Business Savy

I had a real eye opener this week. I received a letter from Dun and Bradstreet. It seemed urgent and mentioned my business credit rating. Well like most people when you mention credit rating the short hairs on the back of your neck stand up, but throw your business into the mix that's a 3 alarm fire. So immediately I call the number on the letter and talk to a nice guy in Pennsylvania. And explain my concern and he pulls up my account and looks around and says that I have nothing to worry about. Well that is a load off my mind I can take a deep breath and get on with my day.
Well the next day I get a message on the answerinng machine that asks me to call at my earliest convienice that there are concerns about my account and credit rating. So here a go again in a bit of a snit I call another person from D and B. She is in Arizona. Well that should have been a HUGE red flag right off the bat, that the D and B people I talked to were not in the same place let alone the same state, but I talk to this women who I might add is very good at what she does. I wonder how she sleeps at night. She talked me into updating my Profile to the tune of $449.00. This is called the Score Builder package, well after I swallowed my gum, I was able to speak again, I agreed. She was very convincing. She also added that this process should be done at least every 2 years so that my Profile would be up to date and my vendors could check on my credit score. What a load! You do not need a D and Bradstreet to let vendors check your credit. There are 3 major credit score companies. Experian to name one. Then there is Equifax and the third escapes me. But these companys keep up with credit scores of individuals and businesses. And their service is under $100 if that much when you want to get your score and cost nothing if you don't want to know you score.
So my friend do not be fooled D and B is not a necessity for most. It may be the cost of doing business for some but do your home work before you sign up for anything that you may not need.
I guess use your business savy when it comes to goods and services. If your gut tells you it doesn't seem right don' jump into anything until you have run it past your busiess partner, accountant and even your lawyer.