Access to money is critical for just about any small business. And good credit is often critical to accessing money. That’s why it’s important to know how to raise your business’s credit rating–whether it’s low or just a bit below sparkling. This article gives some tips to that end.
Limit Credit Usage–But Not Entirely
An irony of credit is that if you use too much of it, your credit rating might take a ding. But using a bit responsibly can help. Keep your business’s credit usage low, but use enough of it that future lenders can see your business has a record of responsibly using credit and paying it back off. Your debt-to-available-credit ratio should always be tilted heavily toward the available-credit end.
Consolidate Debt
If you have a lot of debt from many different sources, it might work to your advantage to consolidate them into one payment. This can often lead to a lower interest rate, which in turn will lead to you paying your debt off–and boosting your credit rating–more quickly.
Hire Experts
Debt-management professionals are trained to help businesses and individuals cut down on their debt and get their credit rating up. If your business has bad credit and you don’t see a clear way to fix it, consider hiring a professional to help you out. Such experts can be particularly useful when trying to figure out the best way to consolidate debt.
Monitor Your Credit Score
Credit monitoring is a two-way street: While perspective lenders will investigate your business’s credit rating, it’s important that you do the same. By monitoring your business’s credit rating closely, you can be ready to pounce and correct any errors that may arise. If you don’t catch errors early, they may surface at a terrible moment–like when you’re applying for a time-sensitive loan. And even if no outright errors arise, it can be useful to see how your month-to-month credit-usage habits are impacting your business’s credit rating.