Business Credit Scores Explained: What Lenders Actually Look For

Understanding Your Business Credit Profile

Your personal credit score is a single number. Business credit is far more complex — and that's where most entrepreneurs get tripped up.

There are three major business credit bureaus, each with their own scoring model:

Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) PAYDEX Score

The PAYDEX ranges from 0–100. A score of 80+ signals you pay on time or early. Lenders consider 80 the baseline for favorable terms.

How to build it:

• •Register for a free D-U-N-S number
• •Open tradelines that report to D&B (not all vendors do)
• •Pay every invoice early — even 1 day early boosts your score
• •Maintain at least 3 active reporting tradelines

Experian Intelliscore Plus

This score ranges from 1–100. It considers payment history, credit utilization, company size, and industry risk. A score of 76+ is considered low risk.

Key factors:

• •Payment history weight: 30%
• •Credit utilization: 25%
• •Company age and size: 20%
• •Industry risk classification: 15%
• •Public records (liens, judgments): 10%

Equifax Business Credit Report

Equifax provides a Payment Index (0–100), Credit Risk Score (101–992), and Business Failure Score (1,000–1,880).

The Tradeline Strategy: Tier 1 → Tier 4

Building business credit follows a specific sequence. Skip a tier and you'll hit walls:

Tier 1: Starter Vendors — Net 30 accounts that don't require a personal credit check. Examples: Uline, Quill, Grainger.

Tier 2: Revolving Store Credit — After 3-6 months of Tier 1 history. Targets: Office Depot, Staples, Amazon Business.

Tier 3: Fleet & Fuel Cards — With 6+ months of reporting history. Options: Shell, WEX, Fuelman.

Tier 4: Business Credit Cards & Lines of Credit — The end goal. Requires 8+ months of solid credit history across tiers 1-3.

Common Mistakes That Kill Your Business Credit

• •Mixing personal and business expenses — Open a dedicated business bank account immediately
• •Not monitoring all three bureaus — A clean D&B report means nothing if Experian shows late payments
• •Applying for too much credit too fast — Each hard inquiry can lower your score
• •Ignoring your business entity structure — Sole proprietors have weaker credit profiles than LLCs/Corps
• •Not disputing errors — Bureau errors are surprisingly common. Review reports quarterly.

Your Next Steps

The timeline for building fundable business credit depends entirely on your effort and consistency. Some clients see significant progress within a few months of dedicated work. Take our free Fundability Quiz to see exactly where you stand today.