Never forget you are the CEO of your business. You are 100% in control of your attitude and activity. You are 100% responsible for your business’ failure or success. Are you dabbling with a hobby or is this a side-hustle you would like to see work out but not putting great effort and focus on? I sincerely hope not. You have to be 100% committed, take daily action and run this as a business to succeed. There are dreamers and there are doers. Which are you? Is your attitude, right? Is your activity level, right? Be awesome today! Your business depends on it.

Good and Even Great Credit Scores May Not Be Enough Even if you have great credit scores, both personal and business, you still want to make sure you “build those credit files out”. What do I mean by this? An often-overlooked aspect of obtaining cash credit lines is something called “Comparable Credit”. As I said you can have great personal credit scores and great business credit scores but when seeking larger cash credit lines comparable credit comes into play. If you and/or business has credit lines of $500, $2500, $5,000 etc. and you are asking for $35,000+ you most likely won’t get that. Banks routinely provide you 1.5X to 3X your current personal limit in business credit lines if your file look good. So before going after the truly larger business credit lines, make sure your personal credit files have a few larger credit lines already reporting. Ask your vendors and credit card companies to increase your credit lines every 6-months or so as long as you are using them and paying them in a timely fashion. This is how you take $500 vendor lines and $5,000 personal credit card lines and make them $1,500 and $15,000 credit lines. Banks want to see you have handled those larger credit lines successfully before extending your business super-sized credit lines of $35K+. If you have successfully had large credit lines and paid aggressively, they are more than happy to grant you these larger credit lines. But first they want to see you or your business has had a history of making payments on time with larger credit lines. It takes time to do this right. But it’s worth it and frankly the only legit way to do so. Build out your personal credit file and business credit file before seeking that homerun credit line. Always be increasing your credit lines whether you need it now or not. One day you may!

A credit score is a number that is used to predict how likely you are to pay back a loan on time. Companies use credit scores to make lending decisions. Credit scores are also used to help decide the interest rate and credit limit you receive on a loan or credit card. Do you have access to your personal credit scores? Are you seeing FICO scores or Vantage Scores? Or worst, a third-party consumer credit scoring model. Do you even know? If you don’t know make sure you find out. You need to know what you are looking at. Most of us have heard of a FICO score. FICO stands for Fair, Isaac, and Company. A FICO® score is a particular brand of credit score. FICO was a pioneer in developing a method for calculating credit scores based on information collected by credit reporting agencies. The FICO score is used by 90% of all lenders. Another scoring model gaining in popularity is VantageScore. Credit bureaus Experian, TransUnion and Equifax created the algorithm to produce VantageScore in 2006 to compete against the better-known FICO score. VantageScore has begun to get lenders’ attention, and it is widely offered to consumers for free. Currently, less than 10% of lenders use VantageScore. No matter what scoring model you are using, be sure to know what you are looking at and be sure to monitor your credit score and credit file. Learn how that particular model comes up with a score. This way, you’ll be able to work on improving the “heavily weighted” areas to improve your scores. Most all credit scoring models weigh making payments on-time and consistently the most heavily weighted component. What is the next most heavily weighted component in your scoring model.

To make it easier for the credit card issuer to raise your current credit limits, use this technique. Start using your targeted credit card (or cards) and run it up near the limit (75%). Buy all your life necessities and monthly obligations on your credit card when possible. All the stuff you were going to pay with cash, debit card, or check anyway. Pay the card off at the end of the month. Better yet, make two payments if you can each month 2-weeks apart. This helps with reporting lower usage when calculating your credit score. Do this for 2-3 months before asking for a credit line increase. This also is a great way to earn additional points or cash-back on things you were going to pay by cash, debit card, or check anyway. Make it easy for the credit card issuer to say YES to your request for a credit line increase

When helping clients form businesses, often I get asked: "Will my LLC really protect me from lawsuits?" Here's the truth nobody talks about. An LLC creates a legal wall between YOU and your business. But here's what most people get wrong: • They think it's bulletproof armor (it's not) • They assume it protects personal assets automatically • They believe registration alone is enough The reality? LLCs provide LIMITED Liability Protection. Key word = LIMITED. Here's what it actually does: ✅ Shields personal assets from business debts ✅ Protects you from partner's mistakes ✅ Separates business lawsuits from personal lawsuits But here's what it WON'T protect: ❌ Personal guarantees you signed ❌ Your own negligent actions ❌ Mixing personal/business finances The biggest mistake I see? People form an LLC then treat it like their personal piggy bank. They don’t keep good records of money flowing in and out of the LLC account. You MUST: • Keep separate bank accounts • Maintain proper records • Follow formalities • Never co-mingle funds Remember: An LLC isn't a magic lawsuit shield. It's a business structure that requires discipline. The protection is in the PROCESS, not just the paperwork.