How to Setup Your Initial Business Credit Profile with Dun and Bradstree Experian and Equifax

HOW TO SETUP YOUR INITIAL
BUSINESS CREDIT PROFILES
WITH DUN & BRADSTREET,
EXPERIAN, AND EQUIFAX
COMMERCIAL

Ty Crandall
Chief Executive Officer
(877) 600-2487
info@creditsuite.com
www.CreditSuite.com/EIN
Get Your Business Credit Reports and Scores!
www.CreditSuite.com/monitoring

SETTING UP YOUR BUSINESS
• There are a couple of steps you’ll need to take to
setup your business first, before you get setup
with the three reporting agencies
• The very first step is to setup your business entity
• You can build credit with any entity
• But you’ll want to consider either a corporation
or LLC to help reduce your liability in the
business

• With Sole Proprietors and Partnerships, you
ARE the business, you’re one in the same
• In those cases, you’ll always be liable for what
happens in your business
• With Corporations and LLCs, you and the
business are separate from each other, making
it easier to also separate your liability

• You can setup your entity by visiting your
Secretary of State website
• Search for the name you want to ensure it’s not
already taken
• Then follow the steps to setup a new for-profit or
non-profit business
• Fees vary by state, but the setup process usually
only takes 15 minutes or less to complete

• Next visit the IRS website to get your Employer
ID Number or EIN
• Do NOT pay for your EIN… it’s totally free
• There are companies who try to look official and
help you get your EIN, but at the end of the
process they charge you a fee.. You don’t need
to pay

WITH
EXPERIAN

• There are 3 main business credit
reporting agencies in the United States:
 Dun & Bradstreet
 Experian
 And Equifax Commercial
• These are the reporting agencies your EIN
credit is reported to
THE THREE REPORTING AGENCIES

• Experian is the second largest business credit
reporting agency
• They are used by many credit issuers to determine if
you should be approved for a credit card, and how
much you should be approved for
GETTING SETUP WITH EXPERIAN

• Your Experian business credit report contains:
• Identifying Information
• Payment Information
• Public Record Information
• Inquiries
• Company Background Information
• Business Credit Score

• Get started with Experian by using their BizVerify
system to see if Experian has information about your
company already, and to verify the information they
do have
• You can conduct your free search here
http://www.creditsuite.com/reports
• Or you can do this with Experian directly here
http://www.smartbusinessreports.com

• If your initial search does pull up your business
information, you should pull your business credit
report
• You should do this even if you have no tradelines
• The reason you want to pull your reports is because
Experian will give you a low, failing credit score, if they
have even basic information about your business

• Directly from Experian:
• “Experian® requires minimum information to generate
a score. If a business doesn't meet these requirements,
a score is not generated. Minimum information is at
least one tradeline and/or one demographic element.
• Demographics such as years on file, Standard Industrial
Classification codes and business size”

• If Experian has even basic information about your
business, this is enough “demographic” info for them
to populate your business credit report
• If this report is populated with no tradelines, you’ll
almost always see a score of 27-29 out of 100, which is
a failing credit score

• The great news is that it only takes one account
reporting to change your credit status from high risk to
low risk
• Even one reported trade line can change your score
from 27-29 to 85-100 once that account gets reported
• And, it only takes 30-90 days after you get approved for
an account reported, buy something, and pay the bill,
for that account to report

SETTING UP INITIAL BUSINESS CREDIT
WITH EXPERIAN
• You can get setup with initial trade vendors that report
to D&B, Experian and Equifax to establish initial
business credit
• If you have good personal credit, or a guarantor who
does, you can also build initial business credit with our
Unsecured Business Financing program
• Approvals up to $150,000
• 0% rates for 6-18 months
• Unsecured, No-Doc Financing
• Get approved even as a startup
• Get pre-approved www.CreditSuite.com/GetFunding

WITH
DUN & BRADSTREET

• Dun & Bradstreet, often called D&B, is the biggest
business credit reporting agency, about 10X larger than
Experian or Equifax
• They provide information on businesses and
corporations for use in credit decisions worldwide
• Publicly traded company (DNB) on NYSE
• Headquarters in Short Hills New Jersey
WHO IS DUN & BRADSTREET?

ARE YOU SETUP WITH D&B NOW?
• Business credit reporting agencies like D&B get
data from many different places
• These may include:
 Utility companies
 Landlords
 Companies that help setup new businesses
 Insurance and benefit providers
• And many others

• Check with D&B to see if they have a record setup
for you now.
• It’s FREE and easy to do this!
• You can go directly to D&B’s website to check
iUpdate for your business
• Or, visit www.creditsuite.com/reports to see if
you’re setup with D&B for FREE
• Or visit D&B direct https://www.dandb.com
Grab Your Free Guide on Building Business Credit!
www.CreditSuite.com/EIN

• If you pull up a record for your business with D&B,
before you take another step you should consider
pulling your actual business credit report
• To do this, you’ll need to enroll for credit
monitoring
• In doing so, you’ll see if you have any credit
reporting
• You’ll also see if you have scores

• And if you have negative items on your report, you
can dispute those through iUpdate
• You can get your business credit reports and
scores with D&B and Experian through Nav here
• You can also go to D&B’s website directly
https://businesscredit.dnb.com/business-reports/

SETUP YOUR D-U-N-S… FOR FREE
• If your search with D&B doesn’t show you have
your D-U-N-S number, you’ll want to get it
setup
• The D-U-N-S number is a nine-digit number
issued by Dun & Bradstreet and assigned to
each business location in the D&B database,
each having a unique, separate, and distinct
operation for the purpose
• Every business must first have a D-U-N-S
number before Dun & Bradstreet will assign a
Paydex business credit score

• The DUNS number is the preferred method
worldwide of identifying businesses
• Unlike national Employment Identification Number
(EIN), a D-U-N-S number may be issued to any
business worldwide
• It is used by many foreign governments including
the US and Australia, European Commission, and
even the United Nations
• More than 50 global, industry,
and trade associations recognize,
recommend, or require DUNS
D-U-N-S NUMBER

IMPORTANT NOTES…
• When you actually start applying for credit you should
consider using some type of business address or
virtual address
• But setting up your entity and your D-U-N-S will
require a physical address of some kind, you can’t use
a virtual address
• And even though you can obtain real business credit
without supplying your SSN… most business bank
accounts may require one to be opened

SETTING UP YOUR D-U-N-S
• You can search for your DUNS through the link at
www.creditsuite.com/reports
• Or you can go to www.dandb.com/free-duns-
number
• During the DUNS setup process you’ll be asked
for A LOT of information
• If you select that you’re a government contractor,
you’ll get your DUNS in about 1-2 weeks
• If you don’t pay D&B anything and aren’t a
contractor, it can take up to 30 days to get your
DUNS

Here’s what the process looks like to get your
DUNS:

• The process to obtain your DUNS will require
about 10-15 minutes
• Once you’re done, D&B will email you
• Reps will also start to call and email you to upsell
you to the D&B Credit Builder program

WITH D&B
• With Dun & Bradstreet there are 3 ways to start
building your business credit
• The first way is by using their Credit Builder
program https://www.dandb.com/credit-builder/
• With this option, you are ONLY setting up credit
with D&B, not Experian and Equifax which lenders
and credit issuers use most
• This runs $159 monthly or $1599 annually (June
2017)

WITH D&B
• You can also get setup with initial trade vendors that
report to D&B, Experian and Equifax to establish initial
business credit
• If you have good personal credit, or a guarantor who
does, you can also build initial business credit with our
Unsecured Business Financing program
• Approvals up to $150,000
• 0% rates for 6-18 months
• Unsecured, No-Doc Financing
• Get approved even as a startup
• Get pre-approved www.CreditSuite.com/GetFunding

WITH
EQUIFAX

WITH EQUIFAX
• Equifax is the third largest business credit
reporting agency
• Most credit issuers and trade vendors report to
D&B and Experian, not Equifax
• Because of this, when you find trades that do
report to Equifax, you should apply, get approved,
use your credit, and pay your bills timely to build
your reports and scores

WITH EQUIFAX
• Many lenders pull Equifax Commercial reports to
make lending decisions
• And, your Equifax profile and score can also be
included in your FICO SBSS score that is used by
SBA lenders for SBA loans
• This is why it’s so important to build credit with
Equifax when you can, because it’s vital to getting
the loans you need to grow your business

WITH EQUIFAX
• Equifax business credit reports contain:
• Firmographics (aka business demographics)
• Public records, such as judgments, liens, UCCs and
bankruptcies
• Trade payment history
• Financial payment history
• Corporate family trees and identifying information for
each business level
• Small business owner and/or guarantors associated
with the business

WITH EQUIFAX
• The first step in getting setup with Equifax is to
research and see if you have a report and score
established now
• You can do this here
http://www.creditsuite.com/reports
• You can also go directly to Equifax
http://www.equifax.com/business/business-credit-
monitor-small-business

WITH EQUIFAX
• If your search does show that Equifax has a
record of your business, it may make sense to pull
your Equifax reports and scores to see if you have
trades reporting
• It is possible for Equifax to have an established
report and score for you even if you have no trade
lines reporting, especially if you have some type of
public record reported
• In this case, you can access your Equifax
company report and score even with 0 trades
reportingGet Your Business Credit Reports and Scores!

WITH EQUIFAX
• With Experian and Equifax, it’s essential that you
check your reports if you have credit showing so
you don’t get denials for credit and financing when
you apply.

How to Setup Your Initial Business Credit Profile with Dun and Bradstree Experian and Equifax

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