AboutMichelle Dunn Expertise As one of the Top 5 Women in Collections, one of the Top 50 Collection Professionals of 2007, and winner of the 2007 Business Excellence award, I can answer any questions about debt, debt collection, improving business credit, creating a credit policy, enforcing a credit policy and collecting on past due accounts. I can also answer questions in regards to starting a debt collection agency since I have been a bill collector for over 21 years, started and ran my own collection agency for 8 years, and maintain my 11 year old American Credit & Collections Association for members of the credit & debt collection industry. I am also the author of the popular and award winning book "Starting a Collection Agency, how to make money collecting money" now on it's 3rd edition. This book has won a the Writers Digest self published award as well as the 2007 New York Book Festival Award.
I am a repeat contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and have been featured on NPR as well as many other national radio and television programs. I have also been featured in national publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Smart Money, MSNBC and much more. I have 12 published books to my name and am an accomplished speaker and consultant. I currently write 9 columns for newspapers, magazines and online portals worldwide.
Experience I have over 21 years experience in debt collection, I started and ran my own collection agency for 8 years and I am the Executive Director of my American Credit & Collections Association that I founded in 1998. www.credit-and-collections.com
Organizations The American Credit & Collections Association LLC, I was also a member of the American Collectors Association and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce for 9 years. I am a member of many writing groups as well as my local Women Inspiring Women chapter. I am a member of Know More Media as an expert for their blog on business credit.
Publications Business NH Magazine, Smart Money Magazine, MSNBC, CNN, Forbes.com, The Wall Street Journal, Home Business Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine and website, many books, newspapers and television programs as well.
Education/Credentials I have written 12 books in my collecting money series and one for Entrepreneur Press called the Ultimate Credit and Collections Handbook.
Awards and Honors My book Starting a Collection Agency, how to make money collecting money won an award from Writers Digest and the 2007 New York Book Festival in the "How to" category. I have won 2 awards from Dun & Bradstreet and Governor Jean Shaheen. I was nominated as one of the Top 5 Women in Collections in 2007 as well as having been selected as one of Collection Advisor's Top 50 Collection Professionals for 2007.
Question I was told by an individual that charges $2100.00 to establish business credit with no personal guarantee... I Googled it and found all types of articles on accomplishing this on my own...
FYI, my business is an LLC that I started in January 2007. I have one VISA in the name of my business, but I haven't registered with any of the repositories yet (Experian, DnB, Equifax)
I went to Lowe's and started filling out the application for a Lowe's card in my business name, but the application states that I will probably not get approved if my business is less than 3 years old if I don't sign as a personal guarantee.
Is there anyway around this, or does the person who offered their services for $2100 perhaps know of a way to be able to get business credit for a young company like mine with no personal guarantee?
I just looked through all of the business credit applications and they all say something similar. How can I go about increasing my chances for the credit cards without getting a personal guarantee?
Answer Alvin,
I would check references including the Better Business Bureau on the individual that wants to charge you $2100.00 for this service. I have been in this industry a very long time and have never heard of something like this, please make sure to do your research before you give them any money.
Some ways to increase your chance for credit cards is to develop some vendor accounts based on credit under your company name as well as having a business checking account. Another way to do this is to get a small business loan, a couple of thousand of dollars and make the payments on time and pay it off early. This will be reflected on your credit report as positive credit and help you to be approved for credit.
