Starting a Business

[Big Steve]

I have given alot of thought to moving back home and starting a business.

Here recently I have been working late at night. I usually have the TV on in the office and I am overwhelmed by infomercials on the television about investing and Corperate Credit. The credit shows are mostly Ray Reynolds shows.

I have researched and found nightmare stories and die hard stories about him and his system.

I have all of my personal debt paid off.

Is there a step by step process to establishing Corperate Credit that does not involve paying for some infomercial system?

If I decided to start a business how much of a pain in the ass would it be to start it here in Arizona and then move back to Mississippi where my home is?

Do you have to have an actual store front or just a physical address?

Anyone here have any experience in starting a business and building Corperate Credit?

Can you build the credit before starting the actual business?

Any advice would be great!

Big Steve [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[AggroFish]

1. start business
2. open ups & fed ex accounts
3. get staples and office depot credit cards
4. get duns number
5. pay bills on time

Trying to get credit lines, etc will be tough at first as everyone will want a PG. Keep paying everything on time and you'll get credit before two years.

[Ray Zee]

first dont ever believe or buy anything off of tv or radio. then spend a lot of nights at the library reading about the subject.

[gordongecko]

check out www.creditboards.com , they have a wealth of info in their business section of the forums. Aggrofish was pretty much right though, you have to start small, then work your way up. Having to sign as a PG is pretty much going against the point of establishing credit with your corp. I think dell is pretty good about giving new small business owners credit, but dont do the online app. Call them and let them know you have no interest in being a guarantor, and you want the credit line entirely though the business, since you are trying to establish credit. Good luck, and stay away from the infomercial trash.

[BradleyT]

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check out www.creditboards.com , they have a wealth of info in their business section of the forums. Aggrofish was pretty much right though, you have to start small, then work your way up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Here's my post on credit boards about my first business card. It was weird - one day I went directly to bank of america website and filled an app and was denied. A few days later BoA started sending me pre-approved snail mail apps (like anything had changed in those 10 days....). Then someone in that thread posted an online BoA business pre-approval link - I applied there and was approved for 10K although they had just denied me 2 weeks earlier on the main website. Since then I've gotten another BoA mastercard (they coldcalled me on the telephone) with 5K but I haven't used that yet.

Now I get about 4 business offers per week in the mail - Amex Open, Amex Gold, WaMu, Capital One, HSBC, Home Depot, etc...


I didn't go the Staples/UPS/Dell/Uline route, I was just lucky. FWIW my personal score at the time was about 680 or so and now it's over 730 since I had some 7 year baddies fall off.

[BradleyT]

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I have all of my personal debt paid off.

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This is good* because to begin with they'll be looking at your (the business owner) personal scores since your business has no established record. *Just because your debt is paid off doesn't mean your credit score is good though.


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If I decided to start a business how much of a pain in the ass would it be to start it here in Arizona and then move back to Mississippi where my home is?

[/ QUOTE ]

Probably a big pain not sure. Starting a business such as an LLC is easy though. You just go to your states treasury or dept of revenue webpage and they'll most likely have a form you fill out. Pay them $130 or so, tell them a few lines of information and in a few days you have established a business.

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Do you have to have an actual store front or just a physical address?

[/ QUOTE ]

You don't really need either. I use my home address.

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Anyone here have any experience in starting a business and building Corperate Credit?

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah see my above post and read creditboards business credit forum. I read that site for about a month before taking the plunge.

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Can you build the credit before starting the actual business?

[/ QUOTE ]
No because you want to build the credit in the business name. After you establish your LLC (or whatever entity you choose) you'll probably want to get an EIN from the federal IRS. This is similar to a persons SSN but for your business.