Are Credit Building Programs Worth It?

Do You Really Need A Credit Building Program?

From the experience I'm having, I don't think so. Most of the stuff that my credit coach is telling me to do, I either have done it or was already going to do it. The program consists of 6 steps that are supposed to take a month each to complete. I went from step 1 - 4 in 1 week. Now I'm at a point where I have to sign up with other companies to move forward. Even though I don't feel all that jazzed about it, I still tried to sign up with them to keep the ball rolling, because I was on a roll. Only one of the companies actually responded to my application in 2 weeks. When I told my credit coach about it, he didn't know what to tell me. Talk about losing confidence. I was about ready to quit the program right then. I'm getting net 30 accounts on my own that aren't costing me anything while these guys are trying to get me to spend tons of money for them. If things don't get ant better within the next week I'm stopping this program and creating my own.

Alot of the information you need to establish business credit is in books and there is some online. I've gained knowledge on many issues from reading books about it. Credit building is no different.

I've been going hard at this program and I finally came to a road block. Man I'm telling you, if I have to spend one more dime on another program..... I don't know what I'ma do. I'm tapped out for a little while. Gotta get my funds back up. When I first started the program everything seemed to be a breeze, because I kind of had mostly everything in place, like the business entity, EIN, business phone fax and bank account. But then all of a sudden, you have to sign up with this program and then that program so they can report your payments to the business credit agencies. Honestly, had I known this before hand I doubt I would have signed up for this, or atleast I would have put a few more dollars to the side for the extra programs. For someone else, the feeling might be different. They do have good programs to sign up with only if you actually need the services.
Not to mention that when I tried to sign up with a couple they didn't even respond. I did however decide to sign up with a web design company. They wanted $500 up front and the other $496 is due within 30 days and then $250 annually for hosting.

Final words: I'm starting to feel like I could be doing this without having invested in the program, but I am committed to seeing it through. My business coach is a good guy but it feels like he is just there to listen to what I have to say. Whenever I ask him for his advice he simply tells me to follow the program. Duh! I have actually started trying different approaches other than the ones in the program that seem to be working. Who knows, maybe I'll write an ebook about building business credit and sell it for $100.

Confidence is Restored

I just logged into my bank account and only the $500 was taken. Turns out they were having an issue while trying to charge my card, so all the attempts showed as pending debits.

Pheeew! Wiping the sweat from my brow.

Program Steps

There are 6 steps all together and each of the 6 steps has about 7 steps within them. I will just summarize steps 1 - 4.

Steps 1 and 2 are like foundation steps. You are told to create a business entity as a corporation or LLC. You have to get a business address other than your home address,(no PO boxes) a dedicated phone line, 411 listing, fax, 800 number, business web address, business bank account and EIN(employer identification number) and a business plan. It sounds like a lot, but this is what makes your business a BUSINESS.

Steps 3 and 4 are all about introducing you to the 3 business credit companies, what they mean to you and how to get vendors reporting to them. I must say here that, at this point I do like this program alot for the simple fact that you can basically do all this stuff yourself, because they have it all mapped out. Really. There is a list of vendors that will extend you net terms and report your payments to the business credit agencies. The business credit agencies are Experian, Equifax and Dun and Bradstreet incase you were wondering. The vendors are a bit pricey, and in my case they don't really offer a service I'm in need of, but I chose a few to deal with to get my credit rolling.

I only made it to step 4 so far, which isn't bad, considering I only spoke to my coach once. Before I can move forward, I have to get atleast 5 trade lines and 2 reporting my payments to the angencies. This is another thing I like about the program. They only let you move forward after completing the required steps. It makes sure that you don't screw yourself up trying to move too fast. Remember this is just a summary, there is alot more to it than I mentioned above. I just happened to already have alot of the requirements in place prior to starting the program.

Upsells Abound

For me, after the first step in the program, everything else is a breeze. I must say that there are many upsells in this program. In every step there is a recommendation for you to sign up with another company for their service. When looking at what the other companies have to offer in relevance to what I am trying to establish, I can see why it would be a good investment, but that's not exactly what I tought I would have to do when I signed up. I thought that me buying into the credit building program was the only investment that I would have to make. In order to really benefit from this program you have to have atleast an extra $3000 to spend on signing up with these other companies. The good thing about it is that they do give you net terms and report to Dun and Bradstreet, which is what is needed to establish and build credit.

Wait A Minute. What's This!?

Oh no. I hope this is a mistake! I checked my business bank account this morning to find that the company has charged my card four times for the $500 dollars. Yeah, FOUR times instead of once. hopefully this is an error that can be fixed immediately!

First Contact

As expected, I recieved the first phone call from my personal credit building coach yesterday evening. We briefly discussed what the program is and what he will be doing for me. Turns out that the program is a do it yourself kinda thing, but you have a coach to answer questions and help you along if and when you get stuck. I also recieved a free ebook worth $500 about building personal credit,which they give to all new clients, my username and password for the members only website, "the back office", that lists all the steps and sub-steps for you to take. In about five minutes I made it a third of the way through step 1, which has 20 sub-steps. There are 6 steps. From what I saw so far of the back office, it pretty much lays everything out for you. It's all placed in specific order for you to follow. I have noticed that in every step they give you the option to sign up with other companies for services that can help you with that particular step, who they are obviously affiliated with.

I tried to take a tour of the entire site, but it turns out that you can only move along if you have completed the step. However, I took a look at some e books they give you. There were three all together. One of them is about starting a business, another about writing funding proprosals and another about getting investors. I thought that was cool. There's definitely alot of info to keep you busy, but I'm not overwhelmed one bit. I think I just might get my monies worth out of this program but only time will tell. I'll keep you posted.

Continued Reading
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Own Business, 5th Edition
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