When my husband started his own trucking business more than 10 years ago, there was a lot more to it than we ever expected. We got lots of advice, some of it good and some of it not so good. One that we heard over and over again though that we did follow was to keep our business and personal credit separate. After hearing some of the problems that other self employed people we know have had though I am very glad we did.

My husband is self employed and that is a piece of early advice we got from many directions. We chose to follow it even though I will admit I didn't want to at first. I figured we could just put all the earnings in one account and pay the bills from it as we had always done. I didn't want to have to juggle another checking and savings account as I have my hands full as it is!

The law doesn't make small business owners separate the two entities so you don't have to. You will also find that lenders don't encourage you to do it. From their point of view there is less of a risk if your small business credit is attached to your personal credit. Should you not be able to repay the funds they can come after everything you have from either direction.

Hold out for a quality lender to come along though that does understand the value that the separation of the accounts holds for the small business owner. Sure, you will end up paying a higher rate of interest. You will also get a lower credit limit to start out with. Yet as you show you are able to repay what you use then that lender will have more faith in you. In turn, they will end up offering you a much better deal than before.

It can be very exciting to finally make your dream of having your own business a reality. Yet you need to understand that even with the very best of intentions it can fail. There are too many variables in the world that you can't control. By being responsible though with your personal credit and protecting it you can move forward with your plans. You will still have some risks but you will feel better knowing everything you have isn't on the line.

Financial difficulties are the major reason that so many small businesses fail. When you have the finances for yours separate from your personal finances you can see the big picture clearly. You won't have a false sense of security that things are going to be fine. This can help you to curb spending on business items that aren't a necessity at this time. Hold off until you have the profits to buy them.

It won't always be easy to keep your credit for the small business and your personal matters separate. It can be easy to cave in to the pressure of lenders, especially when you are attempting to first get some business credit extended to you. Yet there is plenty of wonderful aspects of the scenario to continue holding out for.

Hopefully your small business is going to do very well for you. Who knows, it could turn into a very large business for you some time down the road! While every type of small business is different there are enough key elements that are the same. Among them is that it is necessary to keep your small business credit and personal credit matters separate from each other all the time.