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Startup Capital: Be Choosy When Picking Your Business Credit

 

A lot of small businesses rely on credit for much-needed startup capital. Sure, in a perfect world, you'd have investors, and you wouldn't need to rely on credit to build your own business. However, that's not always the case, so you may need to look into some different options for your startup capital. That's where strong credit comes in. Depending on your credit score and business plan, you may be able to qualify for a business line of credit. When you do, just be sure to know all the details before you sign on the bottom line. If you're considering a new business credit card, here is a friendly reminder of what you should be looking for.
 

 

Separate identities

It's very important that you keep your personal and your business finances separate. Your business credit card can really help with the process. While all credit lines with your name on them will be reported to all credit bureaus, if you have all your business activity on your business credit card, you can keep your business credit score separate from your personal one, especially with credit reporting organizations like Equifax or Experian.

 

Employee credit

Some business cards will even offer benefits that include employee credit cards. If you've got employees that do a lot of spending and you deal with invoices and reimbursement a lot, it may be worth it to issue employee credit cards. In many cases, you can apply the card rewards on your employee's cards to the main account holder (you), so you never have to lose your rewards. Plus, once you get all your employees' spending in one place, you can then focus on the reporting features and other benefits offered by your card company.

 

Rewards programs

If you're going to be spending a lot of money on credit, put that money to work for you and enjoy some of the rewards you can accumulate. Nearly every credit card program has some kind of rewards system, so look for one that's going to work best for you. If you do a lot of traveling, look for a card that offers rewards for airline miles, discounts or rebates on hotels and car rentals and other travel expenses. Other cards will offer rewards for shopping with specific partners, which may be a better option if you don't do a lot of traveling for your business.

 

 

This article was written by Deborah Flomberg for CBS Small Business Pulse.

 

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