Business credit reports have long been a staple in the finance departments of large companies, but their high cost has prevented many small businesses from using them in the past. Fortunately, as innovation and competition drove down the cost of reports in the last ten years or so, many small business owners, concerned about protecting themselves from getting stiffed by customers are starting to use business credit reports to minimize their risk of unpaid invoices.
Creditsafe is an excellent example of how competition and innovation have made business credit reports more accessible to smaller businesses. It's no surprise that half of Creditsafe's new customers (many of them small businesses) have never used a credit report before. For as little as $100 a month, small business owners can access critical business credit information to protect themselves from nonpaying customers.
Since it's humble beginning, Creditsafe's goal has been to make vital credit information easily accessible to small and midsized businesses. Credit reports can confirm that a company is who it says it is, provide information on how quickly a company pays its bills, recommend how much credit it should be extended, and indicate whether there are legal proceedings against the company, along with a host of other critical data that can help a small business avoid bad debt. For too long, small businesses have not had affordable access to this very basic and important financial tool. As more and more small businesses start to utilize business credit reports, the truth becomes clear, small businesses need and love credit reports.
Often, the first sign of trouble that a small business sees with its customers is when an invoice goes unpaid. If they had viewed a credit report first, they would have seen that their customer had begun taking longer to pay bills or perhaps had been hit with a legal judgment. Having access to such information allows a small business to take appropriate steps before a slow-paying customer becomes a nonpaying customer.
