Who This Is For
You Are A Sole Proprietor, And Most Of This Industry Will Not Take You.
A sole proprietorship is the most common way to run a small business in the United States and one of the least served by business credit products. The entity requirement is not arbitrary — a lender wants a legal entity separate from the person — but it leaves a very large number of real businesses with nowhere to go.
We report on an EIN. If your sole proprietorship has one, we can open an account in the business's name and report it.
The rule that excludes you elsewhere
Credit Strong's business product requires an LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp or General Partnership. A sole proprietorship does not qualify.
Stated from their published eligibility criteria. It is a reasonable rule for a lending product; we are not one, which is why we do not carry it.
What To Know Before You Start
- You need an EIN. A sole proprietor can get one free from the IRS in a few minutes; you do not need to incorporate first.
- Be clear-eyed about what this does and does not separate. A sole proprietorship is not legally distinct from you, so a lender may still look at your personal credit and may still want a personal guarantee. A business tradeline helps build a business file; it does not create a liability shield that the entity structure itself does not provide.
- If your longer-term plan is an LLC, forming one first is usually the better order — the file you build should belong to the entity you intend to keep.
- We make no promise about your score, here or anywhere.
Where to start
From $49 a month. No setup fee, no minimum term, no credit check, and we never hold your money.