Building business credit
#12
Senior Board Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: over here
Posts: 1,011
Originally Posted by no_worries
Brian, how long ago did you open your first business account?
all of those were opened within the first 15 days of being incorporated, there net30 accounts meaning they had to be paid in full in 30 days, that right their gave me 6 or 7 accounts reporting to dunns and bradstreet (commercial credit reporting agency) and experian business credit. after that you start applying for revolving business credit, like I said i`ve got a few hundred thousand in business credit and none of it is personally garaunteed. theres no point in becoming an llc or getting inc if your going to personally garauntee the accounts because theres no protection from debt collectors or being sued if the business goes under or somebody gets hurt as a result of your actions. it takes time sure but not two years+ to build business credit, I got a couple 15-30k credit lines 4-5 months after inc`ing as well as ford and dodge commercial credit, companies dont hardly ask to even see financials till you start asking for more then 50k. I guess I should put a little disclaimer up though, I would never use any anywhere near the amount of credit I have, I only use one 100k LOC when I acquire some equipment or buy a couple tractors to refurbish.
#13
Senior Board Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,303
theres no point in becoming an llc or getting inc if your going to personally garauntee the accounts because theres no protection from debt collectors
brian, do you pay for the yearly update with Dunns & Bradstreet? They update all your accounts and credit info for the past year.
#14
Senior Board Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: over here
Posts: 1,011
their shady (freezing accounts, refusing people access) so I try to interact with them as little as possible, I got my DnB number then told them I was applying for government contracts so I had free access to my account, I was lucky as they usually try to get you to pay 300-500$ for creditbuilder so you can view your account and get eupdate.
I don`t know what suppliers your dealing with but everybody I know whose incorporated didnt PG anything, they (well at least I) didnt inc so I could not pay my bills, I did it so my personal assets are protected in the event of a lawsuit or the business goes under, your pretty much fair game as a sole prop and even as an LLC, even though i`m listed as the president/ceo on my corporate filings i`m an employee not the owner, my social security number is nowhere to be found and every correspondence I send or recieve has my company name on it not mine.
#15
Senior Board Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,095
I'm looking forward to get going with my own thing cause I'm hoping to get large lines of credit at 0% interest (new offers) which goes right into a high yield bank account. I do it now with personal credit but would like the business avenue as well. More credit = more free money.
They have a whole strategy on the what's called an app-o-rama on FatWAllet fianiance forum. Of course you have to be careful as you miss one payment and they hit you with universal default and the whole house of cards come tumbling down. But as most people aren't financially disciplined enough to realize that's not their actual money and instead of leaving it in the bank, spend it, that's why I believe these banks won't stop offering this free money. I tell you though, I love getting that interest every month.
#16
Senior Board Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,154
Brian, I'm actually pretty impressed with how you built things up. It's by the book and obviously paid off. I may have missed it somewhere, are you set up as a corp. or a LLC? Also, what's the scope of your operation, is it just you and a truck or do you have some other things going on? Am I thinking of the right person, are you up around Victorville?
#17
Senior Board Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: over here
Posts: 1,011
nope i`m a montana boy.
i`m setup as an S corp, I run my truck and I also have a shop on my land where I do repairs/fabrication and rebuild wrecked trucks, my wife also has an S corp for her heavy haul business.
#18
Senior Board Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: jackassville (winnipeg, mb)
Posts: 3,280
Originally Posted by brian
theres no point in becoming an llc or getting inc if your going to personally garauntee the accounts because theres no protection from debt collectors or being sued if the business goes under or somebody gets hurt as a result of your actions.
#19
BANNED
Senior Board Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 801
Originally Posted by allan5oh
Originally Posted by brian
theres no point in becoming an llc or getting inc if your going to personally garauntee the accounts because theres no protection from debt collectors or being sued if the business goes under or somebody gets hurt as a result of your actions.
Let me give a example.. Brokers that im working with got fined 35K for transporting rolls of paper thru the rail, 4 days after, they closed X-treme X-press INC and opened up another INC to avoid the fine..same goes for lawsuits and thats one of the reasons why i INC..as soon as i bought my truck since it is buisiness... There is an issue with truckers express brokerage on OOIDA right now where there are lots of independents that got ripped off due to the buisiness closing down, owner of that buisiness cannot be liable for damages since buisiness closed down, lawsuits or not... Its capitalism at its best.. Also, i think the best way to build Buisiness credit it is to have a regular buisiness credit card for all of your expenses, buisiness or not...
#20
Senior Board Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 1,154
If you're sued because of something you did while operating your truck, being incorporated will not provide any protection whatsoever. And really, what else do you need to protect yourself from as a one truck operation?
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