1. Multiple accounts: With personal credit, multiple accounts, even if they are in good standing, can be detrimental. Business credit is different, though. Multiple active business credit accounts in good standing boost your business credit score.
2. Payment timeliness: One of the biggest factors in your business credit score is whether or not you pay on time. You get bonus points for paying early as well. With personal credit, paying late can hurt you, but early payments don’t help.
3. Ask vendors to report: While personal creditors have to report you good behavior to credit bureaus, vendors don’t have to. So ask your vendors if they report payment performance to business credit information providers. You can also self-report some of your company information.

Having good business credit is essential. Without the ability to keep cash moving through your organization, you can quickly run into trouble. Being able to obtain financing is important, so having good business credit is vital to the operation of your business.

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The consumer confidence data is also having an effect on how companies view the possibility of a rebound in spending for the holidays. Many businesses have been hoping that holiday shopping would help get things going. However, with consumers still wary about economic recovery, it means that they are less likely to go on much of a spending spree for the holidays. And that means that many companies are already bracing for a disappointing Christmas shopping season.

Consumer confidence has been affected in large part by employment concerns. The labor market has remained stubbornly weak, and that means that consumers, who see the realities of lay-offs in their daily lives, are concerned about the way things are going. Until more jobs are created, consumers are likely to remain wary of economic recovery — and of spending money.

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However, now that it appears that things are snagging with regard to an extension of the first time home buyer tax credit, there are concerns about the cash flow these companies will enjoy. Indeed, without new loans to give out — quality loans from new borrowers — there are concerns about financial companies.

Companies that are big into mortgages, such as Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Bank of America and Genworth Financial are some of the biggest losers today as investors show their concern. It will be interesting to see how things play out going forward. However, without continued support to the housing market through some sort of a tax credit, it is likely that corporate finance will continue to struggle.

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In business finance, though, an advance is a little bit different. All businesses need loans to meet their needs, and many businesses ask for some sort of advance payment. Indeed, when customers buy something, they are used to paying first and then receiving the item. Additionally, even companies that provide services often ask for some part of the fee to be paid upfront. This is natural, since — especially on large projects — companies need to be able to continue operations while providing the service, which takes up valuable resources.

Ultimately, though, the essentials of business finance and personal finance are similar: You want as little debt as possible, you want to live within your means, you want to increase your net worth and you want to improve your cash flow.

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1. David Murdock, 86, Dole Food
2. John Bogle, 80, Vanguard Group
3. T. Boone Pickens, 81, BP Capital
4. O. Bruton Smith, 82, Sonic Automotive and Speedway Motorsports
5. Alfred Mann, 83, MannKind
6. Sumner Redstone, 86, Viacom, CBS, National Amusements
7. Kirk Kerkorian, 92, Tracinda Corp.
8. Walter Zable, 94, Cubic Corp.

Most of these men, as you might imagine, take care of their bodies and minds in much the same way that they take care of their companies. It illustrates a good point: Take care of yourself, and your business, and you will be taken care of in turn.

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This is happening even as unemployment continues to rise. But, with earnings in focus, it is little surprise that unemployment isn’t doing much to slow down the Dow. The fact that there are fewer works to be paid is working for companies that are looking for ways to boost the bottom line.

It’s a very interesting day, since equities in Europe and Asia had a complete rout. And only the Dow is moving upward with any sort of confidence. It really gives one an idea of the scope of the large companies that make up the Dow, and the effect that earnings data has on them, in terms of the way investors see them.

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Employment is one of the cornerstones of the economy, since the economy relies so much on the ability of people to spend money. Businesses rely on consumer spending to help them with meeting cash flow needs. However, with the labor market persistently weak, it will be difficult for many to increase their spending. But companies are reluctant to hire right now, since the name of the game is cost cutting. One of the easiest ways to cut costs is to hire fewer workers.

It’s a bit of a vicious cycle. People can’t spend money at companies, increasing cash inflows, unless they have jobs. But businesses can’t hire unless they have an increase in income. As a result, we are likely to see a long, slow economic recovery. And one that doesn’t involve a burst of hiring.

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Indeed, reports BusinessWeek, airlines took in $10.3 billion in revenue from fees last year. In the second quarter of 2009, world airlines managed to take in $670 million in checked bag fees alone. This is an increase of 276% from the previous year. Nice, eh?

Of course, it is worth noting that if you tack on too many fees, customers will start to get annoyed, and go elsewhere. It’s hard to get around airline fees, since how else will you travel so conveniently? However, other businesses find that too many fees can lead customers to go to competitors, or to do without.

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The video also makes an interesting point about value and perception. The video points out that gold doesn’t actually have any more value, in real terms, than bits of paper. What makes gold seem more valuable is that we, as a society, have agreed that it must be. And that is the basis for any business exchange: Perception of value is paramount, and it is what our entire financial system is based on. You set a price for your goods and services, and, if customers agree that is the value of what you offer, they pay it.

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One thing that businesses can do is create their own social network. Social networking technology can help customers make connections with each other on a business web site. It can also make it easier for businesses to integrate their own social media online campaign with the wider Internet. One of the companies that provides the ability for businesses to create their own social networks is rSitez. This is what I read in a press release sent to me about the company:

Rsitez integrated online social networking technology offers users the opportunity to create their own social networking sites with the largest, most comprehensive set of features. They will have the ability to customize all details in their websites, and the company presents a myriad of ways for businesses to make money
According to Nielsen Ratings, social networks grew twice as fast as email and Search in 2008.  Furthermore, time spent on Social Networks and blogs grew over 3 times the rate of overall internet growth.

It does cost $65 a month to get this solution, and it might be interesting. It provides a way for businesses to further monetize their site with stores, classifieds, donations, fees and other types of revenue. For businesses that feel that this could provide added value, it might not be a bad idea. However, you might want to weigh the cost, and see if perhaps creating a Facebook page and being active on Twitter might do just as well.

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