Expert: Christine Janklow - 11/7/2008

Question
I restarted a business after I had filed bankruptcy by putting the business in my girlfriends name. I want to somehow get the business into my own name but I have some questions. 1. How can I open a business bank account? 2. How can I open a credit card processing account? Banks and processors check credit and if they see mine I dont see how they could approve me?

Answer
Mark:
Thank you for your inquiry. Given the limited information you have provided, I am making the assumption that your bankruptcy is fairly recent. If this is the case, clearly endeavoring in attaining credit or credibility is a challenge for the next couple of years. This is particularly true if you filed personally. As I am not an attorney, I can not provide legal answers to this. I do believe however that you are still able to open a bank account, unless you still have a Trustee involved. You should seek the advice of the attorney with whom you filed on the particulars as to how to get your business established legitimately and to insure you can keep what you intend to make as revenues. Furthermore, it is a noble and unselfish act for your girlfriend to offer up her name and credit, but if she is on the business name, etc. she should also be entitled to some company stock, authority as well. You both would benefit from some sound legal advice so you are clear on expectations and have a plan in place to repay any expenses or future debt incurred by the new business. Also, I would highly recommend that you have two things ready before you begin conducting business 1. Working capital, that will sustain you for the initial months until you begin receiving money 2) a business plan, even a rough draft that spells out what you plan on offering as goods, services, costs and expenses, marketing plans, budgets and payroll expenses. These areas spelled out or even estimated will help guide you on how much you will need to break even and to profit. If you don't know how to do one, you can contact your local office of SCORE by visiting www.score.org a national non-profit group of retired professionals ready to advice you without charge on building  a successful business. Lastly, if you need to find inexpensive legal help you can visit www.lawhelp.org
I wish you luck, and hope if you found this answer helpful you take a moment to provide a positive rating.

Respectfully,
Christine Janklow