| Don't have a whole lot of time to bring up your credit | | | | small business owners, credit cards are a lifeline for |
| score? | | | | the purchase of goods and supplies every month. |
| | | | | Maxing out business lines of credit each month can |
| Here are some quick ways to get a handle on your | | | | hurt them. Wait - these are business cards, you say? |
| score in less than 30 days! | | | | Yes, they are. However, most small business owners |
| | | | | still have to personally guarantee their business cards, |
| - Pay down your credit cards. Paying off your | | | | which means they show up on personal credit reports. |
| installment loans can help increase your score, but in | | | | If you run a small business and you find yourself |
| most cases not as dramatically as paying down or | | | | needing to use all of the credit available to you on a |
| paying off revolving accounts such as credit cards. | | | | card, you may want to consider getting another card |
| The FICO model and even the Vantage scoring | | | | to spread out the credit lines a little. |
| system now used by the Big 3 credit bureaus weight | | | | |
| credit card debt more heavily. Each card you carry, | | | | - Make sure your credit report is accurate! Is your |
| combined with your revolving credit line, should be | | | | credit report correctly reporting your credit limits for |
| below 25%. If your goal is to increase your credit | | | | your cards? Many times credit card issuers don't |
| score - forget about paying down your high interest | | | | update their databases as frequently as they should |
| rate cards first. Work on getting the lower balances | | | | and this can taint your credit report with inaccurate |
| down first to reap the most improvement in credit | | | | information. Order a copy of your credit report and |
| score. | | | | review it. If you find any information that needs to be |
| | | | | refreshed, call your credit card issuer and ask them to |
| - Use your cards as lightly as possible. Even if you pay | | | | update the list. You can also challenge the limits with |
| your balance in full, your available credit is averaged | | | | the credit bureaus if something is wrong. Keep your |
| over your billing cycle, which is sometimes less than 30 | | | | eyes on your credit report every month. |
| days. For example, if your credit limit on a card is | | | | |
| $5,000 and you charge $5,000, your credit balance is | | | | ''The credit report has a mind and the way it thinks |
| still going to show $2500 (a 50% usage limit) even if | | | | effects the score, whether good or bad." |
| you pay it off each month. This will likely make your | | | | |
| score plunge. | | | | The key is to figure this out by consulting with experts |
| | | | | like The Credit Physician, who empower you to take |
| - Small businesses must also limit credit use. For most | | | | control of your credit. |