The Secret to Small Business Credit Without a Personal Guarantee

By vine | February 14th, 2011

Getting credit for your small business can be the difference between success and failure. At the very least, it can give your business the ability to maximize growth and put you on the path to success. One of the keys to success is to be sure your business has the correct mix of different credit types. There are several popular credit sources used by small business owners. Using the correct ones for each situation can easily spell the difference between expansion and steady growth, or frantically looking for ways to stay in business.

Doing well in business is difficult enough without having to overcome roadblocks like insufficient or incorrect types of credit . One thing you’ve probably encountered when trying to secure credit for your business is a personal guarantee requirement. This basically means that although the credit is ostensibily in the business name, creditors can go after your personal assets should the business default on it’s credit obligations. Obviously this obliterates one of the primary advantages of having your own business. Unfortunately many business owners just cant’s get credit without this pledge. It may not be nessassary as often as you’d think, however.

You need to remember these three simple words: Dun and Bradstreet. Normally abbreviated as D&B, a corporate rating from D&B will go a very long way to allowing you to skip the painful personal guarantee process. It is vital that you get a D&B rating number as soon as possible This will let your early creditors report your good payment history to D&B and will ensure your business quickly establishes a solid credit history. Make sure you pay all your creditors in full and on time. No matter the kind of credit you apply for in the future, having a good D&B rating will help get you to the front of the line when it comes to preferred financing. The best part is that a solid D&B number is one of the main things creditors look at when determining whether or not to require a personal guarantee. If you’re gold in the eyes od D&B, that’s often good enough for them.

That can even help you get a great mortgage on business property . An excellent credit mortgage will have low interest rates and fees, and thus is an excellent way to secure property in the business name. Adding real estate to your business protfolio is one of the best ways to build value in your business.

Many businesses buy inventory to resell. Your vendors are an excellent credit source for these transactions . You’ll ususally get great interest rates because the vendors want you to purchase as much of their products as possibel, and financing facilitates this. In addition, most vendors require no personal guarantee for their financing. Many business owners even go so far as to base much of the inventory decisions in part on which of their vendors offer the best financing terms. It is a proven technique to help financially lubricate your business . That enables you to choose from more different vendors and increase your aggregate credit line .

The most popular credit source for small business is the common credit card. They’re easy to get and very convenient. It is importan that you sue them properly, however. Credit cards are important, but are normally best used for incidental expenses such as travel, fuel, and small or irregular supply purchases . If your business is new, you can be pretty sure that you’ll have to provide a personal guarantee. Later, if you pay on time you can most likely get the personal guarantee requirement dropped. If you’re incorporated or are an LLC and have a D&B number it won’t take long before you’ll get business credit card offers for your business that you don’t need a personal guarantee for. 

Failing to use business credit correctly will at the least cause you to miss out on profit opportunities. At worst it will have you trying to win the lottery or using other, inadvisible fund raising schemes.

Discover more about getting the perfect kind of credit for your small business.  Go to Small Business Credit Offers Guide Now.