Optimizing Personal and Business Credit with Eileen E. Galbraith

On today’s episode, I am joined by Eileen E. Galbraith also known as the Credit Gal.  We are going to talk about your credit, business funding, and ways to fix your finances right away.

Eileen E. Galbraith is your Savvy Credit Business Woman, aka The Credit Gal. She works with individuals and small business owners, specifically with those who are seeking to grow their business. Entrepreneurs hire her to maximize their capital because most are turning over couch cushions to invest in their business, putting their families, credit, and growth at risk. So, she positions them to get the money they need, protect their assets, and leverage their genius. 

In this episode, we start out talking about personal credit because it is the foundation.  We talk about optimizing your own personal credit to build your business credit.  Eileen talks about beginning steps to make your business official so you can become a fundable and creditable business.  

Show Notes:

• [00:58] Eileen E. Galbraith is your Savvy Credit Business Woman, aka The Credit Gal.
• [01:27] The very first thing you want to do is get a copy of your personal credit report and continue to get your credit report every year. 78% of credit reports are wrong.   
• [02:01] Your credit follows you everywhere.  
• [03:39] You want to make sure your personal data is correct and optimize these areas. 
• [04:02] After you verify your personal information you then need to check all your accounts are reporting properly. 
• [04:58] Once we have maximized your credit report, we look at if there are any ways to optimize your credit score. 
• [05:59] Your FICO credit score goes from 300 to 850. 
• [06:22] You want to make sure your business is fundable and creditable.  You also need to be incorporated around your EIN. 
• [07:28] Then open your business checking account using your business documentation and EIN right away. 
• [07:52] The underwriting guidelines say your business opened the day you opened your business checking account.    
• [10:12] 35% of your FICO score is how you pay your bills.  
• [10:55] Your goal should be to use less than 20% of the credit you have available. 
• [11:57] There is only one determining factor for business credit and that is how you pay your bills.  
• [12:50] You want to have a D-U-N-S number for your business.  
• [15:04] The beauty of business credit is that you can get the business credit lines and credit cards without personally guaranteeing them.  If someone comes to sue your business they can’t come after you on a personal side.  
• [16:58] Eileen recommends three to six months of reserves in your personal and business world.  
• [18:12] The more address you have listed on your credit report the harder it is for the underwriting to get your qualified.  The goal is to have two addresses. 
• [19:04] Your bank account should be set up in the name of your corporation.
• [20:36] Many use a personal credit card in the beginning before they transfer that to a business credit card and that can be used to verify funds. 
• [22:27] You can dispute anything that is inaccurate, misleading, or erroneous on your credit report.  There is a process to follow to dispute something. 
• [24:13] It does take time to reverse errors on your credit report.  Prior to COVID dispute letters had to be responded to within 30 days. Since COVID they have a 45-day window to respond back. 
• [26:37] When you join a network marketing company you want to start an entity as soon as you can. You also want to set up the business checking account and all the commissions should go into this account.  Any expenses should go through that same account.
• [28:04] You can text or call Eileen to book a free 30-minute consult at (610) 609-1526 or eileen@thecreditgal.com
• [28:55] Entrepreneurs don’t realize how important it is to establish their business in the name of their business and how much it can benefit them. It is something you want to start now instead of later because it is going to give you so many more options to grow your business.  

Links and Resources:

Ask Loral App Loral on Facebook Loral on YouTube Loral on LinkedIn Money Rules Millionaire Maker Store The Credit Gal Website Eileen on LinkedIn Annual Credit Report