General Business and Finance Blog

ght (c) 2009 Marco Carbajo

There has been a growing demand in shelf corporations from many of the investors,small business owners and entrepreneurs that I have the opportunity to speak with on an ongoing basis who are looking for coaching on how to start business credit using a shelf corporation.

By sharing some insight with you on shelf corporations and what are the key business credit advantages will better prepare you in making a more educated decision if this is an option you’re thinking about.

Now, let’s first cover the basics.

What is a shelf corporation?

A “Shelf Corporation, also known as an “Aged Corporation” (or “Aged Company” when referring to an LLC, for example) is a corporation that is already formed, but not in use, and ready for “purchase” by a new owner. There are many reasons that people purchase shelf corporations, and there are certain things to look out for when considering one of these “ready-made” corporations.

Now one of the questions I’m sure you’re thinking is “Why should I buy a Shelf Corporation?”

Shelf corporations allow you to engage into business, credit, or real estate agreements as an established company without having to go through the long waiting period of establishing a brand new corporation.

Most potential creditors or business resources are less likely to extend credit or lend to new or up-start corporations. By approaching them as an established corporation or company, the more likely your business has the opportunity to have access to credit lines, banking relationships, leases, and so on.

For example, during the initial stages of building business credit there are some vendors that will only extend credit to companies that are at least two years in business. In some cases they also require a personal guarantee if the business is less than a year old. By purchasing a shelf corporation that’s three or even ten years old can drastically increase the number of credit opportunities available to you.

Now don’t worry if your existing corporation is less than two years old because you’ll still be able to obtain business credit, but the amount of banks that you can apply at will be limited. If you’re planning on starting a corporation or setting up another corporation then this may be an option to entertain.

Shelf corporations can also offer a large increase in borrowing power as well as enhanced credibility for your business when talking to customers and lenders.

Remember the age of the owners does not necessarily correspond with the age of the company.

When the H.J. Heinz Company advertises that it was established in 1869, it doesn’t mean that all of the shareholders are well over 100 years old. It simply means that the company was filed in that year. You can take advantage of similar credibility benefits when advertising to customers.

The age of your company can give greater credibility to customers and lenders than a business that was recently established. So, purchasing companies with established credit and existing credit lines can give the business a big financial boost.

Here are the Top 5 Advantages of a Shelf Corporation

1. Saving time and expense of forming a brand new corporation

2. Immediate access to contract and government contract bidding. Most states require that your company be in business for a specified minimum length of time.

3. Instant credibility and an appearance of corporate history.

4. More attractive to potential investors and investment capital.

5. Faster and easier access to banking relationships and lines of credit.

As far as purchasing a shelf corporation for the purpose of obtaining a bank loan or line of credit, given the current economic conditions, banks are requiring seeing much more than simply the age of your company. There are bank ratings, credit history, NSF history, and other factors to consider especially if you request more than a $50k line of credit. So if your interest is in applying for bank financing keep in mind shelf corporations have no business history, tax returns, financials and existing revenue.

Another word of caution that you need to consider is there are many businesses that sell shelf corporations that have done business in the past, DO NOT buy these! If a shelf corporation has done business in the past and you purchase it you also assume all past liabilities of that company. So if the company has had any lawsuits brought against the corporation from the past you are now liable because you now own the corporation.

It’s critically important that the shelf corporation you are considering not have any inherent or lingering liabilities. For the most part, this can be assured by looking into the history of the corporation and ensuring that the extent of its business activities was limited or nonexistent except for the application of an Employer Identification Number and maybe the formation of a bank account.

Shelf corporations can be a great option to start business credit if the proper due diligence is taken and there are many aged shelf Nevada corporations, Delaware corporations, Wyoming corporations, offshore corporations and Canadian Corporations that are available but be sure you do your homework.

Joshua Mintz asked:

The best Marketing Ideas For Selling Online usually come with years and years of actual marketing. I know that isnt what new marketers want to hear. But unfortunately, the older wiser marketers dont easily give up this information.And sometimes they just dont see whats so hard about coming up with ideas, thus they dont even think about sharing there own.

Get This List Of the Top 100 Online Markets

This article is a quick review of a product that will eliminate the question of “Who do I sell to?’ or “What products should I sell online?” and all related questions.

The product is a major break through in the IM world. Its written and created by the Top Internet marketer I have ever heard about. He finally came through and followed His and every other big name marketers advice.

Find your markets biggest question, and answer it.

Like I said earlier, these long time marketers never seem to answer this one question. Everytime I hear a new marketer ask the qiestion, “Whats are some marketing ideas for selling online?” -I always know right away that the question will not be answered in a satisfactory type way.Its always, ‘Well, there are quite a few ways you can do this..” or “Marketing isnt an exact science..” and all that stuff.

It drives me nuts, well it used to. Now I just face the fact that I will have to do a bunch of testing everytime I Think I have a good market or product picked out.

But now we dont have to. Now there is a list that will show the exact markets that are already proven to sell. Now, instead of spending hours and days searching through 100′s and 1,000′s of website and product keyword reviews, I can cut right through the bigger part of the mess known as ‘Market Research”.

So whats on this ‘Marketeting Ideas For Selling Online’ list? Good question.

To be completely honest, whats on the list is exactly what you would expect to be on the list.Obviously, the first few markets are the obvious ones. Like dog training and Internet Marketing products. And you will also see markets like real estate and credit cards.(Trust me, real estate will always be a huge market, no matter if its online or off)

But once you start getting towards the middle of this report, there are alot of markets that we just never expect to see. I seen many that I just didnt think about. But once I looked at some keyword research and some competition reports, I could definitely see that these were in fact , some of the best markets. What makes many of them great is the fact that not many of the average marketers know about them.

You know what that means?

It means that there is virtually no competition.That means that it will take very little effort to exploit these markets.I dont know about the majority of makrters out there, but I try to use SEO anytime i can.Its easier than you think, and when you find Marketing ideas for selling online, that are like the ones I found in the report, its almost a gurantee that you can get ranked very quickly. I have done it without spending a dollar. (Except for the money i spent to learn this stuff in the past)

Now when you get to the end of the report, you will see that many of the best, most profitable online markets, are real products. They are the kinds of things that people need. These are my favorites because people NEED them. If you have ever tried to sell household items and the like, than you know how easy it is to sell something to someone that already knows exactly what it is.

They are already sold.

And dont worry. The list of Marketing ideas for selling onlineisnt the only thing that you get. There is a complete list of information that explains exactly what these markets are looking for. And there is a module that helps us set up the quickest online business models for making fast profits, with minimal work. You do have to set a couple of things up first. But I have never seen a product worth having that didnt depend on my ability to follow through with some basic set up.

If you think that having this kind of information would benefit you and your online business, just follow the link below. It should be a very exciting thing to know that in a matter of minutes you will have a complete list of great marketing ideas for selling online. THE List the answers the Million Dollar question -”What kind of products should I sell online?”

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