The net-30 game is changing.

I hate to be so dramatic, but I know alot of you have seen this coming for a long time now.  Net-30 companies are not interested in being used for reporting purposes, and they are definitely tired of being burned by scammers, so what are we, as honest business-owners looking to strategically choose our vendors, to do?  In short, be more strategic.

We are finding that it is the way that you apply to a net-30 that affects your approval or not.  The days of filling out some dry online form and magically getting 10-15 net-30 accounts is over.  This has become a contact sport, phoning in orders are the new “it” process, and the way you pay has become important as well.

The net-30 hump is the hardest to get over.  Sometimes the representatives of our favorite net-30 companies are rude (cough*Quill*cough), and sometimes they even, unintentionally, make you feel as if your business isn’t important enough to order that overpriced red stapler that they are offering.  When you get discouraged by a net-30 company that is giving you “the business” (an not in a good way), remember this:

They are in business too!

What I mean is, don’t take this personal.  For larger companies, they make much more money off repeat customers with whom they have relatioships than the one-and-done new company that orders $50 and never comes back.  I’d even say that those one and done customers have a default precentage of at least 40%, in contrast to a 10% default rate among customers who have ordered for 6 months or longer.  It’s business.  No matter how that CSR talks on the phone, remember they are just relaying the companies info, and trying to keep their jobs.  As entrepreneurs we sometimes have to look past the surface and be able to judge the systems in place to find a reason fro what we experience.

Remember, if business was easy, nobody would care about having a job.  You are the leaders of  this economy, and it only does well, when we you do well.  You may have to call 50 net-30 companies to get your 5 to report to DnB, or you may only have to call five, but either way you have to be on your p’s and q’s every time and put your best foot forward.  Remember, you can always call us and sign up for our unlimited phone and email coaching to stop you from pulling all your hair out . . . unless it’s too late already

Here are some tips to get around some of this net-30 muck that’s going around:

1. Call back/Ask for a Manager -Always consider that you just spoke to the wrong person, maybe someone is giving you a hard time because they had a bad day, don’t let them transfer their stuff onto you.

2. Stay respectful and patient - Never lose your cool, you should be in control of your emotions, if they tell you know, they just lost business ad revenue, not you.  You might just get pity if you stay calm, but you’ll never get the account by blowing your top.

3.  Fax your app/Wait to check in - Try to fax in an app and wait a few days before you call about a decision.  Remember credit is often given the most when it appears that it isn’t needed, don’t be too eager, you’ll look like a scammer.

4. Make a looooong list - There are about 7000 companies that report to DnB, why is everybody using the same 4-5? (Unfortunately, we do not give out, or sell lists)

5. Take your time - I don’t know how you heard about business credit, but we are always going to give you our best advice possible, set aside 12-15 months to do this.  Especially in the credit arena that the US is in right now, this journey will be difficult.  It may take an extra 3-4 months for your to get your paydex, but it will work just as well when you do get it.

6. Get help - Much of this blog is free, but there are services that we offer to help you.  Even if you choose not to use us, use someone else.  Getting help goes beyond shooting off an email or a phone call every once in a while.  Early mistakes could take months to affect the credit your get, but eventually it will affect it.  There are plenty of companies that will help you build business credit, and yes; we are one of them.  The point is that you find someone who knows more than you, and ask questions.  (BTW, our coaching is the best value in the country, check around!)

7. POST HERE - Have you ever heard that no question is a bad question? Part of the reason is that someone might have had the same question as you, and you bailed them out!  I was on a conference call for CPN’s yesterday and I heard some of the worst questions that, without a doubt proved that these CPN buyers were looking to do illegal and unethical things, but they had no remorse in asking.  So why would you, a growing entrepreneur have reservations about correctly leveraging your business credit vendors?  Use the comments on this site, I am on all the time and can answer most questions right online.  Get involved here, and the discussion will answer most of your questions without you asking.

That’s all for now, know that we are here to help, and we appreciate you reading our blog.  We’ve got some exciting changes for you in the near future so stay tuned!

–Elijah

eyoung@mysmallbizcredit.com

614-625-2907

I know that you all are entrepreneurs, new or established, but I have to give a bit of advice as a businessman myself.  Buy a domain.

Now I know some of you have been making millions without buying a mybusinessname.com before today, and I know even more of you have been able to get the business credit that you need without it before, but I have to interject.

In the year 2008, there is no excuse to not own a web domain.  Heck, I bought my name as a domain just for the heck of it, and I buy any domain that sounds even remotely profitable as soon as I devise a new idea.

The reason I am saying this, is not to be a jerk, but to let you know that building business credit is not just about your products and services, it’s as much about how your business is percieved, in fact, I would argue that business credit is ALL about how you are percieved, so lets go through this scenario:

I a looking at a company that makes 300K annually (which means that they have money), has 5 employees (which means that they pay payroll), and a corporate address (which means that they pay rent).  They are thoughtful enough to be sure that they are in 411 (which means that they are paying a phone bill) and their DnB file is nice and all (which hopefully means that they bought our MSBC Services!), but their email address is businessxyz@yahoo.com.  Now, as an underwriter it strikes me as odd that a company is grossing six figures, been in business for a few years, and nobody in the organization has the foresight to buy a domain for the business (Which costs an average of about $10 a year, by the way).  This is a huge red flag, and honestly, it makes no sense.

If I was not a nice person, I would buy all of the domains for businesses that have yahoo addresses and hold on the them for 5 years.  When you become successful, and someone finally reminds you that there is this thing called the “internet” that can triple your business, I’ll gladly sell you your company domain for 50K each. :-)  Of course I would never do that, but part of the reason that people are having trouble building business credit, it that it is hard to believe that some of these companies are really in business.  It’s no secret that many unethical folks are building business credit for the wrong reasons, with no real company behind the credit, but the reality is that you don’t want your business, that you work hard in every day, to look like one of those companies that are being flagged and denied credit.

I want everyone here to be successful, spring the 10 bucks and buy a domain, spend $10 less on your first or second net-30 to make up for it.  Call me if you need me!

–Elijah

Approval!!!!

I know that this little approval may not mean much to others but Dell approved $4k LOC. There was a pause after initial approval where I was told that they had pulled wrong credit file, only for my original sales rep to callback with the OK. Ultimately ordered equipment and choose to fair market 24mth lease option. Should have order before Sept 1st.  I don’t have any DnB history but LLC-EIN-DnB# has been listed since May2007.

Newbie

We applaud every small business that gets the accounts that they need to grow their business independently of their personal credit.  Almost everybusiness has a need for computers in some form of fashion, so be encouraged!

Also . . .

Congratulations to Mike from Utah for being our first inquiry removal client.  He is now 5 inquiries lighter, and we wish him well on his journey to build his business by leveraging his personal credit to access growth capital and be an inspiration to anyone looking to start a small business the smart way.

BONUS!!!!

For anyone who is a contractor, or in need of supplies for real estate rehabbing . . . I HAVE A NEW ACCOUNT FOR YOU!!

BARNETT Pro Contractor Supplies

Unfortunately you cannot order from this company online, but I do have a guy here that is willing to offer a $2000 net-30 credit line to any business with a pulst, and a business need of course.

Requirements - Your company should have a DnB profile, and you should be found easily in your respective Secretary of State’s database.

How to get it:  Call Bill Golden (Branch Sales Manager) at his office (I’m not giving out his cell phone)

Office: 614-921-9119

You have to place an order to get the credit line, but hey they report to Dun and Bradstreet.

I know we’ve gone a bit corporate since I took over, but we have to let our readers know we still give freebies here!

–Elijah

Let’s get to your questions from this this week!

Some vendors such as Reliable asked me to pay my order up with a credit card instead of bill me later……my company and dnb profile is about three weeks old…..will that transaction still be reported to corporate experian or dnb?

 Tamel

Limited Enterprise Inc.

Detroit

Reliable is one of the credit vendors that sometimes asks for a credit card for the first order.  What a lot of people don’t know, is that they ask for the card initially to speed up processing, this doesn’t mean that they won’t process your order if you don’t give it.  Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter because Reliable reports all transactions, pre-paid or not, to the credit bureaus.  So you’ve got no worries.  As a safeguard, I would add a second order on net-30 terms after I got my first one shipped out on my credit card, but that’s just me.   We’ve got a blog coming up talking about this trend with Net-30’s to ask for payment relationships before they report, and how the industry is changing, stay tuned for more on this.

I officially started my business in 10/07 and registered with my state and immediately applied for a D&B number the same month.  When I go to eupdate and look at my report it shows my date applied as 6/13/08 but I actually received my DUNS number in 10/07.  It does show my company filing date and status attained as 10/07.  How will this effect me in getting business credit?  It looks as if I just started 2 months ago when in fact it’s been almost a year.

Ahhh, the dreaded DnB “Start Date”.  There are, in fact, two different dates of importance on your DnB file.  The first is the business start date, which you can change to reflect a period before your incorporation if you happen to function as a sole proprietor; the second is actually in the Rating Summary section, and it has NOTHING to do with your incorporation date.  In fact, the “Date Applied” title you see, in fact,only refers to a date that DnB “applied” a rating to your company.  No worries Monti, you’ll be fine, and live to build credit for many days in the future!

–Elijah

Rumors are that the LOC game is drying up.  But on a yahoo group someone put out this info:

“…Although right now with the credit crunch, i think everyone is having major trouble getting funding. I dont know what part of country your in, but here are two banks that are lending $ stated like the old days as long as your on DUNS and Experian.

1. Banco Popular: Loan request under 65k will be stated and no returns (taxes). DUNS

2. CAL National Bank: Loan request under 35k will be stated and no returns (taxes). Experian.

Hope that helps. And this is all just from my experience…”

If you are near either of these two banks, and are ready to get an LOC with your corp.  These might be good choices with you.

In other news, inquiry removals are official, we have everything that we need to move forward.  I will be contacting some companies that called last week to give them new solutions, now that we have this tool at our disposal.

Also, I’d like to say thank you to everyone who reads this blog faithfully.  I hope we are keeping everything up to your standards.

I am going to drop a blog article that stemmed from a conversation I had with a reader this morning concerning the net-30 squeeze that some of you have been experiencing, and I hope that we can have a candid discussion here about that.

–Elijah

There have been some discussions about adding inquiry removal to our services, and I’m happy to announce that we have come to an agreement ith a vendor, and tested the product ourselves.  $30 per inquiry within 7 days. (Experian and Equifax ONLY!)

We are always striving to become a resource for our readers, and a number of you have called and emailed us reuesting this service.  We are happy to finally be able to provide the services that you need.

Questions? Call or email me.

–Elijah

The site has been up and down for me, and I apologize for the tardy postings, I promise it was ready to go yesterday!

Just FYI to all readers.  The services that Mike has been offering have been changed, although that is not yet reflected on the site.  I have a bit of a different view on customer service, and corporate infrastructure than some other business credit companies out there, and I want our readers to know why we are making the decisions that we are.
Soon you will see us comparing and contrasting our new company to some who have been in the industry for years.  It is important to know that there are different types of business credit companies, and the differences are very important, not only to your journey, but also to your wallet!  
Rest assured that we will accurately portray the positives and negatives of working with all of these companies, ad not just talk ourselves up.

There are three different types of business credit companies in the USA, they are: Books & Tapes, Coaching, and Full Service.

Books and Tapes: 
Some business credit companies only sell books and tapes.  These companies will offer you the “secrets” of business credit, or steps to build business credit and sell you everything you need in a book ranging from 200-400 pages.  These companies usually accept PayPal as their main form of payment, and offer little in the form of contact information.

The Good
These companies can give you a broad idea of why you need business credit.  They are very god at whetting your appetite for huge lines, and grand accounts.  Reading about business credit in a book was my first contact with the subject, and look where I ended up!

The Bad
Pretty much everything else.  Books and tape don’t take you much further than the last page of the book.  It’s common sense to incorporate and get a real address, then these books only tell you to find companies to offer you credit.  The problem is, you probably already knew that you needed to find companies.  Books and tapes tend to leave clients with more questions than answers, and they set you up for an up sell, which adds to the cost that you planned to spend.  

The Verdict:
If you like to be teased then these are for you.  This selling system was made popular by real estate gurus in the mid-late nineties, and always involves an up sell.  From a free seminar, to a book, to a Saturday seminar, to a Weekend boot-camp to a super-secret week getaway!  After adding up the total cost of the book plus the upgrades, you could end up spending more than $10,000 to learn about business credit.

Coaching:
Most business credit companies offer coaching.  Coaching is the act of being an expert, and guiding a client through the motions themselves via phone, or via email.  Unlike the business world, business credit coaching companies only charge a flat fee for a period of time (i.e. 6 months), and not an hourly rate. 

The Good :
Coaching companies give the peace of mind to a business owner that someone knows what they are doing, as well as the ability to learn by being in a “hands-on”  role while building their business credit.  The business owner can also move at their own pace in learning, ad building their credit.

The Bad:
Coaching is a great idea for the specialist, but could be a liability for the client.  A possible issue could arise if the client gets distracted by day-to-day business, and misses a few weeks of credit-building.  If you don’t call, nothing happens.  If you don’ build, nothing gets built.  This can leave to some consulting clients feeling like they have gotten nothing for their money.  There needs to be a clear agreement that coaching allows ACCESS to an expert, not RESULTS from an expert.

The Verdict:
Coaching is a really easy way to make money in business credit, and can be a real asset to your clientele.  Unfortunately, it’s also a good way to spend countless dollars and see no results.  Usually it’s the business owners’ fault, but a lack of communication, slow returning of phone calls, and even company disappearances are a reality in this industry.  Coaching is a good service, but research your coach thoroughly.

Full Service:
A full-service business credit company handles all of the details for a small business owner.  The business owner gives their companies details, and then sits back and waits for results.  The customer can be as involved, or uninvolved in the process as they choose.

The Good:
Business Owners are busy people, and being able to delegate this task to a professional will pique the interest of quite a few who have casually looked at business credit but not wanted to do any “dirty work”

The Bad:
Some business owners will not like the idea that someone is acquiring credit for their company and they are not being notified.   This is not an industry that inspires trust in its clients, so this will be a huge barrier to cross

The Verdict:
Full service is the type of company that we are developing here at MBCB, and we feel as if this blog, and our candid advice will give us the trust of our clientele that we need to survive.  We will also be implementing a commission structure for anyone interested in sending us clients and helping us grow.  If we make money, so should our readers. 
Starting next week we will be profiling business credit companies and letting you know how our services stack up to them all.  Informed buyers make the best decisions!
 
–Elijah

Our first mailbag is a little short, but there are two good questions that all small busines owners should have the answer to when they approach business credit, and business in general:  Let’s get started!

Are there any cash lines/credit lines that you would suggest applying to, banks that tend to give credit. Start date on my DnB is 6/25/08. Should I wait 90 or so days from there. It may be a bit early because when I apply for revolving cards like Shell, I have always been asked to call it in but get approved. So my numbers may still be updating. I got a Paydex of 80 when I applied with DnB but I paid for their credit builder so I was good to go. Let me know, thanks.

– Marco

Marco’s question is one of the most asked questions in buiness credit:  “When can I get some cash credit lines?”  It’s the reason that we are here, and it’s the reason that you even looked at buisiness credit, but there are a few things that you should have before you look after cash lines:

1. File age - How old is your DnB file?  If your DnB file starts in June, then it’s highly unlikely that you’ll get cash lines the next month.  Waiting and building your files age will always help.
2. Number of accounts - Quick lesson, it’s not the amount of account that you have, it’s the number of accounts that are reporting.  You can have about 60 different net-30 accounts, but if only 2 are reporting, you still look like a lightweight to potential credit vendors.  I like to wait until I see at least 10 lines reporting, with a tradeline of at least 5K before I go looking for credit cards
3. Personal guarantee - I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you cannot get a line of credit from a bank in the USA without a PG o some sort.  Other companies will bait you along until it’s time to go after LOC’s, then ask you to get a “credit partner”, but it’s all the same thing, no PG, no cash LOC’s.  Now credit cards can be done without a PG, you just have to mind the first two rules before you take that plunge.

All in all, the best answer to your question is, unfortunately another question:  “What do you need?”  Remember, the purpose of business credit is to improve your business, so look around, what could you use?  That’s how you determine the next account for you.

My personal credit and assets leaves alot to be desired (Will probably be doing the personal credit repair through you guys) and I am looking at starting 2 businesses but don’t have any start up money…

  Do you have any advice to how I can do this?

– John

Start-up capital is the hardest thing to come by, especially if you need it.  I teach entrepreneurship to teens in the Columbus area through another company that I own (www.young-university.com) and I teach financing using the Ask BILL model.  BILL is an acronym standing for Bootstrapping, Investors, Lines of Credit, and finally Loans.  I created this model in the order that will be the most beneficial to your personal credit.  He first two won’t hurt your personal scores at all, bootstrapping starts you business on the smallest scale possible, and Investors know what they are getting into when they invest.  The other two, unfortunately, are the ones that everyone wants to have.

In John’s situation, I have some good news, and some bad news.  The bad news is that business credit is NOT the vehicle to create start-up money(legally).  The problem is that you already need a business to build business credit.  The good news is that most banks now are offering start-up loans and lines of credit if you can present a nice business plan, and have a score over 620 (yes, only 620).  I have a contact for folks in the northeast through Huntington Bank, but these loans are not easy to get, nor are they guaranteed.  But they are a step in the right direction.  Shoot me an email and I will get you a contact person to speak toabout these SBA programs.

And John, we would love to help you with your personal scores, let us know when you are ready, and we will do everything we can to help.

That’s it for our first Mailbag, please don’t hesitate to send your questions in to eyoung@mysmallbizcredit.com.  And don’t forget to place the word “Mailbag” in the title, so I can be sure to add it every Tuesday.

–Elijah

Once weekly I will be breaking down one of the known, and some unknown net-30 credit vendors and rating them for our readers, on to our first . . .

Company Summary: In 1994, Reliable, a company with a rich 75-year history of providing office products to all types of businesses, became a part of Boise Office Solutions. In December 2003, Boise Office Solutions and OfficeMax merged to become one of the premier office supplies companies in the US and around the world.

Today, with nearly 90 years experience, Reliable continues to lead the industry with our World Class customer service, extensive product selection, competitive prices and next day delivery to 95% of the continental US. Reliable is based in Naperville, Illinois with customer fulfillment centers located nationwide-from California to Maine.

Why should you care:  Reliable is one of the many office supply companies that a business credit company will get you in the beginning.  Their selection is ok, but not amazing, and their credit terms are not as lenient at other companies’.  Their prices . . . Don’t get me started.  Reliable does have lightning-fast shipping, and enough of a selection to get your office out of a crunch if you need supplies yesterday.  Their website isn’t the easiest to navigate (no pictures of items, just lists), and their credit department hawks over new companies like you wouldn’t believe.  Most of their emails and verification is just fluff, but they have been known to deny an account or two if your DnB file isn’t up to par, or found via name search.

Reporting:  Reliable was one of the first credit vendors to fight the surge of business credit customers with tighter restrictions.  Their accounts aren’t as easy to get, especially with newer corps, and their CRS’s will swear to you that they don’t report.  Between you and me, they’re lying.  They still report, but have probably moved their newer accounts to a quarterly reporting schedule to dissuade newbies from using them in a one-and-done fashion.

Final Verdict:  Reliable has it’s ups and downs as a business credit vendor.  If you are new, they may treat you as if you have the plague, but returning customers are welcomed with open arms.  Their website is in drastic need of an upgrade, but their shipping will show up as fast as humanly possible.  I will always use and recommend reliable’s net-30 account, even to my newer clients who may need to verify some info with their credit dept before they can get their items, they are well worth the trouble.

–Elijah

eyoung@mysmallbizcredit.com

614-625-2907

Wassup guys. As you can see, my boy Elijah is doing an awesome job and posting and he will be taking over the services being offered. I will be still posting on my quest to $1000000 and my approvals and rejections but Elijah will be doing a lot more posting and assisting of you guys. He is more than qualified to get the job done. I will still be available via email but Elijah’s direct line will be posted this weekend on the blog.

- mike