Lender Demands: Why Small Businesses Need to Have Flawless Business Credit Reports

Posted by Kristen White
8
Feb 23, 2021
321 Views

Small business owners need to have access to the best business credit reports. Why? Because strong business credit profiles indicate a lot of features about a business. Whether you are applying for a loan or lending money to a client, you will need the assistance of business credit reporting agencies.  

Business credit is a loan or advance business owners receive. Since most businesses undergo financial difficulties throughout their development, many entrepreneurs turn to lenders for financing. But, without a strong business credit profile, no business can receive loans. Similarly, if you lend money to a business without a strong business credit profile, you are putting your business at immense risk.

Accessing or Giving Business Loans

Countless businesses fail to meet the requirements that major financial institutions enforce while providing business loans or credit. On the other hand, many gullible business owners give away business loans without determining their debtor’s business creditworthiness. Just like prominent financial institutions assess the best business credit report before lending a penny to a business, business owners need to do the same with their clients and business partners.

Lender Demands: Details That Need to Be Perfect to Qualify for Business Loans

Financial institutions have very strict demands when it comes to extending lines of credit. Small businesses need to hold their clients and partners to similarly strong standards before lending them money, or they may never receive the amount they advanced. The factors that leading lenders (financial institutions) assess before extending credit to a business include:

Credit Repayment History

To evaluate an applicant’s creditworthiness, financial institutions study credit reports from various credit bureaus and credit reporting agencies. These reports contain vital information such as the applicant’s:

· Credit accounts

· Number of credit inquiries made by the applicant’s business

· Applicant’s history of repaying loans

· Number of times the applicant has defaulted in payments

· Whether the applicant has a history of bankruptcy

When the applicant does not meet these criteria, no financial institution gives them any form of credit. Smaller businesses must study their own credit reports and ensure they always meet the criteria to qualify for business loans. They must also assess the credit reports and repayment histories of any client, vendor, or partner who is asking them for a loan.

Business Credit Score

Another key factor that financial institutions use to verify loan applicants' creditworthiness is their business credit scores. All business owners must work hard to raise their credit score if they want their loans to be granted by financial institutions. Similarly, all small-scale lenders must study their debtors’ credit scores before lending any amount.

Dun & Bradstreet, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax are the “big four” business credit reporting agencies that provide business credit reports to lenders of all sizes. However, each of these agencies provides business information in different ways.

Understanding their business credit reports can be a bit confusing. That is why small-scale business owners are advised to partner with independent credit reporting companies that provide reports from all four of these credit reporting agencies in a simplified manner.

If the “lender demands” of major financial institutions are so strict, why shouldn’t smaller businesses have the same standards? Independent credit reporting companies make it possible for smaller businesses to study their potential debtors just as effectively as the leading financial institutions!

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