This was the very first time we have ventured to the East Coast
using the new workshop format of ‘It’s Only Business’ and I have to
admit that we were welcomed with opened arms. We kept this workshop
closed to the public and were joined by an intimate group of
entrepreneurs and small business owners laying out a number of
strategies that could be immediately implemented into their
businesses.

Our Nationally renowned trainers, David Francis, Mark Del Guercio,
and Scott Fritz along with myself, discussed topics directly
related to the current economy and focused on the importance of
having an action plan.

“To love what you do and to feel that it matters, how can anything
be more fun” said David Francis about this training session. This
was a very emotional workshop, with the economy in the state it is
in, business owners large and small face times of turmoil and
without knowledge business owners are finding themselves having to
close up shop. “Education is the key to survival,” Francis added,
“we are here for just that, to educate and help in times where
there seems to be no hope.”

The media has focused on the bad for far too long…
Now is the time to focus on your goals and educate yourself as a
business owner or entrepreneur in order to see yourselves through
the dark times and this workshop has proven that you are able to do
just that.

Structuring your organizations with a step by step action plan is
critical, especially when funding is the main source of stress. The
first step is to know what business credit really is and how very
important it is today.

If you could just turn back the clock to when you were 18 years of
age and start all over again with your personal credit.  If there
were a class or seminar at your high school where you could have
attended to guide and educate you on how personal credit works and
the impact it will have on your life, knowing what you know now,
how much would you be willing to pay for that seminar if you had
the money?  This is a question we have asked audiences all over the
country.  The answer is always the same, “tens if not hundreds of
thousands of dollars”.

Well, we cannot go back to high school or to the start of our
personal credit record, but what we do have the opportunity to do
is start our business credit the right way and allow ourselves to
save tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars of the life of
our business.

According to FAIR Isaac, the issuers of personal credit scores
(FICO); the average number of credit inquiries for the American
consumer is one per year.  An inquiry is when a credit granter
purchases your credit report to determine if they will grant
credit.  Based on our experience if someone has more than the
average numbers of inquiries, each inquiry tends to drop their
personal credit score 5-10 points.  Now, as a business owner will
we have more or less than the average number of inquiries?  Of
course, MORE.

The good news is that as business owners we have the ability to
develop a credit profile personally as well as one for each of our
businesses.  If proper steps to establish and build excellent
credit history have not been taken, applicants for business credit
are in for a rude awakening.  However, unlike what many people
think, it is not an easy process to obtain the credit and capital
most small businesses need.  There are specific steps a business,
or individual, must take in order to have a realistic chance at
gaining approval for an application of credit.  The steps one needs
to follow may seem deceptively simple on the surface; however, it
is very important to note that the implementation of these steps
can become complicated.  Each step has to be carried out with a
great deal of preparation and it is very important to know that
each step is thoroughly choreographed. You wouldn’t want to skip a
step and have your foundation crumble would you?

As Mr. Francis stated, it was a very emotional workshop. Our
attendees went down a path of enlightenment and were truly thankful
to all of the trainers. You can look forward to hearing some of the
testimonials soon.