Many entrepreneurs borrow to start or grow their ventures, using credit cards, home equity loans and loans from friends and family to get started. Some small business owners make the big mistake of waiting until their business is already up and running to start building business credit.

You should begin by applying for credit in the name of your business, not your own. By keeping business debts off your personal credit report, your credit scores won’t be affected. While starting out with a small credit line from your bank, you establish “trade” accounts with retailers or suppliers to “buy now, pay later.” Some vendors will rely on the credit history of a business without looking at personal credit. You should choose vendors who report your payment history to the business credit agencies so your business can start building a positive business credit score.

Once your business is successfully up and running, you should use an accounting system that allows you to generate financial statements so you can understand where your business stands financially. After successfully developing credit relationships, there will come a point where your business will be able to approach banks for unsecured business lines of credit, loans, and leases. In order to do this, it is imperative to strategically approach only those banks likely to grant an approval. With a proven credit track record, your business will have opportunities to borrow or lease without having to rely on your personal credit. With a strong business and corporate credit rating, you will have more negotiating power to strike deals at the most favorable terms.

ROLLING THE DICE AT WORK?

People are at work for long lengths of time and may seek diversions to distract them from the monotony. What do you do if you catch some workers gambling in the work place? What types of activities are prohibited? Obviously poker, craps, and dice. How about football pools, bingo, “chipping in” for a group purchase of lottery tickets, and online betting on horse races?

It is very important to have a gambling policy in place. You want your gambling policy to define gambling or the type of behavior that you want to restrict, highlight that some forms of gambling are illegal, and acknowledge that gambling can hinder employee productivity and morale. In order to meet the problem head on, you should be prepared to discipline the entrants in the World Series and Superbowl office pools as well as the card game during lunch if it takes place on company property. Besides defining what behavior is forbidden, the consequences for violation of the gambling policy should be clear.