Did  you know that your small business has a credit report and score too? You are probably aware of personal credit and the importance of keeping your personal credit rating high.  Having a high business credit score is even more important, for you and your business.
Establishing Business Credit.  If you are starting a small business, you may need to rely initially on personal credit to get loans, but you should quickly begin to get business credit so that you can use this credit for future business loans.  You establish business credit by buying from suppliers and vendors and paying your …read more

If you’ve seen Spinal Tap, you’ll appreciate the humor of this [not humorous] American Express commercial. In this commercial for small business financing, Amex uses “Gimme Some Money” from the 1984 Christopher Guest mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap. But the song was created for the parody film about a make believe rock band. It’s about a guy asking his girlfriend for money.
It makes me wonder if there’s not some guy in the back cube of an advertising company doing the big *wink*. Or was it intentional?
If you haven’t seen Spinal Tap, I’ve included the original clip here after the commercial.
And the original…
Image Credit: …read more

What do you do when you can’t get a loan for your small business, for start-up, expansion, or just to pay the bills?  Tough times require tough measures.  If you can’t find a bank to loan you money, there are still other alternative financing sources.  Here are some possibilities: 
Credit card financing.  The National Small Business Association says that small businesses use credit cards more than any other type of financing.  I’ve mentioned before  the “slippery slope” of credit card financing, suggesting that you use credit cards only as a last resort, and only on a temporary basis. Getting behind …read more

You want to start a small business. Or your business needs cash to get through a slump.  How do  you get the money? If you thought, “credit cards,” you’re not alone.  The National Small Business Association says that small businesses use credit cards more than any other type of financing.
The Dangers of Credit Card Financing.  If you have really great credit, you can probably get a 0% credit card.  Then you can either (1) dump all your other business credit cards onto that one or (2) Use the zero interest one to buy stuff you need or (3) both.  But …read more