for credit for your business at the early stages of your business. They look at your personal credit to judge. Does anyone know how it works exactly??

You said, "You CAN build credit for your business by using various vendors who require no personal guarantee. Make sure to have 3-5 accounts that report to DNB." Can you share a little more on how this works?

Thanks for sharing your personal experience on building business credit. I wasn't sure how much your personal credit rating affects getting business credit. And I've in the past used my personal credit to fund my business
'Ad-ventures', which really took a toll on my personal credit rating. So,if I understand you correctly, you say your personal credit doesn't come into play at all, when establishing business credit?

Great websites, btw!

Thanks,
Kim

Well, I wouldn't say items I'm selling, but they are the efforts I've put forth for marketing following Dean's techniques. My siggy links are what I've spent my time building by being in Dean's success academy and I share with everyone here. When you build your sites, I'd love to see them to. I really like to see what people do with their sites because its great to get ideas to bounce off of. And, I've actually been asked so much about private money, that sharing the website with all my DG family is a no brainer, because its an untapped source to become successful as a REI.

As far as sharing the links to books I've read to do this (these are not my books), I share this info because I've seen so many people get involved with a company that takes $1000s of your money and its not too difficult to do with a couple of books for under $50. I was one of them; and the company really did a number on me and it was very difficult to get my money back when they did NOTHING for me!

Creative thinking, If you want to get a CREDIT CARD, you'll need a personal guarantee. There are several vendors that's don't require credit or a personal guarantee. Two of them are Radio Shack and Quill.com. I'll go to my book and share the accounts in a separate message. But, really, people are paying thousands of dollars to build their credit to companies, when it can be done with not too much effort on your own, so I wanted to share the very same books I'm using.

Kim R, You can have horrible personal credit and still build good business credit , but you HAVE to pay your bills on time or early as you do it. It takes discipline and control. When you open your accounts, you don't need to spend a lot of money to build credit, so long as you pay them in full. The account you will start with are called NET accounts and you will be paying them in full to begin with. I will share the vendors in another post, I'm off with my kiddos for a few hours.

Hey Tammy, you said that your duns number was free to file online. Did they ever change you a fee to activate it? I just set mine up today and they charge me a fee for activation and I told them it's free to file online, they said it's true but it won't be activated. Just want to know your experience. Thank so much for your help.

John

Tammy, this information is priceless. And thanks for the book referrals. They're on the top of my reading list this weekend!

I look forward to your follow up info!

Enjoy the day with your kids!

Kim

If you want to create a DUNS number within DAYS instead of the normal couple of weeks, they charge a fee. It will take a few weeks to activate without paying. But, to file a DUNS number for the first time without an expedite is free. I also mentioned they will try to sell you stuff and say you 'NEED' it. This is one of the drawbacks. ANything they tell you you need to pay for politely tell them no thank you. It is actually COMPLETELY free to do a DUNS number, it will take a few weeks without paying a fee.

They went so far as to tell me I will never be able to build credit if I didn't give them money, and I needed to pay here and there, but none of it is necessary, especially if you follow what's in the book. They count on people not being in the know. There are a few other books out there, but none so comprehensive as especially the second one I gave.

I agree with kim all this information is priceless ... thanks a llot

Thanks Tammy, after reading your post, I googled d&b and found out that I'm listed from my catering business credit card. Also, my home depot business credit card that i just paid my 1st bill on is on there. I called my catering card company and found out I can simply change the name on my card to the same name on my home depot card which is my llc for real estate. That means it's going to show 4 years of credit under my new name after the name change happens in the system. Awesome! I'm fired up now! Kim & the others are right. This is priceless.

Thanks so much for this information! I am gonna get started on working on this ASAP! I have always been confused about building business credit, because many people were telling me that it just could not be done..but it all makes sense now. Thanks for proving others wrong!!

that I can help, because I know this is a topic that doesn't get too much attention in Dean's book, and it is a vital part of a business. If we are to be serious investors, it requires that we run it like a business! AND, I don't want anyone to try to take advantage of someone by telling them they'll need to pay someone else thousands of dollars to build business credit!!! It happened to me, luckily thanks to Dean and his staff, I did get a full refund! But it wasn't fun to go through! Good luck to everyone!

It is CERTAIN we will SUCCEED!

Hey Jerome, now THAT'S what I'm talking about! That is incredibly awesome! Prebuilt credit! Way to GO! But, you do need to have at least 3-5 accounts for you to build a PAYDEX score, so go apply for a few more lines or open up some Net 30 accounts.

I promised I'd post those vendors, and I am at the cabin and don't have it with me, but I will!

I am going to come back to this at some point.. you could do a talk on this at the EDGE!

Thank you for the kind note and advice!

Your information is very helpful and I'll be looking into your suggestions!

Mary E.

Tammy;

Ur info is so important to me and has motivated me to continue to research and not take no for an answer. Thanks so much for sharing and i look forward to ur upcoming post on vendors that allow no personal guarentees for lines of credit. thanks so much i am sincerily greatful!

To start building credit, WITHOUT any personal guarantee, say you have bad credit personally, or you don't have any credit or don't want to do any personal guarantee accounts, here are the ones that automatically report to D&B (most companies do NOT automatically report to DNB) and require nothing but a DUNS number. Many will also ask for your EIN or FEIN (Federal Employment ID #), but it is VERY important to have your DUNS number BEFORE applying for any of these in order to build your business credit.

Once you open 4-5 of these accounts, purchase about $50 worth of stuff and pay it off in full either early or on time. These are NET accounts, and the # after NET is the time you have to pay off the bill. So, if you have a NET 26 account, you have 26 days to pay.

In about 120 days, you'll have a PAYDEX score and be able to apply for some other accounts, like the ones we really enjoy, Lowe's and Homedepot, and eventually qualify for a loan. Start looking into business plans now though, as it takes a long time build a business plan. These are proven companies at the time of this post that will grant you credit without a personal guarantee. I'm only going to list a few of them, in the book there is a whole matrix of them.

Before applying, it is advisable to call the company and make sure you let them know that you are building your business credit and do not yet have a PAYDEX score and want to make sure you qualify AND that they will report to DNB automatically.

==> www.Quill.com (office supplies and equipment)
==> www.Books2taxes.com or www.tadaccounting.com (accounting and bookkeeping services)
==> www.FedEx.com (shipping, mailing and printing services)
==> www.paperdirect.com (Stationary & promotional supplies (business cards))
==> Radio Shack (electronics) (personal guarantee required for sole proprietorships and partnerships)
==> www.uline.com (janitorial supplies) (open after you have successfully paid for at least 1 month on other vendor accts)
==> Staples (need to be in business 2 years though )

Thanks greatly! I wish u much success!!!!!!!!!

are so valuable to have for your business! Imagine, these are the limits that I got credit cards to 'give me a chance' with before I had a paydex score writing letters to them.

Sam's Club Discover: $13,500
Discover Business: $4500
US Bank: $7500

That's $25,500 in credit. Imagine if I was in or investing in, a state other than CA or NY. My discover cards give me checks free of charge and fees, so I can basically cut a check for a property with credit cards if I find one priced right. Imagine NOT having to go to anybody as a funding source!

I also got to purchase SFL due to the business credit cards. Yes, I would not have been able to get it otherwise. And, all my interest is tax deductible because its a cost of doing business!

The power of just having credit cards alone can give you wings you otherwise wouldn't have.

Start building your business credit today!

I now have offers coming in from credit card companies for my business; several a week. Normally, I don't like junk mail, but this is a great accomplishment for my business! YOU can do it too!

PS: NONE of them show on my personal credit, even the ones with a personal guarantee!

Hi Tammy - I wish I'd seen this prior to paying thousands of dollars. Within a week of joining SFL I was contacted by Small Business Credit and convinced to sign up with them. I'm actually a little surprised that Dean would support this type of service especially considering the price.

Thanks for all of your valuable information.

Best wishes

Dave Visco

Yes, I was hit by Small Business Credit which is actually The Tax Club. I got all my money back from them, bad experience. PM me for more info. Dean actually doesn't endorse them as they tell you when they market to you. They actually have nothing to do with Dean. They are VERY sly with their marketing though; to the point of deception!

You CAN build credit for your business by using various vendors who require no personal guarantee. Make sure to have 3-5 accounts that report to DNB

Maybe a list of these vendors will be helpful for people with bad credit and who can't use a personal guarantee if you have it.