SAN MATEO, Calif.—Business owners are leveraging their personal credit in a major way, according to new data from Nav. While consumers carry an average of 2.32 credit cards, small business owners average at 4.78 cards, Nav reported.
“The average total limits on those cards among the two groups mirrors this as well, as average consumers hang in at about $18,401, and business owners at $35,291,” Nav stated.
What's surprising about the data, Nav said, is that it pertains to personal cards, not business credit cards, which generally don't show up on personal credit reports unless the cardholder defaults or misses payments.
Another Nav survey found that 24% of small businesses owners used personal credit cards the last time their business needed funds. This not only confirms that finding funding for a business is difficult, but that some business owners could be over-leveraging their personal credit to fund their business.