I don't know if you were ever in the industry CP, but that's the best explanation of card debt management I have seen outside of the bank. And #2 is the most often misunderstood aspect of credit card score rating and management. Money flowing through your accounts in a timely fashion goes to demonstrate to a prospective lender that you are able to manage debt over a period of time.
Yeah, for a little bit with MBNA. Then I took a shower and got into a different line of work.
I would differ with you on this one, except the remarks on having the guts or being lazy. Or a half ass. Those are true. :thumbup:
No, it's still possible, but you have to do it
right, and you have to do it in the beginning, or you have to start over. It's a matter of finagling your Dunn & Bradstreet account and raising your PAYDEX score, setting up an office structure such that it appears that you are running out of a commercial property rather than your home, etc.
One fo the tricks to getting credit at first is to use a small, local bank. Starting out with BOA or Citigroup is futile. They work in billions and couldn't give a damn about your need that amounts to thousands. The first few loans may only be for a few thousand dollars. A trick I got turned onto that worked to get started, is I picked a local, small-business friendly (do some fishing with local small businesses), then took out a $5000 CD. Then I applied for a $5000 loan and used the CD in their bank as the collateral. Take 2 or 3 months and pay that off. Then ask for a little more, etc. Pretty soon you can get $10,000+
unsecured loans. Another tip is to pay your accounts 10 or more days early. While this may seem counter intuitive to those used to companies paying as much as 30 days late, in order to get the interest accrued in their account before paying bills, it's critical to the small business, especially a new one. Reason is the PAYDEX score. About as good as you can get paying on time is an 80 (there's more to it than that, but go along with me). When you pay 10 or more days early, you start moving into the area above 80 (max IIRC is 120). PAYDEX is to the business what the FICO is to the individual.
Take out corporate credit cards. Some gas cards like Exxon, are pretty easy to get. Look to the above advice and charge all of your gas to the card and pay it off each month. DO NOT take cards that demand a personal guarantee. Reason is, it allows attournies to "pierce the veil" if your corporation is sued because you have a direct link between your personal finances and the business.
Take the small loans just to pay them off, if you have to. I try to make sure I have more than the amount in the account before taking the loan. Then there's some safe investments that have a reliable rate of return, and I put all of the money, save 6 months of payments in those investments. Then pay off the loan, early. Yeah, sometimes I only make a few hundred $$ on the whole deal, but the point is to build credit and, IMO
any profit beats no profit.
And a big tip: DO NOT use your company to pay personal debts. Not only does it blur the corporate/individual lines, but may put your corporation at risk financially. If you are to the point that your company is making enough money, then pay yourself a reasonable salary, but don't directly pay your personal debts with company funds.
ETA: Oh damn, sorry, didn't mean to go into such an off topic dissertation.
) that they pay off their credit card, if they looked at their statements closely, pay the Credit Card companies more than they know. They will tell you they pay of their balance every month and that they get money back - but we all know that the vast majority of people do not pay off their credit cards every month, and most get hosed. 
