Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / Managing your Credit in the Pandemic with James Hunt

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Managing your Credit in the Pandemic with James Hunt · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

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  3, 2, 1, 0, ignition, liftoff,
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  Ending small business failure.
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  Welcome to the Small Biz Chat podcast with a number 1 small business expert Melinda Emerson.
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  Bolinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
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  you need to succeed and live the life you've dream of.
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  Now here's the small Biz lady herself.
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  Melinda Emerson.
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  Hi, everybody.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson, the small Biz lady.
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  And while them to small biz chat live.
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  Now small biz chat live is a peer to peer interview show that gives small business owners
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  a way to get and share invaluable business advice.
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  The mission of small business chat is to end small business failure.
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  And we've been doing this thing 11 years, and we're not gonna stop anytime soon.
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  We all know right now we are living in perilous times, and we need motivation, inspiration, and
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  good ideas.
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  And that is what we have for you tonight.
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  You know, our goal at small business chat is to give you information.
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  Sage advice that's gonna take your business to the next level.
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  I am so excited to have my next guest on because He is really doing something that's
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  very critical right now.
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  We're in the pandemic.
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  It's COVID 19.
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  It's still going on.
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  Many, many, many small businesses have been affected.
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  People are unemployed and, you know, calling your creditors, trying to get an extension.
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  Some are giving it.
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  Some are not.
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  And if you wanna know, how you can manage your credit, what should you be saying to the credit
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  reporting agencies so that this time doesn't, you know, scar your credit for life.
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  So I thought it was really important to bring my guest James Hunt on because he is a
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  multimillionaire entrepreneur.
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  He is known as the celebrity credit guru.
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  He's the go to person for credit repair.
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  And he helps many in the nation's top a list entertainers athletes and thousands of people
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  every day gain the chance to achieve good credit and excellent credit.
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  And for more information, his website is celebritycreditguru.com.
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  James, welcome to Small Beach chat live.
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  Thank you for having me.
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  Thank you.
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  I'm really excited to hear your story.
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  So tell me, How did you get into the credit repair business?
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  Wow.
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  So I had my inner circle of friends and family members who had issues, and I've always been,
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  like, aggressive with writing letters.
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  And I could actually, whatever I was confronting, I always was really good at making
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  arguments and and getting people to see things my way.
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  And credit repair and credit became, like, just like the go to, and everyone would come to me
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  and say, this is this is my issue and, I would work with them to solve whatever their credit
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  issues were.
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  Well, now, why is credit such an important aspect of a person's overall financial health?
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  I mean, is it really like your personal credit score is as a value as your Social Security
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  number?
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  Right.
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  I mean, like, why is it so important and and what kind of emphasis do people who will extend
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  your credit put on it?
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  Wow.
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  So it is extremely important because it will open every kind of financial door that you need
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  to get into.
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  And I think that the the majority of people or some people don't realize how important your
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  credit score is until they have doors slammed in their faces, whether they're trying to get
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  into a home or whether they're trying to rent an apartment, whether they're trying to buy a
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  new car, store the business, And all of a sudden, it becomes extremely valuable to them
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  to understand that my score has to be this, and my score is not quite here where I needed to be
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  and that I knew I had some issues going on, but I have not addressed those issues And so all of
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  a sudden, it becomes an emergency, and most of the people who come to me come to me in the
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  state of emergency.
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  Okay.
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  So tell me, What are some of the common myths or misconceptions people have about credit?
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  Well, some of the misconceptions is is that it becomes my score is what it is that didn't
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  simply have to live with it that these late payments will affect me forever and all kinds
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  of different, issues that are in the credit report that they don't understand that they can
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  actually be proactive and that if you are proactive with, your credit that you can
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  literally what your issues that you're facing today, you may not have to face them tomorrow
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  if you are proactive.
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  Alright.
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  So tell us what constitutes poor credit Good credit, excellent credit in in your book.
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  Well, it's not necessarily my book.
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  So it is according to the FICO credit score.
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  So the FICO credit score calculates that your score is bad credit if you have a as low as 300
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  to a 629 credit score, FICO credit score.
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  And then you have a 632 or 689, then you're in the fair credit or credit category.
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  And then if you're at a 692 or 719, then you're in a good credit category, which means that you
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  can get certain things.
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  And then, obviously, if you're in the 722 and 850, then it opens up every door and where you
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  have excellent credit and it's possibly that nothing is impossible to you to get as long as
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  you're in that excellent credit category.
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  Alright.
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  So with forty people unemployed, what are the best suggestions you have for people whose
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  credit have been impacted by what's going on?
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  You know, loss of a job or They run a small business and all of a sudden, they, you know,
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  can't be open for two and a half months.
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  What do you think that these people should be doing right now to protect their credit?
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  To protect that credit is that you just simply don't sit there and just let it happen to you.
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  So you have to pick up that phone and call those creditors and let those creditors know
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  this is what I'm facing.
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  This is what I'm facing with my car loan.
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  This is what my employment status is.
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  I have not received my check or my stimulus check yet, and I'm still waiting on this.
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  Can you give me this amount of grace period?
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  What is it that you're doing to impact those who are being impacted by this?
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  And you would be surprised that the majority of creditors will work with you and then we'll
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  extend whatever it is that you're going through and will delay any late payments and give you
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  this grace period in which to actually make those payments and all push the late payments,
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  all push the payments back 3 or 4 months.
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  Well, you know, it's interesting.
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  I have heard that some creditors are doing that.
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  I've also heard that creditors like American Express did it for 30 days and said that's it.
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  They want their money.
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  So I mean, what do you do when a creditor surprises you with other people who've been
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  doing 3, 6 months, and they're doing 30 days and kinda didn't tell you they were only doing
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  30 days.
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  How do you manage that?
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  So, ultimately, the creditor is gonna set his own rules on what they will and will not allow.
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  So you just simply have to work with them.
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  I have clients that have had issues with American Express, and American Express has told
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  them originally what they were only going to do And then when it was actually put on paperwork
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  in the form of a legal dispute, they then made other adjustments So a lot of times, what a
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  creditor will tell you what they will will or will not do, you really can't pay that much
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  attention to it because they have a certain things that they have to say or can't say but
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  if you actually put it in writing, then you'll get a different kind of response.
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  Ah, okay.
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  So the key is to put it in writing.
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  That's what you're
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  saying.
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  Absolutely.
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  Alright.
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  So let's talk about switch gears a little bit.
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  Let's talk about small businesses because a lot of people didn't realize that they're you have
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  a business credit score alongside your personal credit score.
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  Can you talk a little bit about how one goes about building their business credit?
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  Yes.
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  So it is called the pay debt score.
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  And so as what your FICO credit score is to your personal credit the payback score is to
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  your business credit, and it will determine whether you're able to establish the business
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  credit that you need to establish.
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  Now if you don't already have a pay that score established or if you are a new company and you
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  have not already established credit yet, then most creditors will do what's called a personal
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  guarantor, and they will allot look in your personal credit of the owner of the company and
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  make decisions based upon your FICO credit score and use you as a personal guarantor for
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  your business.
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  And then go over that and then establish you the credit.
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  And then eventually it's it's basically giving you the training wheels for your business
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  credit and then eventually you want to get to the point where you your business credit can
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  stand on its own, and then you build that pay that score up to at least about an 80 or above
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  so that you can then separate your business from your personal, and your business will be
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  able to stand on its own pay debt score.
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  Okay.
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  That's really helpful to know because I I wasn't even a 100% sure.
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  I knew I I've been in business 20 years, so I knew I had a FedEx score, but I wasn't sure how
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  to go about building 1 if you're just getting started.
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  So tell me, what is the hunt?
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  I know that you talk about this.
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  What what is the hunt?
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  So I have multiple companies, but the hunt is is is my passion.
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  So I hire a lot of at risk people, and I'm not the conventional employer.
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  And so I'll take people that I may not hire.
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  They go into the more house and hire, some of my staff, but I may take some staff.
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  I hired a busboy recently.
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  And the the bus boy that actually hired, oh, about a year ago, is now my office manager, and
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  he had no skills whatsoever, but I took him and I saw potential in him and I hired him.
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  And so the hunt is is is a book that I'm writing which is the art of teaching young
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  entrepreneurs how to hunt for what it is that they want and in life.
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  And how to go after it and how to be relentlessly in going after it.
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  So that is now my current passion is teaching young entrepreneurs.
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  I said to someone be a couple of days ago that I'm no longer hiring employers.
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  I mean, employees only hiring entrepreneurs.
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  And so I have to be able to see an entrepreneur in them before I actually hire them.
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  And so I'm teaching them to hurt for what they want.
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  So you clearly, you're mentoring, you're grooming people.
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  You're not just, like, giving somebody a job and being like, do this.
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  Oh my god.
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  There is a story behind every person There's a story behind literally everybody that I touch
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  in my life, and nobody in my inner circle has bad credit.
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  Everybody has excellent credit.
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  Nobody has a a regular car.
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  Nobody has a a and I'm I'm a borderline interior decorator.
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  And so every I my hands are in every aspect of their life to make sure that everything is up
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  to Sanders.
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  And so I make sure that they're they're living their best life
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  Well, I mean, are you adopting grown people?
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  Because, I mean, you can I can give it to you?
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  Hey.
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  I can give it to you.
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  I I really appreciate this insight and knowledge, and we come back on small business
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  chat live.
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  I'm gonna talk to James Hunt very seriously about how we can help the 54% of African
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  Americans who do not have a living wage and what we can do to help.
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  Economic equity.
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  This is Melinda Emerson.
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  You are watching smallbiz chat live, and we will be.
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  Are you tired of struggling in your business, not taking a paycheck, dreading dealing with
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  your business in the morning?
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  Are you regretting even starting your business in the first place?
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  Well, I know you're tired, and I also remember what that kind of tire is like.
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  But the good news is It's time to stop feeling that way.
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  Stop.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson's small business lady, and my new football fixture business is a 90 day
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  turnaround plan to get back your life and reduce chaos in your business.
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  I've been in business nearly 20 years and let me teach you how to build a business that work
• 12:08
  for you.
• 12:09
  Grab a copy to death.
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  Hi, everybody.
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  Welcome back to Small Busch Chat Live We are back with my guest, James Hunt, the celebrity
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  credit guru, and he and I are gonna have a conversation now about This whole Black Lives
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  Matter Movement and what it really means in terms of the racial equity gap in terms of the
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  economic gap.
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  As I was saying, when we were going out to break, 54% of African Americans in the US do
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  not have a living wage, which means they work.
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  They work two part time jobs.
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  They can't even afford to feed their children.
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  And so they can't afford to live in nice neighborhoods and have their kids go to nice
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  schools.
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  And so I wanna talk about there's so many ideas and things that have been thrown out here about
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  what can be done, but I wanted to talk to the credit guru about what could be done to help
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  everyone achieve parity in terms of generational wealth and income.
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  So James, let let's just dive into this, you know, in the wake of the George Floyd murder
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  and too many others.
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  You know, what do you suggest that could be done right now to help all African Americans
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  achieve economic parity.
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  So I think that first that business owners have a responsibility to educate.
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  And those of us who have achieved any amount of success financial or otherwise have a
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  responsibility to actually reach back and to teach others.
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  And I think that our people our people this this is a a biblical truth is that our people
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  are perishing for a lack of knowledge And so we who have knowledge have a responsibility to
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  whom much is given much is required we have a responsibility to educate them, not just simply
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  to go and educate them.
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  And then if I'm driving on and leave bucket and go on that side of town and educate them and
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  then come back and sit behind my gated community and say that I've done my job but we
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  have a responsibility to actually go and get some of them and take them and bring them into
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  our world and expose them into another whole life.
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  I I was telling you in in the last segment that I have, like, young and employees Some of them
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  came from bank hit and who had never did anything and never been exposed to anything and
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  they have their first apartments.
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  They have their first cars.
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  They have their first things and then learning the business and then learning how to carry
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  themselves and how to dress and how to in in a work environment and how I expose them to all
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  the different celebrity clients that come into the office and how to carry themselves
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  professional and not be groupies and be professional on the board.
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  So I think we have a responsibility to take them and to educate them I do all kinds of
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  things.
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  I give away suits and I'll go to, like, halfway houses and I'll give away suits.
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  I'm doing the dinner party on Thursday at a half I mean, on Saturday at a halfway house.
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  For at risk men who are just getting out of prison.
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  And I I'm doing it to help them to get to what they need to get to.
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  So you think it's an it's an onus on us as individuals to help.
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  You don't believe that the that the government necessarily owes us anything or that that
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  there's a reason, you know, mass incarceration, all this kind of stuff.
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  I mean, it's cyclical, and it was done intentionally.
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  So how do we unravel some of that?
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  I mean, I I read recently that Bob Johnson, billionaire Bob Johnson, a new formerly owned
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  bet was suggesting that, you know, all African Americans should get $350,000.
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  You know, what are your thoughts about that or, you know, some other kind of preparation?
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  Well, and then it didn't what do what with the the money.
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  And so if they have not been educated, then the $300,000 would just be wasted.
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  And so I think that we have a obligation to actually teach and and empower them so that
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  they understand what it is to do.
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  And I think that we are away with the day of waiting for the government to help us and to
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  supply this for us.
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  We who have been empowered to have a responsibility to impact all of those that we
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  come in contact with to help bring bring them up.
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  I believe in the idea of the it takes a village.
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  I agree with that.
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  I agree with that.
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  And I do a lot of that too with interns and others and and kids in the community and kids
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  in our church community in particular.
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  But what what policies can we do beyond education that you believe that education is a
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  key to fix?
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  Everything, I mean, what policies can be changed to help the African American community
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  combat, you know, cyclic cyclical poverty.
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  I mean, because at, you know, I live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, We are the poorest
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  major city in America.
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  So when COVID 19 happened and the lockdown happened, There were kids who who who didn't
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  have computers at home.
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  So then they got everybody Chromebook.
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  Then there were kids that didn't have internet.
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  And they were telling those kids to go to the parking lot of the school district's building
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  and sit in the park.
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  Like, they had somebody to drive them some imaginary person in their household that didn't
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  work that could drive them to sit in the parking lot so that they could do their
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  schoolwork jumping off of their school district's Wi Fi.
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  I mean, this this stuff is crazy.
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  I mean, let alone the food insecurity issues that exist all over the country, but especially
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  in urban communities.
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  They need to keep some schools open just to give out the free lunches.
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  So, I mean, the the this is such a big problem.
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  I mean, do you think there's a policy issue that that that could be rectified?
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  Well, I
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  think that our lawmakers have to we have to hold their feet to the fire to make sure
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  they're in the know and they have more information than I do.
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  I won't pretend to actually get an expert on outside of the lane in which I'm in.
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  But I understand that the lane that I'm in, I have a responsibility to give back in that
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  lane.
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  And so while I may not know what the mayor should be doing or what the legislator should
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  be doing or what the Congress and the senators should be doing, I am I am in support of
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  whatever they're doing for for the community, but there are certain things that I don't know,
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  but I know that I have a responsibility with the people that have been entrusted with me to
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  help their man to pull them up.
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  I agree.
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  We'll leave it at each one does have to teach one.
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  And that is, you know, we have to do what we can where we are and hope that others see us
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  and and and follow our good example.
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  Well, Thank you so much, Jane, for being a guest on Smallbridge Chat Live.
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  Alright.
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  What is your favorite old school marketing tip?
• 18:54
  Old school marketing tip.
• 18:56
  What's your favorite one?
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  Know your clients, know your client, tell base, know your product, and market it as best as you
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  can.
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  Alright.
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  Alright.
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  I'm gonna take that What is the best business book you've ever read?
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  My first and favorite was John John H Johnson's succeeding against the odds.
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  I love that book too.
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  That's a great book.
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  That's the founder, Ebony Magazine, Jet Magazine.
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  That is a fantastic book.
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  Good choice.
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  Good choice.
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  Listen.
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  You guys, thank you so much.
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  This show was terrific tonight.
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  The mission of small fish chat is to end small business failure.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson, the small biz lady, till next time, remember this.
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  You never lose in business either you win or you learn.
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  God bless everybody.
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  You good night.
• 19:42
  Thank you for listening to the Small Biz Chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
• 19:47
  For more resources and small business success strategies, visit succeed as your own boss.com.
• 19:54
  Subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and join us next Wednesday.