We sat down with Jeri Toliver, founder of Flyy Credit University, to share the key ways to start getting business credit for your small business. Hav
We sat down with Jeri Toliver, founder of Flyy Credit University, to share the key ways to start getting business credit for your small business. Having access can help you not only keep your business afloat but it can help you scale. Here is what you need to know about getting $100,000 in business credit.
What is Business Credit?
According to Jeri Toliver, “business credit is a way for you to build credit under your business strictly in your business name.”
Business credit gives your business the opportunity to survive and grow.
As Jeri stated, that means even if you have poor personal credit, you can still build your business credit because it is separate.
Getting business credit is another way you can separate your business finances from your personal finances. Remember, comingling of funds is a dangerous thing to do. Always have a personal bank account and a business bank account.
As a matter of fact, having a business bank account and a registered business are prerequisites for qualifying for business credit.
The money is out there, it’s just waiting for you to qualify for it.
Where Can I Find Out About My Business Credit?
There are three main credit bureaus for business credit:
- Dun and Bradstreet
- Experian
- Equifax
What is the Difference Between Business Credit and Business Funding?
Getting business credit and business funding are generally two different things. However, usually use the terms interchangeably.
Your credit is an asset. If you don’t have good credit that’s a liability.
When we speak about business funding we’re referring to cash products. Funding can refer to:
However, business credits refer to:
- Business credit cards
- Vendor accounts
- Business retail accounts
- Business revolving accounts such as gas cards
Notice, these are not cash products and are not considered funding. It’s important to know the difference between business funding and business credit so that you can know how to qualify for each.
Being able to access credit takes time. Jeri says, when you’re trying to get approved for vendor accounts, business retail accounts, or business revolving accounts like a Sam’s Club card or a Costco card, you have to give it time.
How to Qualify for Business Credit
The first step in getting $100,000 in business credit is to qualify for it. Part of doing that means getting your business registered and having a separate bank account.
Once your business is already registered and established, the next thing you should focus on is the 3Cs.
According to Jeri, the 3Cs stand for credit, cash flow, and collateral. Let’s discuss this.
1. Work on Your Business and Personal Credit
Jeri says if you want to qualify for business credit and finance, first take a look at your credit. Look at both your personal and your business credit. They’re both important if you want to get SBA Loans or larger lines of credit, they’re going to take a look at both.
However, if you don’t have good personal credit but you’ve established good business credit, that’s awesome. At the same time, you’ll get even better opportunities if you have both.
The first step is knowing what your credit looks like by getting a credit report from the credit bureaus. After you have an idea of what you’re working with, then you can seek help or adjust what you were doing previously. That may mean enrolling in Flyy Credit University (more information on that later) or simply coming up with a plan to start taking control of your debt payments.
2. Focus on Increasing Your Cash Flow
According to Jeri, your cash flow is based on how much money your business is making. If your business finance is healthy meaning you’ve got strong cash flow and you’re not mismanaging
your money then you have a higher chance of getting financing. As a matter of fact, even with poor personal credit, you could still get financing.
As Jeri tells us, the reasoning behind that is simply the bank’s wanting to know whether or not you can repay the loan. If your business is financially healthy, they have more faith that you can pay them back.
You may be wondering what constitutes a strong cash flow. Jeri says, “For most lenders that we work with strong cash flow to them is like ten thousand dollars a month or more on a consistent basis. Some of them will go down to about eight grand but for the most part they’re looking at about ten thousand dollars or more monthly for the last three or four months.”
If you’re not there yet, you can aim for that number!
However, if cash flow is showing that your business makes money seasonally or has a general trend of up and down months then that could hinder your financing progress.
If that sounds like you, then your next task is finding ways to increase your cash flow. That may mean:
- Hiring help
- Increasing your capacity to get more supplies
- Revamping your marketing strategy
Unfortunately, all of those things may require having more money and so many entrepreneurs get stuck on that hamster wheel of needing to increase cash flow but not having the cash to do it.
3. Acquire Collateral
Many things classify as collateral. As a business owner, your collaterals could be your equipment, real estate, and invoices. You can then borrow against these collaterals.
Unfortunately, some invoices can take up to 60 days or more to be paid. That means your business is losing out on valuable capital in the meantime.
Fortunately, there is a solution to that.
Jeri explains that you can look into invoice factoring. She says, “you can sell that invoice to a company that gives you a percentage of the invoice so that you can hire the help and do what you need to do. Then [the company will] be responsible for collecting the money.”
Next Steps
Your next steps will look different based on where you are in your business. However, the very first thing you need to make sure that your business is positioned for business credit and funding opportunities. That means having your business legally registered and having its own business bank account. Make sure that you’re utilizing bookkeeping tools because you need to be super transparent about what money is coming in and out of your business.
If you don’t have credit, cash flow, or collateral, Jeri suggests start building your credit. That will at least position you to get some other type of business credit and financing to increase your cash flow. You can then use that cash flow to pay off the debt and maybe acquire some assets and collateral that you can leverage.
If you need help with your credit, then you should enroll in Flyy Credit University. They will teach you how to change your mindset, get confidence, build credit, how to automate your finances, how to build your credit and so much more. We’re so proud to partner with them.
As a matter of fact, we’re giving away a 12-Month FCU Pro Scholarship to 1 audience member. For your chance to win, participate in the comments of the YouTube video and share this video on Facebook tagging @shebosstalk and @flyycredit.
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