What credit score do I need to get business funding?

There is no single credit score that opens business funding across the market. Each funder sets its own bar and weighs credit alongside your deposits, time trading and existing debt. Our funding partner's programs look for a personal credit score of 600 or above. Other funders, and other products, draw the line in different places.

Which score matters

For most small businesses, the funder looks at the owner's personal credit, because the owner is often asked to sign a personal guarantee. FICO Scores run from 300 to 850. Business credit files exist too, and some lenders check them as well.

How the score is used

A credit score rarely decides an application on its own. It moves three things:

• Whether a product is open to you. Some products and programs have a floor.
• The price. A weaker score usually means a higher rate or factor, or a shorter term.
• What else is asked of you. More security, a larger personal guarantee, or more documents.

Deposits can offset a middling score for short-term products that are repaid from sales. They do much less for a bank loan, which leans on history.

What the SBA says

SBA rules don't publish one minimum score for 7(a) loans. The business must "be creditworthy and demonstrate a reasonable ability to repay the loan". The lender making the loan applies its own credit policy on top. So if one SBA lender says no on credit, another's policy may differ.

Where Ask Sterling's partner draws the line

Our funding partner's main programs suit businesses with:

• a personal credit score of 600+
• 12+ months trading
• about $80K+ a month in deposits
• two or fewer advances or loans running
• an owner holding 51%+
• a need of $50K or more

Smaller businesses (about $15K+ a month, 4+ months trading) can still ask, as there's a route for them. None of this is a promise of funding; a funder decides after reviewing the file.

Sterling's take: a 600 with clean, growing deposits can read better than a 700 with a shrinking account. The score opens the door; the bank statements do the talking.

How to improve your position before you apply

1. Check your reports first. Checking your own report is a soft inquiry and won't affect your scores.
2. Dispute errors with the credit bureau before a funder sees them.
3. Avoid a run of applications. Each hard inquiry can lower your score a little.
4. Explain the past. A late-payment patch from a specific event is easier to accept with a one-line explanation.

What to do next

If you're near 600, read will asking hurt my credit score before you apply anywhere. If a bank has already declined you, why did my bank say no explains how to get the reasons, which tells you exactly what to fix.