Credit Cards Article

Starting a business with a 0% business credit card

Author: Robin Green

Although quite possibly not the wisest move that you could make it is possible, as a last resort or with other funding, to start a company with business credit cards. One famous example of this - and an eye opener to those attempting a similar thing in their own field - is the movie director Kevin Smith. Kevin Smith famously funded his first movie, Clerks, with a number of cards that he applied for. Luckily Clerks went on to gross over $3 million worldwide and launched Kevin Smith\'s movie career. If you are confident in your ability to make money, or are prepared to take a calculated risk, then using 0% Business Credit Cards could be an option.

The idea of using a credit card to start a business may seem ridiculous at first, especially to those of us who are very careful and who don\'t like to take risks, but there have been a number of very famous, and successful, cases. What\'s more any type of business could be started through the inventive use of credit cards and the sky certainly seems to be the limit.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin met at Stanford University and went on to create one of the most popular search engines - Google. It is rumoured that business credit cards were used to start the company with the purchase of vital computer equipment: a terabyte of hard disk space to be precise. From these humble beginnings, Google grew and grew to become one of the most profitable Internet organisations of all times. As of 2008, Google is estimated to be worth $157.8 billion; this is just 10 years after the company officially started trading. Nowadays Google is still expanding at a phenomenal rate and recently announced the beta launch of its own browser known as Chrome.

Other cards offer 0% on balance transfers, possibly alongside the 0% cash purchases offers. Once again the period of time that the 0% offers last varies from card to card. If you have an existing card, and you are being charged, some financial experts recommend changing. These experts sometimes recommend changing cards on a regular basis; in this way you can theoretically avoid paying charges and interest. Other financial consultants frown upon this activity and note that it can have an adverse affect on your credit rating.

Another little known American businessman called Bruce Kovner, now estimated to be worth $2.5 billion started his business ventures through creative credit carding. He invested just $3,000 in soya beans and made a profit of $23,000. The initial $3,000 investment was borrowed against the MasterCard that he owned at the time. Of course, he invested the money that he made from his first business outing again and again. He now owns a company called Caxton Associates, which manages $10 billion of capital.

All of these stories go to show that it is possible to start a company through the use of Business Credit Cards. Although there are obviously risks involved, and you should perhaps seek professional advice on business start up options, if you are clever, and your business idea has a good chance of succeeding, it may be an option. If you are careful, and plan out how you are going to meet repayments and charges, then you should be able to minimalize the inherent risks involved. However making a successful business is sometimes a matter of taking risks and over caution can be a hindrance. Bruce Kovner, mentioned above, made only $23,000 on that first investment after hesitating to sell at $40,000. He said that this first trade taught him the importance of \'risk management\', so if you manage your risks carefully starting a business with credit cards shouldn\'t be any more dangerous than through any other method.

The columnist Robin Green writes articles for popular financial based websites. Read more about 0 percent business credit cards and business credit cards here.