I was having lunch the other day and there was this segment on CNN about an entrepreneur who could not a get a business loan for expanding his business because of some dings on his personal credit. The dings have been there for a while and have never halted any loan application before the latest and greatest recession since the Great Depression.

I sat at my table shaking my head, he only needs one hundred thousand dollars, and here is someone who is running a successful business, making money that does not know the first thing about business credit.

No, I am not saying a hundred grand is chump change, what I am saying is with his cash flow this is an easy deal. He has a staff of twenty even at minimum wage that is twenty five to thirty thousand a month on payroll, payroll taxes, then the next beast is rent and then food, so this guy in the one hundred thousand dollar a month or more in revenues, thus a million dollar plus a year business.

He has the income to move forward with the loan, it is the new and ultra strict underwriting standards that are tripping him up…and a lack of knowledge. He could get four LOC for twenty five thousand each there are many ways to skin this cat! This is a great example of how you new to plan for your capital needs well in advance; the worst absolute time to apply for money is when you really, really, really need it! Just like dogs smell fear, bankers smell desperation, like thick funky cologne that you poured way too much over your head.

He owns a restaurant which means he takes credit cards,  did you know you can get merchant account loan up to two hundred and fifty thousand? Yes, the interest rate is high, but when your back is against the wall an option is better than no option! There is on Deck Capital who can do the loan bases on his case flow. I tried to Google him and get the information to him to no avail.

We as entrepreneurs tend to block out anything that is not related to the business, even some things for the business. When people think of business credit the visual is a venture capitalist, angel or bank loan officer, this is part of it, but there is so much more! With time and a plan you can get a thick business credit profile where you can get everything up to commercial property, they will always look at the FICOs of the owner if the business is small or less than ten years of business operations. Doesn’t be this guy; start building your business credit profile right now!