Insider Secrets To The D&B Business Credit Score

Posted by Nick Niesen on November 8th, 2010

When you are looking to obtain or increase access to credit for your business, it is very important that you understand what the lenders (whether banks or Suppliers) are looking to see.

"This is especially important when you are financing a business without using a personal guarantee? Said Craig Aberle, an Expert on Business Credit and the author of Business Credit Secrets. ?When credit extended is being considered, the bank has two separate decisions to make- Question #1 is ?Should this business be extended credit"? and #2- "HOW MUCH credit should we extend?"

In many cases, the important point is to be approved for credit. The size of the line is irrelevant. For example, $750 is the credit line that staples will give most new approved applications. When an applicant?s application is received, the very first thing they do is check if you have a business phone line, which is verifiable with 411.

"It?s unfortunate that many businesses skimp on obtaining a business line and opt for a personal phone line, because the monthly bill is cheaper. They do not realize that this can cost them literally thousands of dollars and denial of access to funding to grow", he said.

Dun and Bradstreet, or D&B as they are commonly called, have an almost-monopoly grip on the Business Credit Report industry.

Although competition like Experian?s Business Credit Score, Called Market Intelliscore, does exist, D&B has a virtual monopoly on the space, with most Banks and Suppliers Lending to small businesses focusing on the D&B Score and Report.

A sample Experian Intelliscore can be found at
http://www.acollectionagency.com/business/eb_commercial_intelliscore.php

Another Business Credit Report type is from Equifax Small Business. It is called the ?Financial Account Acquisition Score?.

"The Equifax and Experian Reports will self build once you focus on the D&B score." Said Craig Aberle, Business Credit Expert. "It would not be a good idea to be busy trying to build this up on your own. It is not commonly used by most lenders you will be dealing with and it will grow automatically as your accounts grow and your business information gets shared- it will happen while you sleep!"

A major difference between D&B and Experian is that Whilst D&B will allow you to self submit information about your business, Experian will not, and will only take information from vendors they have relationships with.

"One of the tricks of getting into Experian?s system is to order catalogs from vendors such as Rhode Island Novelty http://www.rinovelty.com/ , Uline supply http://www.uline.com and Dell http://www.dell.com, he said.

Who offers business Credit?

A free resource with basic information on some 40 vendors offering business credit is available free of charge at http://www.business-credit-secrets.com/sourcebook.pdf