- 18. Know your business credit score.
A common mistake new entrepreneurs make when seeking small business capital is failing to establish business credit separate and apart from their personal credit. Most lenders will not finance your business without a business credit history. Start by establishing bank accounts and securing business credit cards to be used exclusively for your business, before moving on to securing a small bank loan and establishing lines of credit with your vendors. Of course, to maintain a favorable business credit history, you must make any payments due on loans, business credit cards, or lines of credit on time, every time. Be sure all of these sources of business credit report your payment history to the Small Business Financial Exchange (www.sbfe.org), a member-owned database managed by the Equifax credit reporting agency, or a similar business credit information service.