For Small Business: Wonder What You Can Do with Credit Cards |
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At long last you have
succeeded in turning your dreams into reality by starting a business of your very own. You may be equipped with all the ingredients to succeed like skills, ambition and determination to make your business prosper but the only thing you lack is a corporate credit card. To complicate matters, you are clueless about the type of credit card that would be best for your business.
Extending Cash Flow When it comes to businesses relying on steady cash flow to meet costs of supplies and contractors like landscapers, hair salons and interior designers, the ideal solution is a credit card that helps in purchasing from clients before invoicing customers. To take an example, a landscaper buys materials with a credit card in the beginning of the month from a wholesale nursery. When the statement is generated, he pays it off after payment from the customer. In the process, the money being paid out need not be from the landscaper's cash accounts. Should your business come in this category, your quest should be for a credit card with high limits and benefits for repayment in 30 days. However, if your billing process to customers is in excess of 30 days, you'd be better off with a low interest credit card which won't make a big difference in case you carry a balance for more than a month. Business Travel and Entertaining For businesses where frequent travel and client entertaining are involved, promotional credit cards offering bonus benefits would be best. Take the example of airlines offering frequent flyer cards with benefits both for using their cards and for flying with them. Find out from your consultant as to how you can use these benefits for business and personal usage. You also have the option of using a credit card that has no limit on spending, like an American Express card. Professionals constantly traveling and entertaining clients will find this kind of a card the means to cover all business expenses. But the cards are not without annual fees that need to be paid off at the end of the billing cycle. In case of cash flow not allowing full payment, it may be better to have a card with a high limit that allows you to carry a balance. Periodical Expenses If yours is a business that mainly functions on a cash basis or does not require purchasing inventory regularly, then a credit card for periodic or emergency use is the one that suits you best. Find a business credit card offering a reasonable credit limit on a low annual percentage rate (APR). Doing this will make it possible to get extra money whenever it is required for your business that can be paid back over a period of time. Consult your financial advisor or accountant to discuss the ways your business should avail of credit needs. This may well prove the most suitable option for corporate credit to help in making an even bigger success of your business. |
