Building business credit with California Shelf Corporation

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a method of raising funds from a large number of individuals rather than a single large donor. If the crowd likes your business idea, they may donate money to it. A strong pitch is critical to the viability of the crowdfunding campaign. This is accomplished by a crowdfunding site such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo. Crowdfunding websites take a cut in the contributions. Crowdfunding is typically not required to be repaid, although certain crowdfunding sites ask you to refund any of your funding if you do not achieve your target at the end of the campaign. To stop this, Indiegogo offers a variety of open fundraising options.

Building Business Credit

If you don’t have a high enough FICO score to apply for these choices, you can begin establishing business credit instead.

Vendor Business Credit

Using vendors is a proven method of establishing business credit. Not every vendor registers trade credit to credit bureaus, so find out if yours does and take appropriate action. You will begin once you have 5-8 credit accounts reporting through vendors.

Retail Business Credit

You will progress to the retail credit rate until you have 5-8 trade lines reporting. Retailers such as Amazon and Walmart are included in the retail credit tier. Your company should be eligible to apply for the retail credit rate if it has good vendor credit.

Microloans

Microloans, which can be obtained from microlenders, are another option for your enterprise. You will locate a nearby microlender via the Association for Business Opportunity at www.microenterpriseworks.org/. If your company only requires a small sum of capital, such as $500-$35,000, microloans are an excellent option.

Fleet Business Credit

If you have at least ten retail credit lines reporting in the retail credit category, you can advance to the fleet credit tier. Chevron, for example, provides fleet credit. Fuel, upgrades, and upkeep are all paid for with fleet credit.

Trade Accounts

Continue to create credit above these tiers through exchange accounts. Open exchange accounts for all of the suppliers with whom you routinely do business. You should aim for 10-14 exchange accounts. Utilities may also be useful if they disclose business credit.

Cash Credit Tier

When you have 14 fleet credit lines records, you can advance to the cash credit rate for companies including Visa and MasterCard. For too many payment interactions and sufficient time in the industry, the company can be able to apply for traditional loans.

Virtual Offices

Grants are given out by the government for a variety of purposes. A grant is equivalent to a scholarship in that it is extra money that you should not have to repay. At https://www.grants.gov/, the government maintains a searchable directory of available grants. Look for keywords that are important to your business. Unfortunately, not all companies would be eligible for a grant, but you won’t know until you search. The trick to obtaining grants is to act quickly. Don’t waste time submitting an unfinished application. For information on agricultural industries, go to https://www.usda.gov/topics/farming/grants-and-loans. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) also provides industry grants. You would not be allowed if the company is not connected to housing or city growth. HUD grants can be found at https://portal.hud.gov. Company funding can also be provided by state or municipal governments. Give a collaboration to your state, county, or town to be considered for a local grant. You may also seek local authority funding for your initiative by appealing to a particular local government need.

401 K Financing

As equity for company lending, use an existing 401K or IRA. Check with your tax advisor to avoid tax penalties. You will also collect returns on your 401K when paying low rates of less than 5%. There are no consumer credit score requirements, and no tax returns or bank statement reviews are required. You will be entitled to get a loan for the entire amount of the 401K. Instead of investing in other companies’ bonds, you can put your own 401K into your own.

Building business credit with California Shelf Corporation

Crowdfunding