Unlock Business Credit for Assisted Living Success: How-To Guide
Jan 04, 2025
Starting an assisted living business is an exciting journey, but managing finances can be tricky. A business credit card can be a game-changer. From handling startup costs like renovations and staffing to covering daily expenses like groceries and supplies, it’s a tool that simplifies spending and helps your business grow.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to get a business credit card and use it effectively. With benefits like cashback, travel rewards, and a chance to build your business credit score, this financial tool can pave the way to success for your assisted living facility.
Check out the video, too:
Step 1: Research Your Options
Start by exploring different business credit cards to find one that fits your needs. Business credit cards are like personal ones but tailored for companies. Major providers like American Express, Chase, and Capital One offer great options.
Here’s what to look for:
- Cashback Rewards: Get money back on everyday purchases like groceries.
- Low or Zero Interest Rates: Ideal if you’ll carry a balance occasionally.
- Travel Perks: Useful if you attend industry conferences or visit other facilities.
Pro Tip: Don’t forget to check with local banks or credit unions—they often have competitive rates and personalized service.
Step 2: Check Your Personal Credit
If your assisted living business is new, lenders will likely look at your personal credit score to determine if you qualify for a business credit card.
Here’s how to prepare:
- Check Your Score: Scores above 650 increase your chances of approval.
- Improve Your Credit: If your score needs work, focus on paying off debts and avoiding late payments.
- Consider a Partner: If you have a business partner with strong credit, you might apply under their name.
If your credit score is low, you can also ask your bank about secured business cards or cards with lower limits to start building your business credit history.
Step 3: Gather Your Documents
To apply for a business credit card, you’ll need some paperwork. Most card issuers ask for:
- Business Tax ID Number (EIN): Like a Social Security number for your business.
- Personal Social Security Number: For credit checks.
- Business Operating Agreement: If you have a partner, this outlines your roles.
- Financial Statements: Basic reports like profit and loss summaries can be helpful.
Pro Tip: If you have employees, list anyone authorized to use the card, like a facility administrator or purchasing manager.
Step 4: Apply Online
Most business credit card applications are completed online and take just a few minutes. Here’s what to do:
- Choose Your Card: Select a card based on the rewards and benefits that suit your business.
- Fill Out the Application: Provide accurate business and personal details.
- Submit the Application: Be ready for a credit check, which may temporarily affect your credit score.
Once approved, you’ll typically receive your card in 5–10 business days.
Step 5: Activate and Start Using Your Card
When your card arrives, activate it right away. Now you’re ready to use it for everyday expenses like:
- Groceries and Supplies: Stock your facility with food, cleaning products, and other essentials.
- Vendor Payments: Pay for services like landscaping, laundry, or maintenance.
- Equipment Upgrades: Purchase new appliances or medical equipment when needed.
Maximize Your Benefits:
- Use cards with cashback for purchases like food or utilities.
- Track rewards points for travel or larger purchases.
Remember: Always pay your balance on time to avoid interest charges and keep your credit score healthy.
Why a Business Credit Card Matters
A business credit card is more than a convenience—it’s a tool for growth. Here’s why:
- Improves Cash Flow: Smooths out seasonal ups and downs in your budget.
- Earns Rewards: Cashback and points add up to big savings.
- Builds Business Credit: Strong credit unlocks better financing options, like SBA loans.
- Separates Finances: Keeps your personal and business expenses distinct, simplifying bookkeeping.
For example, let’s say you spend $5,000 monthly on groceries and supplies. A credit card offering 2% cashback earns you $1,200 a year—money you can reinvest into your business.
Final Thoughts
Managing finances effectively is key to running a successful assisted living facility. A business credit card can help you handle daily expenses, build credit, and earn rewards that benefit your bottom line.
If you’re ready to take your assisted living business to the next level, I recommend downloading our Business Plan Checklist. It’s a comprehensive tool that will guide you through creating a solid business plan, which is essential for securing financing, finding the right property, and ultimately running a successful assisted living facility.
Need help figuring out where to start? Join the next Roadmap Challenge and build your launch plan with me.
Show full transcript 👇
Transcript
00:00:00
now that we've talked a little bit about should you get a business credit card uh and kind of gone through the process of determining if getting one is right for you let's get into how you get a business credit card i will be covering that in today's video everybody i'm brandon gustafson i own and operate two assisted living facilities and i created this channel to help people like you learn the ins and outs of investing in assisted living welcome to assisted living investing [Music]
00:00:37
hey everybody welcome back to the channel uh in our last video we talked about should you get a business credit card i kind of went to helping you decide is that the right thing for you after you've done that and watched that video and decided that a credit card is is the right thing for you to do in your business um today we're going to talk about how you go about doing that so kind of give you an overview of the process of what it's like to go and get yourself a business credit card
00:01:04
so the first thing you want to do is start researching so there are just like you are just like you'll find when you're looking at a personal credit card there are a lot of options out there and it's really hard to know exactly what one's going to meet your criteria and which one's going to be best for you but just performing a simple internet search you know business cards best small business card something like that is going to just bring up a lot of different options for you
00:01:36
you can choose from some of the bigger names that you'll commonly see with credit card options capital one or american express or chase or some of these other ones they're going to be out there but you can also work with your banking institution to get a card with them so those are some of the options that you could look at i'll reference some videos up here above around what those credit card options are i'm going to really get into that in a future video and i would love to have some feedback on on the types of
00:02:07
options that you might be looking at and what business credit cards have worked really well for you in the past i find as you start looking through and researching these cards that a lot of these cards are going to have different perks associated with them so there's going to be cash back or travel points or low fees or really good introductory rates as far as the interest rate that you have to pay on your credit card and things like that there are a lot of perks out there and you'll want to research those and
00:02:36
take those into consideration as you're looking for the card that's going to fit for you and after you've done all that research the next thing is to pick that card that you want and start their application their application process is going to be online it's going to be a pretty streamlined process just takes you through everything but once you've decided which one you want to go with then go ahead and start that application process with them you'll also in the process of getting
00:03:05
started you're going to want to check your personal credit i've mentioned this in a in a previous video and i'll link that up above but for new businesses it's it's going to require a personal credit for you to get that line of credit open for your business um so if you are looking to get a a credit card for your business and uh you are thinking oh i'll just use the business credit because my crap it's crappy or i don't want to hit my credit when they do that um that
00:03:37
credit poll you know you're gonna have to end up having to do that that was something that was brand new to me i didn't realize that when i was getting the business credit card that is going to be my personal credit ended up being not a big deal for me but it's something to take into consideration so you want to make sure that you are checking your credit make sure that you have good enough credit if you have a low score you might consider holding off on getting a credit card a business credit card
00:04:03
and a low score i think it would be somewhere around like 650 or lower that's a pretty good indication to go by if you have something that's lower than that you might consider using a business partner use their credit rather than your own or work with your local banking institution to see if there's anything you can do to start building your credit or to get a a credit card with even just a low limit that could help you out a little bit with some of those things that credit cards can help you out with which i'll i
00:04:33
talked about in a previous video i'll link that up above now if you're confident that your credit is good and you don't mind the hit that it's going to put on your on your credit when they do a credit pull um to see how much they can give you then um go ahead and just plan on moving forward it's it's just it's going to be just like a normal credit pull when you get a credit card or something like that they're just gonna check your credit that's the kind of hit that it's going
00:04:58
to have on your personal credit when you're looking at that now some of the information you're going to need as you are working through the process of getting that credit card the the application um it's gonna be very similar um to some of the things i've talked about in previous videos um around uh like your the items that you need with the banking institution and also setting up uh direct deposit with medicaid and some of those things that you're going to need there so you're going to have a lot of that stuff
00:05:28
again i'll reference that up above so you can go and watch those videos for a more comprehensive list and kind of my advice on what you should do with that so some of the items that you're going to need and want to have handy with you are your business ein your business tax id number your personal social security number they're going to need you to pull your personal credit and they need your social security number in order to do that they're also probably going to want the social security number for any business
00:05:59
partners that have more than 20 ownership in your business so if you've partnered with somebody they're probably gonna want that individual social security number as well in in getting things set up um it's possible they will want a business operating agreement um that you've used when that you have from setting up your entity um and i'll link a video up above talking about how i go about setting up my entities and things like that it's possible they'll want recent business financials uh profit and loss
00:06:29
statement and those types of things that you can get if you pull them out of your you know quickbooks or whatever system you're using to do your finances for your business and then they'll also want a list of the employees that will need cards so for us that was our facility administrator we've given her a card and so we just needed her name not even um her social security number or anything like that just a name so that they can put it on there now once you've done the application
00:06:58
with um the credit card company you've given them all the information you go ahead and put that in there uh you fill out that application uh you hit submit and then you you just wait a couple of minutes they they usually will get you results within a few minutes it doesn't take you very long sometimes it's even just a few seconds they go pretty quick they this is what they do as a company they have it down uh pretty well so you're not submitting the application and waiting three weeks to
00:07:28
get a response you will know pretty quick um what the answer is there and once you're approved you'll need to uh then just wait for those cards to get mailed to you and that can take i would i would plan on it being five to ten business days is typically what i've seen with credit cards um so it will come to you in the mail if you're mailing one out to your administrator you could send it directly to them or it could come to you and then you can give it to them you can kind of decide how
00:07:54
you want to do that and then once you have the card you call and activate it they'll have the instructions on there on how you activate the card get that activated and you're ready to go and you can start racking up those points i'll talk about that in an upcoming video and i'll link that up above once it releases and you can just kind of start using that to really take advantages of take advantage of some of the things that you can do with business credit cards in our next video we're going to get
00:08:23
into how do i build business credit what's the process of doing that like and i'm going to kind of get into that a little bit and explain a little bit more to learn more about investing in assisted living make sure you visit me on assistedlivinginvesting.net would love to see you on the website i have some other content up there free resources you can set up a consulting call with me and we can talk about your situation and how i can help you along and then follow me on my other social media platforms we'd love
00:08:49
to see you over there and remember it doesn't take a lot just a little bit just keep going step by step by step keep making progress if you do it you're consistent you will be successful i promise thanks for watching and have a great day [Music] you
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