Ronald Reagan once said, “Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.” A truth that still holds true. In the current economic climate, however, small-business owners have found themselves under increased pressure to maintain profitability and grow their business.
Since its founding in 1953, the U.S. Small Business Administration has delivered millions of loans, loan guarantees, contracts, counseling sessions and other forms of assistance to small businesses.
Today, we announced that we joined forces with the SBA to help small businesses in some of their key programs. The collaboration provides all Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) firms and small businesses considered to be socially and economically disadvantaged under the SBAs 8(a) business development program with full access to Experian’s BusinessIQ Express.
BusinessIQ Express is an online tool that improves cash flow by providing small businesses with the resources they need to better manage their business relationships quickly and easily. It does this in three key ways:
- Evaluate — BusinessIQ Express users can evaluate prospects, customers, suppliers and partners on their likelihood to pay or deliver on time.
- Monitor — Users can easily monitor their business relationships with alerts and notifications of key changes, allowing them to take appropriate account actions and maintain beneficial relationships.
- Collect — The tool offers small-business users unique options that may have been never before easily accessible to them to help collect on outstanding debts and avoid future losses.
Providing these firms with access to BusinessIQ Express helps alleviate some of the economic pressures they could be facing by providing comprehensive, actionable information so they can make more strategic business decisions.