In the world of finance, your credit score means everything! The higher a person’s credit score, the higher their chances of qualifying for great credit offers from multiple financial providers. The opposite happens if your FICO rating is low—or if you’ve done nothing to build credit.
But due to the tricky nature of life, it is difficult to run away from a low score, at some point, you’ll find yourself below the line. So the remedy is to fund your company using means that will better your score when you’re good to push your business a level higher.
Here are strategies for retailers with poor scores but are in need of funding:
1. Search for Microlenders and Online Lenders
There’s a long list of sub-prime micro-lenders and online financial providers like firstamericamerchant.com. These nonbank lenders offer microloans (ranging $5,000 to $25,000). They are a dependable source of extra Business Funding, and they report your performance to credit bureaus thus helping you re-establish your credit score if make on-time payments.
2. Think beyond bank loans & credit cards for commercial financing
Studies suggest that credit cards & bank funding make up only 25% of the total financing needs of starting businesses. This implies that a whole 75% of the money you’re looking for comes from sources that care less about your credit score.
But there also credit cards and financing programs meant for business owners with poor ratings, they come with a higher interest rate as a compensation for the credit risk the borrower is taking.
3. Seek funding from pals and relatives
Pals and relatives will obviously love the idea of you launching your own company. Perhaps that explains why sometimes over 50% of startups get financial assistance from family or friends. If your pals and siblings want you to succeed and have the monetary capacity to get you on the road then you business dream could come true.
Plus, they may not blame you so much for your poor score because they are likely to understand and trust you with the funding.
4. Do forget to check for gifts & grants
One trick that works when you are trying to avoid paying debts is focusing on the “free” cash from grants & gifts. However, they won’t come to you on a silver platter; you’ll have to search all corners of the internet. Plus, you must be super-careful for services that swear to find you government grants.
You must find out what grant programs are available for your industry. Low-income ventures like Healthcare businesses, tech firms, and general retailers often qualify for grants. You can also rely on gifts from pals and relatives to get “free” money, office space, and free-of-charge services from friends.
Conclusion
This is quite a long list of business funding options for micro-business to rely on. Don’t rush to pick a service provider, compare the available options.