You might have heard of horror stories from people who were shopping around for loans, and then it took a big hit on their credit score. There’s nothing wrong with looking around and comparing loan options that best fit your business. However, it pays to know what you’ll be dealing with when you start going through the loan application process. Here’s how credit checks can impact your credit score and what strategies you can use to prevent losing points.
When Does Applying For Loans Affect Your Credit Score
The health of your finances (which is in this case, your credit score) will affect your chances of getting a business loan. The opposite is true as well. When you shop around for loans and take on financing, it can also affect your credit score. If you’re not aware of the impact that applying for loans will make on your credit score, chances are you’ll unnecessarily lose points. It will also hinder you from getting the best loan rates.
Here’s how you can meander through this system of hard and soft credit pulls to prevent negatively affecting your score.
How Credit Checks Affect Your Credit Score
The following are the types of credit checks that lenders would usually do when you apply for a loan.
Soft Inquiry: Lenders will make a “soft inquiry” on your credit report when you are seeking for pre-approval or an initial rate quote. Soft inquiries do not impact your credit score.
Hard Inquiry: Lenders will make a hard inquiry before the final approval of a loan application. Some online applications trigger hard inquiries. Every hard inquiry deducts around 1 to 5 points from your score.
No Credit Check: Some lenders won’t need to check your credit score, and would evaluate other factors instead when you are applying for a loan.
Most lenders will do a soft pull of your credit history if you are still applying or want to get a quoted rate. After pre-approval, lenders would do a hard credit check if you are going to move forward in the loan application process. The credit check’s impact on your score depends on the size of the loan, type of loan, and the state of your credit health when the check is done. Hard credit inquiries stay on your credit report for a couple of years and are visible to others that check your credit. However, its impact on your credit score wears off in about a year.
Comparing lenders on Bizzloans won’t affect your credit score. You can get a free quote here to compare financial solutions that can help grow your business.
Tips to Avoid Lowering Your Credit Score
- Ask Before You Apply
You can ask a lender what type of credit check they will perform. They should inform you if they are going to make a soft or hard inquiry.
If you have listed down the potential loans you want to apply for, pick the best three and take into account the credit checks they might do. The key here is that you choose the best one for yourself and would push through with the loan application process. This is so you won’t have to go through other inquiries that can hurt your credit score.
- Minimise Shopping Around For Loans in a Short Period of Time
Each inquiry after applying for a loan can add up, so it’s best to apply to no more than 2 or 3 lenders when looking for a business loan. Applying for too many loans will dent your credit score, because it may show through as you being in financial distress. Keep rate shopping to a minimum to lessen the impact on your credit report.
- Don’t Forget Your Personal Credit Score
Lenders will also take a look at your personal credit score besides your business credit. Your personal credit file contains information about the loan applications and credit facilities you have. It will also alert lenders to any missed payments, judgments, and other issues in your financial history.
The best way forward on this is to review your personal credit report regularly and dispute any errors. There are other ways to improve your credit score through the tips on this guide.
Where To Go From Here?
Comparing lenders on Bizzloans won’t affect your credit score. You can get the best deals out of 800 financial products, which have helped thousands of businesses. You’ll be able to get funding to your account in as quick as 24 hours starting with a free quote below.
No Security Necessary
The main thing that makes unsecured loans more attractive than secured loans is the fact that they’re no security. It might be an obvious thing to highlight but it clearly matters. You won’t be weighed down by the pressure and worry associated with having collateral hanging over you and potentially being lost to the lender if you fail to make repayments. If you don’t want to take the risk of losing your collateral, you just need to opt for an unsecured loan instead. It’ll allow you to avoid any risks associated with secured loans.
Build Up Your Future Credit Score
By taking out a loan and then paying it off on time, you will help to build or repair your credit score. Many companies are dealing with poor credit, but by taking out an unsecured loan with a lender that is happy to lend to companies with poor credit, you can start to turn the situation around. Meeting regular repayment deadlines shows the world that you are able to stay on top of your financial obligations and pay off the money you owe, and that will only help your business going forward.
Why Your Business Might Want to Take Out an Unsecured Loan
There are lots of reasons why your business might take out a loan, as well as reasons not to. You shouldn’t take out a loan to cover running costs, but if you want to do other things, such as the things we’re going to discuss below, an unsecured business loan can be ideal.
Grow and Expand
Most entrepreneurs have big plans for their businesses. They want to ensure that their business is one that’s got a bright future. So if the time has come for you to grow and expand your business, you should think about whether taking out an unsecured business loan might help you to do that. It could be exactly what you need to get your business moving in the right kind of direction. It takes money and investment to grow your business and a loan might just be the ideal solution.
Take on More Clients and Customers
If your business doesn’t currently have the resources to deal with more customers and clients, it could be time to scale things up. However, that’s something that costs money, whether you like or not. Taking out an unsecured business loan could help improve the resources your business has available. It could mean hiring more people so that you have the human resources needed to take on more clients and make more customers happy. The loan will cover the costs associated with doing that and it’ll pay for itself if you’re able to improve your profits as a result.
Fund a New Marketing Campaign
Maybe it’s the case that attracting new customers to your business is where your problems lie. It’s not always easy to get your voice heard and make people aware of why they should be taking notice of your business. An unsecured loan could be used to fund a new marketing campaign that gets your message out there and makes more people interested in your business and what it’s offering. So if you have an idea for a marketing campaign that you think might work but you don’t have the financing for it, consider a loan.
Improve with Fewer Risks
The chance to improve your business in the many ways mentioned above offers you a real opportunity that you might want to grasp. Secured loans can offer the same access to financing but come with more risks to your business. With an unsecured loan, you can reap all the rewards that come with having the cash to invest in your business without having to worry about the risks adversely affecting the business in the future. The chance to improve with fewer risks attached to that chance should not be ignored or dismissed.
The Requirements for Getting an Unsecured Business Loan
There are some requirements you’ll need to be aware of before you take out an unsecured business loan. These aren’t too harsh or restrictive at all, but they are important.
24 Month Limit
When you take out an unsecured loan from Bizzloans, you have to pay the loan back within 24 months. That’s the maximum repayment term that’s on offer. Of course, that won’t be a problem for the vast majority of businesses out there. It’s important that you look at the finances closely and decide for sure that this is something your business is going to be able to do. You’ll have a chance to do this when you get a quote from us, so you’ll know exactly what you’re signing up to.
Business Bank Statements
To ensure your business is in a financial position to take on a loan of the size you’ve applied for, you’ll need to simply submit your business’s bank statements. This allows us to ensure that we lend responsibly and don’t burden you with a debt that is too much for you to take on. It’s in both your best interests and ours that you’re able to handle the loan that you take on.
Photo ID
To ensure everything is correct and proper, and you are who you say you are, you have to submit a photo ID. This is common practice and ensures that all financial transactions are above board and in order. It’s very easy to do and needn’t be a headache for you. Once we are satisfied with your application, you’ve provided the bank statements and we’ve checked your ID, it won’t be long before you have access to the loan you applied for.
Getting an unsecured business loan for your company could be just what it needs right now. It’s a much safer option than taking out a secured loan and you’ll be accepted much faster. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here at Bizzloans if you’re thinking of taking out an unsecured business loan.
