Credit Score Requirements For A Business Loan

Minimum Credit Score By Loan Type

Lenders look at both business and personal credit scores when reviewing small business financing applications. Business credit is measured on a scale of 0 to 100, while personal credit scores range from 300 to 850. 

A business credit score takes into account things like:

• Business payment history
• Business amounts owed
• Historical data on the business
• Number of employees

A personal credit score, on the other hand, analyzes information such as:

• Personal payment history
• Personal amounts owed
• Length of credit history
• New credit
• Credit mix

You don’t always need a business credit score in order to qualify for a loan to help your company. Different types of business financing have different credit requirements. SBA and term loans, for instance, place greater importance on credit score, while revenue-based and asset-based financing are typically more concerned with monthly and annual sales.

Here are the minimum personal credit score requirements for each type of business financing to get an idea of the options available to you.

How to Increase Your Credit Score

If your credit score isn’t where you’d like it to be, there are several steps you can take to boost your score.

1. Monitor your credit reports: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are where you’ll want to go to see your current credit reports. Make sure the information is correct and that your credit report reflects reality. Make sure that the report is accurate and accounts that aren’t yours aren’t reported. Bankruptcies that are over 10 years-old or the associated accounts shouldn’t be reflected on the report. Other negative information older than seven years should also not be included on the report. 
2. Get a major credit card: Getting a credit card and using it wisely is one way to boost your credit. Be sure to make your payments on time.
3. Arrange automatic payments on every card or loan: It’s easy to forget to make a payment when it’s due or let travel or a busy schedule distract you. However, credit scores are very sensitive to whether or not you make payments on time, so do all you can to keep your payments regular and on time.
4. Don’t let disputes go to collections: If you have a dispute with a vendor and you allow it to escalate to collections, it doesn’t look good on your report. Rather than taking this path, it’s better to pay under protest and go to small claims court. Don’t get sued, though, as lawsuits and judgements are also major dings to your credit.
5. Consolidate your debt if you can’t pay it off quickly: The scoring criteria treats installment loan balances kinder than the same balances on a credit card. But be wise with your credit card balances and avoid running them up.
6. Take debt off your credit report entirely: This is a tough one, but family, friends, or dipping into your retirement plan is sometimes a good way to get credit off your report entirely. Be careful about dipping into your 401k. If you borrow from a 401k and repay it there are no tax consequences, but if you withdraw money, there will be tax consequences.
7. Don’t close accounts or let them be closed: It might not help your scores and could hurt them. If you’ve got a card you haven’t used for a while, take it out to dinner or buy a tank of gas, just make sure they’re included with your other automatic payments.
8. Don’t apply for credit you don’t need: At about five points an application, if you have sketchy credit, it can add up.

Depending on how bad your score looks today, you might need to invest some time—but there is hope. Just remember, your credit score is the first thing any lender will look at before they offer you a small business loan. Hopefully, some of these tips can help you resuscitate a bad credit score.

Ready to compare business loan options? Apply for a small business loan.