People when they start a small business either take a personal loan or a home equity loan to finance the business start-up. This makes them liable to make the payments in order to keep their personal credit history flawless. Usually small businesses do not separate their credit from their personal credit because half of the business owners are unaware of the fact that even their small

business can have its own credit. It is very important that the small business credit be kept away from the personal credit because any credit that is taken in the name of the business would be reflected in your personal credit report and in case you are unable to make the payment then your personal credit report is marred.

To prevent the business from damaging the personal credit it is important that the business develops its own credit. When the business establishes its own credit the debt of the business would be reflected in the business credit and not in the personal credit. Besides once the business establishes credit it will also help the business become financially strong and can qualify for loans on their own basis. Once the credit is established then when the business owner applies for a line of credit then it would not require any personal guarantee.

Before you enter the business credit market it is important that you do a credit assessment. This would help you in assessing whether you comply with the requirements of the lender and the credit bureau. Once you have assessed your position then you should search for businesses that issue credits without the need for establishing personal or business credit checks. Once that you have

some business with the vendors on the basis of credit then you can use these references to build credit profile with the help of the credit reporting bureaus.

Credit report is an important document when starting a business. A business requires some time initially to start building credit. The business can start building credit by keeping the payments towards the start-up loans and other sorts of finances on time. There are a number of web sites that provide the business credit reports free of cost. The person is just required to give in details like the name, address and the social security number. With only this information provided it is possible to obtain the credit report. Once that you have your credit report you should check it and if you find any errors you should report it immediately to the bureau within 30 days.

Having a good credit can help the business in qualifying for a low cost loan n the future and hence in obtaining a lot of other types of finances and other help. The three major credit-reporting bureaus in the United States are Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. The online web sites provide credit reports from all the three bureaus that can be obtained over four months. With the help of Fair Credit Reporting Act the consumers can obtain their credit report free of cost once every year. But in case the company needs to assess its credit report more than once in a year then they have to pay for it.

It is very important for businesses to keep checking their credit reports so that they would know their progress. They get a clear picture of whether the business has shown improvement or not. There are some businesses that would get into contract with credit companies that would provide them with their credit reports after regular intervals like a month or two months or three or four months. These reports are sent to the companies through e-mails and any further discussion on the report can be carried out on the phone.

Reviewing the credit report before applying for any loan is also an essential task. Getting the credit report has been made easy with the help of online agencies that provide credit reports by giving them the basic information. It is very important that any flaw in the credit report be immediately reported to the credit bureau otherwise it can bring down the credit rating of the company considerably.

The credit report should be checked for the following:

h You should review the basic information like the name, social security number, address, the previous address etc. It is important that you make sure that all the information that is provided is accurate so that when you apply for a loan the creditors can view your information

h If you have defaults or charge-offs or internal collection on your credit report then this would mean that your account does not have a good standing. In case you see any of these notations on any of the accounts that you have been paying regularly then you should get in touch with the bureau and get it corrected.

h You should make sure that all the accounts that are listed in the credit report belong to you. If you an extra account on your credit report and have no clue about it then this can be an indicator of identity theft. This would mean that someone has your information and has opened a line of credit in your name. In such cases you should contact the creditor as well as the bureau and close the account.

The small business credit reports can be accessed online also. There are a number of firms that provide online credit reports and would give you the report free of cost. Checking the credit report is an essential part of handling small business accounts and this should be taken into consideration at regular intervals.