The Small Business Credit Report: A Valuable Resource
Growing a small business is challenging and the competition is fierce. Sometimes you feel as though you are a small fish among sharks, surrounded by big companies that have endless resources and bottomless bank accounts. To survive you must grow, and to grow you often must extend credit to clients and accounts. It would be nice to always get paid in cash, but that’s not how the global business world operates. The reliance on credit is a reality that every small business must deal with. But how do you decide to whom you will extend credit? If a company halfway across the globe places a big order and demands terms of net 30 or net 60, how will you decide whether to accept? If the account fails to pay for any reason, the results could be a financial disaster, even bankruptcy. Fortunately, you have a powerful tool on your side. A small business credit report provided by a reputable credit risk management agency can give you the information you need to make an informed decision. Credit Risk Manager provides fast and easy online access to reliable credit reports.
How Small Business Credit Reports Are Created
Let’s say that you are a small manufacturer of custom steel fabrication tools in Germany. You receive an order from a contractor in Dubai. To fill the order you need to expand your capacity. But if something goes wrong—if the contractor in Dubai goes bankrupt or fails to pay—you will be in serious financial trouble. To assess the risk, you contact a global credit risk management agency and order a credit report on the contractor in Dubai.
The report will be created from raw data collected from a wide variety of sources including the local chamber of commerce, banks and lenders, public financial filings, records and information from the company itself, and creditors who report trade information to the credit risk management firm. The raw data may include:
- Names of top management and major shareholders.
- Demographics such as business size, years on file, Standard Industrial Classification codes.
- Outstanding loan and account balances.
- Number and frequency of trade experiences.
- Credit utilization - how much and how often.
- Payment habits over time.
- Business trends.
- Public record information.
A Small Business Credit Report From Credit Risk Manager
Credit Risk Manager filters and cross-checks its raw data for accuracy and presents credit reports in a format that is easy-to-read. Businesses are given an overall credit score, the Graydon Rating. While even the most comprehensive small business credit report cannot guarantee that an account will pay, the credit report is the most powerful tool available to you for reducing risk.
Since business conditions change at a rapid rate, it is advisable to choose a global credit risk management company that can provide regular updates on the companies with whom you do business. Credit Risk Manager continuously updates its data and its credit reports also include previous ratings. Changes in management or major stockholders, a default on a loan, or a layoff of employees may signal an increase in the level of risk. The last thing you want is to be taken by surprise when an account that you thought was reliable suddenly fails to make a payment. Your relationship with Credit Risk Manager is a vital part of having the information you need to help your business grow.
You are just three clicks away from a small business credit report. All you need to do is enter the name of the company as well as the country and the city it is based in to get quick and easy access to reliable business information from Credit Risk Manager.