Trebuchet Solutions

What will you do when you transition your business? When you transition your business, will you sell your SSN with the business? What? Of course, you can’t do that, but what would you do with any personal loans against the business that haven’t been paid off when you make the sale? Will the buyer of your business take on your personal loans at the sale? Highly unlikely! You will have to pay off any open personal loans for the business from any profits you make on the sale. This is another reason why building business credit’s so important. You will not own the business forever. At some point, a transition will have to be made. A solid business profile can build the value of your business in two ways. 1. You will have access to the money you need when you need it, so you will not only survive but thrive! 2. If you have a robust business credit record on your EIN, the buyer will have access to that same profile, thus making your business much more valuable to the buyer. Listen to this two-minute clip from my esteemed partner Lindsay Pennington, as she explains why business credit is America's most underutilized business tool. Thanks to the legendary Lance F. for being an outstanding host and offering a stage and a microphone so that we could help level the playing field for small business owners! #businessowners #smallbusiness #credit

Do you use a “business” credit card for your business? In theory, using a business credit card for business expenses makes sense. But…did you ever stop to think…what makes this card a business credit card vs. a personal credit card? Because it says “Business” on the front? Here is my definition of what makes a business card a true business card and not a personal card: When you apply for a business card, the application should ask for your business EIN, not just your personal SSN. A true business card is tied to the business. A true business card does not put your personal assets at risk. A true business card reports your transactions to one or more BUSINESS credit bureaus, which are different from consumer credit bureaus. This enables your business transactions to affect your business credit score, which is what you want when trying to build your business credit score. Unfortunately, most “business” credit cards do not fit my definition of a business card. Most business credit card applications require your SSN. When you put your SSN on a business loan application, you penetrate the corporate veil of protection, which is the main reason owners set up a corporate structure in the first place. Now, your personal assets are at risk! Additionally, most business credit cards do not report activity to the business credit bureaus. In fact, less than 10% of positive business transactions are actually sent to business credit bureaus. How is this possible? Business credit has different rules than personal credit. By law, all personal credit transactions must be reported to consumer credit bureaus. Since there are no laws requiring business transactions to be reported, there is no incentive to do so. This means that there is less than a 10% chance that a business credit bureau is recognizing your positive payment activity (unless you screw up, then your transactions will get reported!) Who knew? So remind me again what makes the typical business credit card which requires personal guarantees and does not report to business credit bureaus a true business credit card? It may say “Business Card” on the front You may get extra travel miles Or a free toaster… But that doesn’t make it, in my mind, anything other than a glorified personal credit card. And if you are using a personal credit card for your business: Business expenses are negatively affecting your personal credit score You are not getting the favorable terms available to businesses You are not building business credit You are risking your personal assets The next time you apply for a business credit card, ask if they report to the business credit bureaus and don’t sign your SSN. Are your business credit cards REALLY business credit cards? Building business credit requires intentionality because it doesn't happen automatically like personal credit. Need some help with that? Let’s talk. #cashflow #businesscredit #businesscapital

The number one question we get from business owners is, “How do I start building business credit?” This is a great question because building business credit does not happen automatically. The road to building business credit is full of potholes because if you don’t know how to do it, you don’t know. Building good business credit is not automatic; you must be intentional, and unfortunately, no manual or set of instructions explains how to do it…until now. In order to successfully build business credit, you need to look, feel, smell, and taste like WalMart to the business credit bureaus. One of the biggest red flags for the credit bureaus is anything that could be perceived as possible fraud. Therefore, the first step you need to do to build business credit is to make sure everywhere you have a presence (like your website, your bank account, where you are registered with the Secretary of State, etc.) is consistent and accurate to the period, comma, and acronym. In this short clip, our Director of Business Development, Lindsay Pennington, joins Lance F., “the construction industry troublemaker,” and myself to explain what business owners can do to become more “fundable.”

What is business credit, and why should I establish good business credit for my business? True business credit is completely different from personal credit. Business credit is built against the company’s EIN number, not the owner’s SSN. It does not require personal guarantees because the liability is contained within the business (which is what owners intend when they set up business structures). Unlike personal credit, building business credit must be done intentionally because it is not automatic. You must be proactive. Another difference is that business credit is public information. You only have one chance to make a good first impression when someone looks at your business credit score! You want to look, feel, smell, and taste like WalMart to the business credit bureaus. Whether lenders tell you or not, they do look at your business credit score. There are so many reasons why it makes good sense to have a solid business credit score. Here are a few: 1. Always have access to capital when you need it 2. Minimizes or eliminates personal guarantees 3. Protects you and your family’s assets 4. Better terms, lower interest rates, and 10X-100X loan amounts vs. personal credit 5. Enable access to lines of credit, equipment and vehicle loans, and many other forms of credit tailored to what you need it for 6. Solves account receivable floats and other cashflow issues 7. Helps with transitioning/selling strategies - the business EIN (with accompanying credit score) can be transferred with the business 8. Usually reduces insurance premiums because the business is viewed as being financially stable 9. Gain access to capital to stabilize, grow, and scale the business 10. Capitalize on unique situations, such as competitors shutting down 11. Win more bids/gain more partners 12. Work with clients you want to work with You can try to build business credit on your own. But, if you want to condense the time it takes to build your company’s credit as short as possible: We help businesses like yours separate and keep their personal and business credit while improving access to corporate capital. Over 50,000 companies have used our model to unlock over $1.5 billion in business credit—all attached to the business EIN, with minimal to no personal guarantees. Pictured: Grover, adopted in 2019, rescued twice from death row. ADOPT don't SHOP!

Case Study: How business credit can help a successful plumber who has been in business for 27 years trying to break into the commercial market Our Director of Business Development, Lindsay Pennington, shared a story about one of her clients with the legendary Lance Furuyama, “the Construction Industry Troublemaker,” and me. Even though he had success in the residential space for over 27 years, this plumber still couldn’t crack into the more lucrative commercial market. Some of the obstacles he had to overcome included but were not limited to: 1. He had to “float” employees and assets with his personal credit for jobs he won but would not receive payment for several months after the work started—a huge risk! 2. Having lenders pull his business credit report, which did not represent his company in the best light 3. Requiring his SSN on applications even for a business loan There are many reasons why you need to have good business credit. At the end of the day, you need to look, smell, feel, and taste like Wal-Mart to the credit bureaus, clients, and business partners. They want to confirm that they are working with a viable business. And you must get out of the trap of using your SSN and personal credit to finance your business. Please watch this 2-minute clip to learn more:

Isn’t it time you discover and leverage one of the most underutilized business tools in America? Please join Lindsay Pennington as she joins Christianie Carty, EA, MSCTA, MBA on the “Breaking the Ceiling Series: 15 Secrets to Creating Extraordinary Wealth”, for the episode: “Business Credit Unlocked”. Here are a few things you will learn about business credit on this call: 1️⃣ Business credit is completely different from personal credit: different scoring, different credit bureaus, and different underwriting rules for starters. 2️⃣ Business credit reports are public information. Your competitors, vendors, subcontractors, and clients also have access to your score. 3️⃣ Your creditors will pull your business credit report whether they tell you or not. 4️⃣ True business credit is linked to your company’s EIN number and not the owner’s SSN. 5️⃣ In most cases, business credit can be obtained without personal guarantees that put your personal assets at risk. 6️⃣ You can get better terms, lower interest rates, and significantly higher loan amounts (10x-100x) with business credit than an owner can get when bootstrapping their business with personal credit. Having a solid business credit profile is just sound business. There is no reason why a business owner should not strive to have great business credit. It is not only sound fiscal policy, it’s also a powerful risk mitigation tool: It can reduce/eliminate the requirement for personal guarantees. It takes the blinders off for business owners who have been operating in a scarcity mindset because they don’t know what is possible to a mindset of abundance when they have access to capital. And even better, access to capital without personal guarantees. Imagine what it would be like having access to the capital you need when you need it, and without personal guarantees! If you are a business owner, you do want to miss this. Link to recording: https://lnkd.in/e6pRbEBn

Where do you stand? What’s your business credit look like today? Drop me a message and I’d be happy to pull your business credit and review it with you, free of charge or obligation. This is something you should know as a business owner!

Business Credit Case Study: $1.4M Family Owned Small Trucking Company When “Jane” of “Jane’s Trucking” approached us, she had big dreams, but her company was struggling to keep their heads above water. They needed capital to survive and grow, and they were drowning in personal loans used to bootstrap their business. As you can imagine, “Jane” was experiencing great stress. When they first engaged us, we reviewed their business credit report with them. They had a business credit score of 28 (on a scale of 1-100) and qualified for $1000 of business credit. That amount won’t move the needle for a $1.4M company. They had no idea how business credit worked, let alone how they could improve theirs, but they did not want to continue personally guaranteeing business loans. After working with us, within a few months, their business credit score was still low, but they qualified for $6300 in business credit, which could be used for gas cards that were against their EIN and not their SSN. But that’s still not enough to make much of a difference. Within six months, their score improved to an 80, and they qualified for $66,000 in credit. OK, now we’re getting somewhere! And by 10 months, “Jane's Trucking” score improved to 96 and qualified for $724,000 of business credit! And all without personal guarantees! Janes Trucking was able to buy more trucks and hire more drivers, which immediately boosted their revenues. They put a desperately needed new roof on their facility. They were able to “refinance” all the personal loans that they had used to bootstrap their company to business loans with better terms and no personal guarantees. And they had access to a large line of credit, which put them in a position to capitalize when opportunities arose. But that’s not the best part. According to Jane, the biggest benefit of having great business credit is that they now have much better customers! They don’t have to beg and crawl to get business! They can now afford to be selective about who they work with. There are many reasons why you want your company to have good business credit. Isn’t it time you discovered and leveraged one of the most underutilized business tools in America? Message us if you would like to learn more. #cashflow #Businesscredit #Businesscapital

How to Legally and Ethically Increase the Chances of Winning a Bid One of our business credit clients (Let’s call them ABC company) was a government contractor, and the owner understood the power of having great business credit. They were a relatively small, privately owned company and they obtained Tier 4 credit after a year in the program. They found themselves competing against a 500 pound gorilla for a multimillion dollar government contract. A company’s business credit record is public information, and ABC’s owner pulled the business credit report of the massive competitor. It turns out the competitor had a very poor business credit report. The ABC owner used this information for massive competitive advantage. When the bids on the contract were due, the ABC owner showed both company’s credit reports to the client and asked, “Would you rather work with someone who pays their bills, or someone who doesn’t?”. BOOM Of course, ABC won the job! There are millions of reasons (in ABC's case, tens of millions) why you want your company to have good business credit. Isn’t it time you discover and leverage one of the most underutilized business tools in America? Message us if you would like to learn more. #cashflow #Businesscredit #Businesscapital

Are you personally guaranteeing your business loans? Personally guaranteeing business loans is a massive source of stress for business owners. Understandably so! Shouldn’t your personal finances be separate from your business? Why do banks and traditional lenders require a personal guarantee on a business loan? When you put your SSN on the application, this risk mitigation strategy helps the lenders but puts you, the borrower, at risk of losing your personal assets. Most owners create a corporate structure for their company to provide protection against lawsuits and monetary claims. When you sign your SSN on a loan or credit card application, you break the corporate veil of protection. Because your SSN was used in the application, your personal credit is one of the factors considered in the loan approval, and if the loan is approved, your personal credit score will be affected. And if that wasn’t bad enough, if you get rejected for a loan, you don’t find out why! The good news: there is a better way! Step 1: Build a solid credit profile against your company's EIN. Step 2: Use lenders who offer true business credit with transparent underwriting guidelines so you will know in advance that you will be approved before you apply. Stop using personal guarantees! Do you think the CEOs of Apple or WalMart personally guarantee loans? Large companies have a separate playbook! They know how business credit works, and they obtain great terms, low rates, and generous loan amounts without personal risk. True business credit is obtained through your EIN, not your SSN. True business credit is not only essential to growing a business, but it is also a risk mitigation strategy to eliminate personal guarantees. The path of building business credit is like a minefield. If you’d like to compress the time to build your business profile so you look, smell, feel and taste like Microsoft to the business credit bureaus, we can help. I would like to pull a complimentary business credit report for your business to learn more about business credit if you book a consultation call with me during May - shoot me a DM. If there was a way to build your company’s lending profile without putting your personal assets at risk, would you have 15 minutes to learn more? #cashflow #Businesscredit #Businesscapital