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Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used...
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We live in an increasingly connected world and as we become more and more technologically advanced, it’s becoming easier and easier to do business.
It’s difficult for business owners to continuously keep up with every single new trend, software, or idea out there. But with so many different businesses out there that you can start, it can often be overwhelming trying to pick 1 that aligns with your personality!
If only there was some sort of guide that walked you through the best businesses you can start that’ll also get you closer to traveling for free. Well, you’ve come to the right place!
Wouldn’t it be so nice if you could start a business, earn a ton of rewards from your business credit cards, and book some incredible travel with your points?
It’s absolutely possible, and we’ll show you our favorite businesses you can start to get a business credit card in this guide!
Why and How to Get a Business Credit Card
In the past, the main reason an entrepreneur would get a business credit card was simply to access credit and separate business expenses from personal expenses.
Today, all business credit cards more or less provide this, and there are plenty of reasons why business credit cards are essential tools. Simply put, points enthusiasts love business credit cards for the access to an extra treasure trove of rewards, larger credit limits, and the fact that it isn’t reported to personal credit bureaus.
The process of applying for a business credit card is almost identical to applying for a consumer/personal credit card. The only difference is that you’ll fill in some extra information about your business, including the structure, age, number of employees, revenue, and more.
One important distinction to point out, though, is that you don’t need thousands of employees or hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue to qualify for a business credit card.
You can qualify for business credit cards with a business structure as simple as a sole proprietorship where you’re the only employee using your social security number as the taxpayer identification number (TIN).
Credit card issuers are heavily invested in helping small business owners start out and succeed; it’s more important to show strong personal income that can be used to back the business and a superb payment history.
Bottom Line: Applying for a business credit card has tons of upsides and isn’t all that different from applying for a personal credit card!
13 Businesses You Can Start to Get Business Credit Cards
1. Social Media Influencer
Image Credit: G-Stock Studio via Shutterstock
Social media has become one of the world’s favorite pastimes. And with so many people worldwide flocking to social media, it has even become a crucial place where people make decisions!
Many people buy goods and services on social media platforms, which has created a massive landscape of social media influencers.
Today, starting a business as a social media influencer is easier than ever — all you need is a smartphone to begin!
And while there’s bound to be a niche for every single social media influencer out there, one of the largest is travel, luxury, and leisure.
Our Recommended Business Card for Social Media Influencers
It’s easy to travel in style with the Amex Business Platinum card!
2. Small Business Marketing
Image Credit: Peshkova via Shutterstock
One of the hardest things a business can get right is designing and executing an effective marketing strategy.
This is especially difficult with small businesses, a stage in which there are limited resources they can allocate towards marketing.
If you have a knack for marketing, whether it be from formal education or always being in-tune with the latest marketing trends, then there’s a huge potential market of small business owners who could stand to benefit from your expertise!
All you need to get started is a computer and an internet connection, so it’s also one of the easiest businesses you can start.
Our Recommended Business Card for Small Business Marketers
The American Express® Business Gold Card is an incredibly useful asset to have in your wallet mostly because of its diverse spending categories you can earn bonus points for.
Specifically, you will earn 4x points on up to $150,000 in combined purchases from 2 of these 6 categories each calendar year:
Airfare purchased from airlines
U.S. purchases for advertising in select media
U.S. purchases made from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions
U.S. purchases at gas stations
U.S. purchases at restaurants
U.S. purchases for shipping
If you’re going to be a small business marketer, chances are you’ll be spending quite a bit of money on advertising on behalf of your clients and software, which are 2 areas where the Amex Business Gold card excels!
If you have a valuable skill that you’ve mostly kept as a hobby, now could be the perfect time to start monetizing your skills!
Consulting is such an important and broad field that most of us will have something worthwhile to offer.
Whether you’re helping executives build soft skills, offering technical engineering advice, building an online store for a client, or doing virtual interior design sessions, there’s bound to be something for your interests.
And in this increasingly connected world, it’s almost like all you need to start a consulting business is an account on Zoom!
This awesome business credit card is designed for the everyday business spender in mind. You don’t need to worry about specific category restrictions!
Whatever your business expenditures are, you can count on the Amex Blue Business Plus card to make the most of your rewards as well, thanks to its award-winning Membership Rewards program.
4. Reselling
Image Credit: ra2 studio via Shutterstock
Another great business you can start is one of the oldest out there: reselling. In the past, reselling was only possible if you had dedicated warehouse storage space, the right supplier relationships, and the business acumen.
Thanks to the internet, reselling on sites like eBay, Poshmark, Craigslist, and even Facebook Marketplace is easier than ever to access. Best of all, they are almost always user-friendly, in an effort to make your reselling business as seamless as possible.
And depending on what products you’re selling, you’re going to be incurring significant costs before making the sale, recovering the cost, and (hopefully!) making a profit.
Besides the fact that you’ll earn valuable Ultimate Rewards points, you’ll enjoy 3 points per dollar on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on the following categories:
Advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines
Internet, cable, and phone services
Shipping purchases
Travel
As a reseller, you’ll also enjoy top-notch business protections like fraud protection, purchase protection, cell phone protection, personalized account alerts, and much more.
5. Tutoring
Image Credit: Maria Symchych via Shutterstock
Educational services is a booming sector. If you want to claim your piece of the pie, all you need to have is a laptop and a skill. Top tutors command huge hourly rates, and this isn’t limited to biology or math.
In addition to academics, you can tutor others in the arts, wellness, fitness, and so much more. The key to success? Use as many online platforms as you can to get as many customers as you can handle. Platforms like Wyzant, Upwork, Varsity Tutors, and TutorMe offer the ability to easily start tutoring.
Our Recommended Business Card for Tutors
As a tutor, you probably won’t have huge, recurring business expenses, but when you do, be sure to utilize a card that rewards you for internet services, like the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card.
Incredibly, this card gives you 5% cash-back on internet, cable, and phone services (up to $25,000 in combined purchases every account anniversary year).
One of the most admirable businesses you can start (and a very popular one that people have, but often don’t count as a business) is real estate.
There are tons of real estate strategies out there, but most are interested in rental properties and home renovations.
In any case, you’ll probably find yourself often at home improvement stores making big purchases in hopes of a greater return on the other end.
Whatever the case, you’ll want a card that maximizes all these benefits because missing out on rewards for big-ticket items hurts! Most importantly, you’ll probably want a card that offers great earning categories with no caps on earnings.
Most real estate strategies involve a significant initial cash outlay, but if you want a “safe” business strategy, you’ll be happy to learn that real estate has generated a ton of wealth throughout centuries of civilization.
Our Recommended Business Card for Landlords/Real Estate Agents
The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card will give you what you need here, thanks to its ability to earn an unlimited 1.5% cash-back on all business purchases.
If you have an Unlimited Rewards credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can convert this 1.5% cash-back into 1.5x points, which is worth around 3% based on our valuations.
Hot Tip: Finding the best credit card to maximize home improvement savings can be elusive. Let us show you how to earn the most rewards on those purchases in our guide to the best credit cards for home improvement purchases.
7. Blogging
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Blogging is one of the best ways you can start a small business. If you have a particular interest in an industry, subject, or niche, blogging will help you build your reputation and brand, and it is a fabulous way to get eyes on your content.
Also, blogging is one of the most fun businesses you can start! What better way to build a business than to write about something you are passionate about?
And while there are hundreds of millions of blogs out there, you can absolutely find your niche and start your business with just a Wi-Fi connection and a computer.
Whether you like learning about make-up or are super geeky about consumer electronics, there’s a spot for everybody in the blogosphere.
Our Recommended Business Card for Bloggers
The Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business is an awesome introductory rewards card that offers the flexibility of straightforward rewards or a more complex transfer partner ecosystem.
With the Capital One Spark Miles Select card, you will earn unlimited 1.5x miles on all your business credit card purchases with no blackouts, seat restrictions, or minimum to redeem.
You’ll enjoy other great benefits, such as free employee cards, the ability to assign account managers, fraud alerts, and extended warranty and protection, as well as $0 fraud liability on unauthorized charges.
8. Personal Chef
Image Credit: JP WALLET via Shutterstock
The personal chef business is booming! After all, it can be very attractive to enjoy a freshly prepared meal from a chef all in the comfort of your home, right?
The convenience is incredible! That’s why personal chefs are in high demand. If you love preparing food and are skilled at curating gastronomic delights, you need to consider starting a business as a personal chef.
It’s easier than ever to find clients, thanks to platforms like HireAChef, Cozymeal, MyTable, TakeAChef, and more.
Our Recommended Business Card for Personal Chefs
As a chef, you’ll probably be spending quite a bit on groceries. There aren’t a lot of business cards that offer bonus categories on groceries, but an incredible personal card is the American Express® Gold Card.
This card earns 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1x) and also earns 4x points at restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S.
Do you enjoy showing people around? If you consider yourself to be an expert in the local area, you might want to consider becoming a tour guide!
Many tour guides don’t travel long and far distances — instead, it’s totally doable to do simple day trip tours and start your business that way.
And if you love the city you live in, leading tours allows you to see other parts of the city you might not have seen before. Plus, it gives you a chance to meet some cool people who love traveling, too!
Whether you’re an independent tour guide or you’re working on a freelance basis for a large company, you’ll want to have a valuable credit card you can use for racking up rewards quickly.
This card offers streamlined rewards since the cash-back earned is automatically credited to your statement, plus the ability to get top protections like extended warranty, purchase protection, and potentially even save big with Amex Offers.
The Amex Blue Business Cash card is definitely one of our favorites, especially considering the fact that it doesn’t have an annual fee, gets you access to tons of Amex-exclusive benefits, and earns up to 2% cash-back.
10. Travel Agency
Image Credit: VGstockstudio via Shutterstock
One of the noblest professions you can have is in travel. Travel connects all corners of the world together and enables people from different cultures to connect, bond over shared values, and learn about new groups of people.
If you enjoy travel and have a blast planning travel, why not make money off of it? Travel agencies craft curated, personalized itineraries that are the hallmarks of incredible vacations.
As a travel agency, you’ll have the opportunity to plan honeymoons, once-in-a-lifetime trips, and much more.
In many situations, you’ll be booking the travel on behalf of your clients, so running your cards through a centralized, consistent portal like Amex Travel can be hugely valuable.
This includes virtually all major travel expenses, including air, prepaid hotels, prepaid car rentals, vacation packages (flight + hotel packages), and cruise reservations.
The Amex Business Green card confers fantastic perks for a low annual fee, and most importantly, there are no caps to earning 2x points, so you don’t have to worry about hitting any caps with this card.
11. Personal Shopping
Image Credit: Pressmaster via Shutterstock
Have you ever heard of personal shoppers? Well, in big cities with lots of concentrated wealth, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, and New York, you can find a lot of people shopping for the ultra-wealthy.
If you love shopping as an activity but don’t like burning a hole in your wallet, starting a personal shopping business is for you. As a personal shopper, you’ll probably be exposed to a whole new realm of consumer goods because the ultra-wealthy shop at some of the most prestigious brands in the world.
Our Recommended Business Card for Personal Shoppers
As you can probably imagine, you’ll need to front quite a sum of money, considering the big-ticket items your clients will be buying. With the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, you can earn 1.5 miles per dollar on single eligible purchases over $5,000, up to 50,000 additional miles per calendar year.
This is called a large transaction bonus, and you’ll probably be using this a lot if you’re a personal shopper.
The Delta Platinum Business card also offers 3 miles per dollar spent on eligible purchases made directly with Delta and purchases made directly with hotels.
Having this card will also confer some nice benefits when flying on Delta, including Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding, a companion certificate, your first checked bag free, and more.
Etsy is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce websites in the world. Focusing mostly on handmade items and crafts, these goods usually include art, bags, craft supplies, clothing, home décor, jewelry, and more.
Etsy’s one of the neatest e-commerce marketplaces out there, and it has become known as a sort of Amazon competitor focused on more “rustic” goods.
If you’re particularly talented at arts and crafts, selling on Etsy can be a hugely profitable business to dig your toes into. It’s super easy to start, and you can end up making a handsome amount of cash for doing something you already enjoy!
Our Recommended Business Card for Etsy Sellers
With the Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business, you’ll get an unlimited 2% cash-back that you can re-invest into your business at any time with no minimums.
The Capital One Spark Cash card is one of the highest-rated business credit cards with a simple rewards structure. And as an Etsy seller, your business might incur all types of expenses, from supplies to labor.
13. Restaurant Critic/Reviewer
Image Credit: insta_photos via Shutterstock
Do you like food but don’t have much talent in the kitchen? It’s ridiculously easy to get started as a restaurant critic or reviewer. All you need is to visit a restaurant, enjoy a meal, and document your experience!
There are tons of platforms you can get started with, but the top choices are Yelp, OpenTable, Google Reviews, Facebook, Tripadvisor, and more.
You can also start your own food blog, which falls more under the blogging business above, but it’s much easier to post a review on Yelp than to build a website and get everything running.
Foodies and travelers are looking for brutally honest reviews in a landscape where reviews can often be bought or are dishonest! If you offer a refreshing perspective on food, you’ll rapidly be on your way to building a solid restaurant critic business.
Our Recommended Business Card for Restaurant Critics/Reviewers
The Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card offers the ability to earn an uncapped 2 miles per dollar spent at restaurants, purchases made directly with Delta, U.S. purchases for advertising in select media, and U.S. shipping purchases.
Plus, with the Delta Gold Business card, you can get enhanced perks aboard Delta and enjoy Main Cabin 1 priority boarding and your first checked bag free!
Starting your own business can often be a daunting endeavor. And with so many new businesses emerging daily, it can almost be overwhelming trying to figure out a starting point.
To learn about the best fit, find a business idea that you would be excellent at that you’d enjoy. Then, take it to the next level by having the best business cards to complement your activity.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this comprehensive guide to help you learn about the best small businesses you can start in today’s age to qualify for a business credit card!
The information regarding the Capital One Spark Miles Select for Business was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, click here. For rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card, click here. For rates and fees of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here. For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here. For rates and fees of The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card, click here. For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, click here. For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, click here.
Featured Image Credit: Brandy Kennedy via Unsplash
Frequently Asked Questions
The best credit card for small business is one that suits your specific business needs.
It’s easy to get a business credit card for your business. All you have to do is find a credit card that suits your business needs. Then, fill out the application online or over the phone. If you’re approved, you should get your new credit card in the mail in a week or 2!
Getting a credit card for your LLC is often a wise choice because you could get in trouble if you’re mixing your business and personal expenses.
With a business credit card, you can specifically set aside a credit card for your business expenses and need.
Anybody with a qualifying business can get a business credit card!
Even as a new business just starting out without having made any revenue yet, you can get a business credit card because many banks are committing to helping small business owners grow.
The best business credit card for rewards will depend on your spending categories. If you spend a lot on office supplies, the Ink Business Cash card is a no-brainer.
Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used by hundreds of clients.
Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.
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