YOUR BUSINESS CREDIT IS YOUR BEST CREDIT

What is creditworthiness? Well, let’ s define it. Creditworthiness is the extent to which a person or company is considered suitable to receive financial credit, often based on their reliability in paying the money back in the past.

By Adrienne Hibbert

So what does it mean to you? Scratch that! What does it mean to CREDITORS and LENDERS? It means “ you ” don ’t matter BUT your ability to be trusted with their money does. Credit is a big deal, as I' m sure you ’ ve been told. However, It’ s time that you take YOURSELF out of the equation as a business owner.

When you own a business you should never rely SOLELY on your personal credit to fund your business expenses. As a small business owner, your business credit is paramount in showing if your business is suitable to be loaned money and most importantly, repay it.

After we take YOU out of the equation, we now replace it with your business name.

Separation of Personal (Church) and Business (State)

Separation of church and state has been a part of our nation ' s legal and cultural language since the early 1800s. If it has worked so well for our great nation, then think of how great it will work for your business practices. Separation of personal and business credit is imperative in understanding, especially when it comes to growing your company and being able to leverage capital. The same steps you took to build your credit are the same steps you should take to build your business credit.

Pay your bills on time to build a positive payment history and check for accuracy to ensure your business credit score stays in good standing. The number one perk for me in acquiring business credit, is that it limits your personal liability so, in the case of your business going under, your personal credit will be protected. Your business is your baby, so teach your baby good financial literacy. By doing so, you protect your business just like you ’d protect your child. As we go through this pandemic, we have seen many small business owners, especially black business owners, left out of loan relief, forced into bankruptcy, and having to dissolve. We need to be more proactive in acquiring business credit and leveraging the second-best option for business sustainability, especially during difficult times.

& E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P YOUR BUSINESS CREDIT IS YOUR BEST CREDIT By Adrienne Hibbert continued

Your credit and your business credit work as a team. Your credit is like Tim Duncan and your business credit is like David Robinson, of the San Antonio Spurs. When one of the “Twin Towers ” is having a great dominating game, then the other one comes in and actively assists. When the other is having a not so great game, the other one comes in and picks up the slack to finish strong. And this is exactly how your personal and business credit operates.

If your business credit is weak but your personal is strong, your business credit will need to put in a little more work and get back in the game of financial good standing. Your credit is the point guard of the game and it will almost always alley-oop the ball to your business credit in order to make the best financial decision for your business. Anticipate the handoff and always keep your business credit in good shape to protect your personal credit.

Here are my top two business credit card options to start building your business credit.

American Express Business Gold Card

Capital One Spark Business Card

Rewards: Earn 4X points in the 2 select categories where you spend the most each month. Annual Fee: $295 Credit Score: Excellent/Good (700-749+)

I worked for Amex and sold this card and let me tell you, this card is the TRUTH! I love the Business Gold card because of its very attractive bonus offer and for the fact that it can earn rewards very quickly and those rewards can be used for almost anything.

It’ s a “ smart” card so you don ’t have to manually select the top two categories you spend the most in to get 4X the points, it updates that information for you automatically. It also reports to one of the many business credit bureaus so it does help in building your business credit. Check out the card details: See Rates and Fees Rewards: Earn unlimited 2% cashback that can be redeemed any time and with no minimums. For a company spending $10,000 per month, that can equal $2,900 cashback in the first year (including the bonus offer). Annual Fee: $ 0 intro for the first year, $95 after that Credit Score: Median to Excellent (615- 750+)

Now although you don ’t need excellent credit to get the Spark card, the perks of this card are amazing. 2% cashback on all eligible purchases and a low annual fee is all you need to know to realize you need this card in your business portfolio. It' s easy to calculate your cashback as well. 2% when you buy on all eligible purchases. I like simple and this is the best card for a small business owner who wants rewards but likes the simplicity of these card perks. See Rates and Fees