5 Surprising Ways Your Business Is Impacted by Poor Credit

1. Bad credit can increase your insurance premiums

Most people know that lenders, credit card companies and other financial institutions determine your interest rates for various financial products based largely on your credit score. Not only that, lenders are stricter with payment terms and timelines when a business has less-than-stellar credit. But many business owners may not realize that other types of institutions, including a variety of insurance providers, determine insurance rates at least partially based on credit score. Depending on the size of your fleet, those rate increases can add up quickly.

2. Bad credit can limit your vendor and supplier universe

Most large vendors and suppliers rely on traditional credit reports to gauge their willingness to work with you. Not surprisingly, there are still plenty of businesses that rely on less formal means to make such important business decisions.

Unfortunately, working outside of the traditional credit and financial system carries additional risk; that’s why the credit rating system was created in the first place. If your credit score is low, it may force you into relationships with riskier or more unreliable vendors and suppliers, many of whom may themselves have unfavorable credit profiles, uncertain futures and potentially higher interest rates.

3. Bad credit can harm personal relationships

When you’re a small business operator, relationships are everything. You know your employees, suppliers and customers by name, and you probably know their families, too. If your bad credit slows delivery times, it can negatively impact their businesses and livelihoods, and thus their families’ wellbeing. Say your employees depend on that annual holiday bonus. If you hit a snag with your business credit and can’t deliver an annual bonus, it can hurt your credibility and your reputation as an employer.

4. Bad credit can impact your operational efficiency

When it comes to delivery fleet management, anything that keeps your fleet off the road can quickly drain your resources. When one of your vehicles is in the shop (or worse, if it’s taken off the road due to safety concerns), it’s more challenging to optimize your routing. That, in turn, can lead to fuel waste, slower delivery times and other inefficiencies.

5. Bad credit hurts your ability to adapt — and grow

Since bad credit affects your payment terms with various suppliers, it can restrict cash flow and, in turn, your ability to adapt to the unexpected. That could include anything from an unexpected fleet maintenance cost, employee turnover or fuel cost increase. With available cash diverted to addressing any of the above issues, it becomes harder to pay your vendors and suppliers. In turn, you may struggle to maintain inventory and, most importantly, to grow.

The benefits of addressing credit problems head-on

Credit should never get swept under the rug; ignoring it only increases its impacts. In the end, any of these unintended consequences of credit issues can multiply when combined. Slower delivery times can lead to a decline in your customer experience, which can lead to shrinking revenue, tightening of margins, or even eventual bankruptcy.

It’s important to check your credit from time to time to stay abreast of changes in your credit score. Where consumer credit agencies are required by law to give free reports, you can get access to your full report from the three major business credit rating agencies — Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax and Experian — for a small fee.

If you struggle, or have struggled, with bad credit, there’s still hope. Credit is a long game, so anyone devoted to improving their credit has access to the tools needed to do so. A fuel card can help a company with a small fleet of vehicles build up credit, improve cashflow and manage expenses. You can also seek out vendors who report payments to business credit bureaus, and make sure to pay those vendors early.

Finally, remember that you’re not alone. Most small businesses and individuals alike have been in the same boat and survived to rebuild their credit, their businesses and their futures.