With so many rules and regulations, managing your business credit can be a difficult balancing act. If you get it right, then the rewards are fruitful, but get it wrong and you can not only harm your reputation but it could lead to other creditors backing out. There are so many ways in which we can help build our score, everything from credit card balance transfers through to loan repayments.
Due to the complicated nature of credit, it is all too easy to lose sight of where you are up to. Here are 5 simple rules that will help you to keep your credit score where it should be.
1. Try to avoid making multiple applications.
I know this sounds strange, and many of us may not realize that simple applications can make a massive difference to your business credit score, but they can and have for many companies. The reason for this is that the more applications you make the more credit checks the creditors will make. This will raise more questions and “Red Flags”. Thus leading to you being turned down or offered less money for higher interest rates – not really what you applied for!
To avoid this, do your research first. Once you know what all creditors are offering you can make an informed decision about the ones to choose. If you need multiple accounts, then apply for them over the course of a few weeks rather than sending all the applications at once.
2. Transfer your balances
If you have multiple balances on credit cards, making sure they are all being managed correctly can be daunting. There are 2 points here that with some consideration will positively affect your credit score.
Firstly, consider paying off some of your credit across the cards, ok so this can be hard if you haven’t got the budget, but paying more than the minimum will improve your debt to equity ratio and help keep you above water.
If you have some cards with higher interest rates than you want, have a look at transferring the balance to 0% cards or the like. This time of year is perfect for this, as the post Christmas offers are everywhere. Do your homework and find the right creditors to transfer too. Keeping your accounts fresh by clever balance shifts will increase your credit rating and let the creditors know that you are staying one step ahead of them.
3. Keep old accounts open
This is an odd one, as unlike our personal credit scores where unused credit can be a bad move, with business accounts, the more you have the better, even when they are not used!
The issue is, when you have multiple credit accounts, closing one can lower the amount of credit you can get in the future; this may be problematic if you wish to expand your business etc. Keep track of what you don’t use; knowing how much you have is imperative to keeping your score as high as possible.
4. Look at your company structure!
There are certain types of companies that vendors will consider high risk, this may not be a realistic image of your business, but if your structure raises questions your score can be affected.
The main issues surrounding company structures are sole proprietor businesses and partnerships. Although these are the easiest type of company to create, they are also the most common to have financial strains.
5. Keep your revenue details up to date
This may sound ridiculously obvious but it is this detailing that will determine the type of credit options available to your company. Lenders will look specifically at what you claim to make in revenue and then check this against your company’s actual revenue.
If you get this information incorrect or in complete it won’t directly affect your score, but it will have a negative impact upon your limits. My advice, always be prepared!
Each of these points can seriously increase your credit score, but they all need separate research and attention so make sure you have an up to date budget breakdown at hand and simply tackle them one at a time.