How many times have you filled out business credit applications, and had to use your personal credit to get approval? Did you know that businesses have a credit report all of their own?
This week on Intrepid Entrepreneur, Ty Crandall of Credit Suite is sharing the secret to applying for and building your business’ credit, and how to keep your personal credit out of it.
He’s explaining how to get your business ready to apply for credit, and where to go first to build this credit. I’ll give you a hint: it’s not the bank. We’re also digging into the benefits of working on business credit instead of personal credit. As Ty says, “Anybody can bootstrap a business, it just takes longer.”
There’s so much important, practical business information in this episode, so get ready to take notes on this one!
Steps to Building Business Credit
YouTube.com/channel (youtube channel)
In passion driven entrepreneurship, one of the biggest and most rewarding challenges is overcoming negative thinking. This year, there’s been a lot of talk about changes and instability in the bike industry. But for creative entrepreneurs like my guest this week, Andre Shoumatoff of Park City Bike Demos, change can be a huge opportunity!
Andre’s sharing how he and his partners used their knowledge of bikes and the current struggles of the industry to pivot into a new model of selling and renting bikes. We’re also discussing how to notice and respond to optimization points to grow your business, and what to do with customer feedback.
For anyone wondering how to turn what’s not working into a success, this episode is eye-opening. Andre’s got some amazing insights on evaluating the industry, advertising partnerships, and listening to your customers.
What is it that first drew you to the outdoor sports markets? Where did that first spark of passion for entrepreneurship in the outdoor markets come from? For so many of us, the answer is simple: we love outdoor sports, and we had a great idea for how to improve the experience!
What isn’t often discussed is the overlap in the psychology of being an entrepreneur, and that of an endurance athlete. So many of the skills that we learn from athletics and the outdoors are directly relevant to the experience of getting a business started and sustaining it.
To shed even more light on this overlap, I’m taking with Matt Fitzgerald, author of How Bad Do You Want It, on what he’s learned about “endurance psychology”, the psychology of mind over muscle that gets people through tough physical competitions.
In writing this book, Matt did case studies of athletes like Ned Overend, Siri Lindley and John "The Penguin" Bingham. He’s discussing what it is that motivates and sustains them to such high levels. We’re talking about passion, drive, and the “why” that are necessary to win races, and to start a business.
Matt and I are also discussing something that I personally struggle with – the courage to start! Just getting started on a business idea or in a sport can be daunting, to the point that some of us have ideas we’ve never looked into, sports we’ve never explored for fear of failure.
These fears are limiters and obstacles that will come out in any stressful situation, and what has more potential for stress than the pursuit of our goals? Matt’s looked at endurance athletes that have overcome negative mentalities to go on to amazing careers, and he’s sharing what he’s learned.
Endurance psychology is crucial for athletes in outdoor sports, entrepreneurs, or anyone with an achievement goal. I’ve already read Matt’s book three times, and I’m thrilled with the insights he’s bringing to this week’s podcast.
MattFitzgerald.org
VeloPress.com
Dear audience, this is a very special solocast from me, speaking raw and honest to you the night after presenting at Pitchfest. Those of you who have given pitches will know how I’m feeling – a weight lifted off to be finally done, but exhausted from a humbling and excruciating experience.
Since I’ve been sharing with you my process in preparing this pitch deck, I wanted to let you in on how it went and the feedback I received from the judges. I’m digging into what the experience of Pitchfest was like for me as a presenter, how I kept myself in the moment during the event, and how I’m working through processing the critiques from our all-star panel of judges.
After the event, I feel like I’m at a real inflection point with Intrepid Entrepreneur. I am so passionate about supporting the outdoor markets but need to do some serious thinking about my business model. This solocast is a short, unscripted reaction from me after Pitchfest, and I’d love for you to listen to it and then let me know what you want more of from Intrepid. Shoot me an email at kco@intrepidentreprenur.net, I’m so grateful for all of you, dear audience, and would love you hear from you.