Originally published in Forbes

By Mark Abell

With the U.S. economy expanding, credit relatively inexpensive, and low corporate tax rates encouraging capital investment, this is a great time for small business owners to take out a loan to finance growth.

However, small business owners can significantly improve their chances of getting a loan approved by first taking steps to boost their personal credit score.

The biggest factors that any bank looks at when deciding whether to approve a loan are the 5 Cs of credit: capital, collateral, conditions, cash flow and creditworthiness. For young companies, consultants operating as solo practitioners, and early-stage startups, that creditworthiness component leans heavily on the owner’s personal credit.

So, making sure your personal credit score is as high as possible will give the company the best chance that an application for a U.S. Small Business Administration-backed loan will get approved.

Read the complete article at Forbes.com

Mark Abel is Senior Vice President and SBA Division Director at NBH Bank.