FORGE 28: Business Credit, Built

Observed

What actually kills the file

Four patterns that come up constantly in files I place. Every one is structural, and every one is fixable before you apply.

The decline is often decided before anyone forms a view on the business. It happens at verification, where a system compares records and finds they do not agree.

01

The name does not match itself

The state filing, the EIN letter, the bank signature card, and the bureau file carry four slightly different versions of the same business name. Automated verification cannot reconcile them, and the file stops there.

02

The industry code was never chosen

A NAICS or SIC code picked at formation without thought can place the business in a class a given lender will not touch. The applicant is rarely told this is the reason.

03

Nothing verifies

No listed telephone number, no email on a company domain, an address that will not confirm. Individually each is minor. Together they read as a business that may not operate.

04

The applications ran out of order

Reaching for bank credit before any account reports produces an inquiry and a decline that then sits on the file while the next application is reviewed.

The build

Six stages, in sequence

Each stage is what qualifies you to attempt the next. The order is not a preference. It is how the reporting works.

A credit file is a record of accounts over time. It cannot be assembled out of order, and the most common self inflicted damage is trying.

StageWorkReportingSchedule

00

Entity and identifiers

Registration status, EIN, classification codes, name consistency across every record, verifiable presence, banking separation.

Not yet reporting Days 1 to 30

01

Bureau registration

Files opened and verified at each agency. D-U-N-S assigned. Existing errors identified and disputed.

D&B, Experian, Equifax Days 1 to 30

02

Vendor accounts

Net 30 accounts selected because they report, not because they approve easily. Payment timing managed for effect on the file.

Trade lines, Tier 1 Months 1 to 4

03

Retail and store credit

The first revolving accounts. Utilization thresholds set before the accounts open rather than corrected afterward.

Revolving, Tier 2 Months 3 to 7

04

Fleet and cash accounts

Broader use accounts that widen the reporting mix and lengthen the record a lender can actually see.

Mixed, Tier 3 Months 6 to 10

05

Lender presentation

Financial statement presentation, document package assembly, and a written assessment of which products your file now fits.

File complete Months 9 to 12

Schedule shows when the work is performed. Whether any account is approved is decided by the creditor, not by Netrix.

Who runs it

You are hiring a person, not a portal

Forge 28 is delivered by the same person who places the capital.

Ken Norfork
Founder, Netrix Capital

I identify where deals break before you close.

I have spent twenty eight years structuring and placing commercial debt across multifamily, construction, bridge, SBA, and business capital. That work means I see the same file defects repeatedly, from the underwriting side rather than the applicant side.

Forge 28 exists because I got tired of telling business owners their file was unfundable for reasons that could have been fixed a year earlier for a few hundred dollars. The build is the same diagnostic discipline I apply to a capital stack, pointed at a credit profile instead.

You will work with me directly. There is no call center and no assigned representative.

28

Years placing commercial capital

12

Books published on deal structure

97

Point Deal Architecture review framework

6

Structural layers in every review

Packages

Three ways in

Take the foundation alone if that is the gap. Most businesses need the full build.

For reference: comparable business credit programs are commonly priced between $3,000 and $4,000, often across eight monthly payments. Complete is $2,497 in three payments or fewer, and it can end up at zero.

Setup layer

Foundation

$997

30 days

Everything that determines whether a file gets read. Sold on its own, which almost nobody does.

Entity type review against your funding goals
State registration audit and cleanup
EIN verification or filing
D-U-N-S registration
NAICS and SIC selection, screened for restricted classes
Name consistency audit across every record
Address, phone, domain and listing review
Banking separation review
Tri bureau registration and accuracy audit
Written Foundation Report with sequenced fixes

Start Foundation

Full build

Complete

$2,497

12 months

Foundation plus the full tier build, managed month by month for a year.

Everything in Foundation
Vendor tier sequence with timing gates
Payment timing strategy
Utilization thresholds set in advance
Monthly tri bureau file review
Ongoing dispute handling on reporting errors
Application timing and inquiry management
Where a personal guarantee is required, and where structure avoids it
Financial statement presentation review
Document package assembly
Written product fit assessment
Four quarterly strategy calls

Start Complete

After the build

Watch

$97

Per month

Keep the file accurate once it exists. A profile degrades quietly if nobody is reading it.

Monthly tri bureau monitoring
Alerts on score movement and new reporting
Derogatory entry alerts
Annual full file audit
Continued dispute support
Product fit updates as the file lengthens

Add Watch

Fee credit

Place a deal through Netrix and the Complete fee comes off.

The full $2,497 is credited against our placement compensation if you finance through Netrix within twelve months of enrollment.

Firms that sell credit building as a standalone product cannot offer this. The build fee is their revenue.

For Netrix the build is how a borrower becomes fundable, and the placement is the business. The incentive points the same direction as yours.

Does not apply to SBA transactions. SBA rules restrict a third party agent from being compensated by both the borrower and the lender on the same loan. On an SBA file you engage Forge 28 or you engage Netrix for placement, not both.

Fit

Who this is for

I would rather turn you away now than refund you in month three.

Good fit

Forge 28 works when

You have a real operating business, or are about to start one, and intend to run it for years
You are planning for capital twelve or more months out
You have been declined and were never told a useful reason
You can fund small vendor purchases each month to generate reporting
You want to reduce how much your personal credit carries the business

Poor fit

Look elsewhere if

You need capital in the next thirty to ninety days. This is a twelve month build, not a funding shortcut
You want someone to submit applications for you. We do not do that
You are looking for a guaranteed dollar amount. Nobody can honestly promise one
The business exists only to obtain credit and has no operations
Your primary problem is personal credit. That is outside this scope

Questions

Asked before every engagement

If yours is not here, ask it on the call.

How is this different from the programs I have seen advertised?

Three differences. First, the fee is credited if you place a deal through Netrix, which is possible only because placement is the actual business here rather than an upsell.

Second, you can buy the foundation alone for $997. Most programs bundle setup into a twelve month commitment so you cannot test them cheaply.

Third, we do not submit applications for you and we do not quote a dollar amount you will receive. Those two practices are where most of the enforcement history in this category comes from.

Do I need good personal credit to start?

No, not to start. The foundation work is entirely structural and does not touch your personal file.

It matters later. Many business credit accounts, and nearly all bank credit, still ask for a personal guarantee. During the build we identify where a guarantee will be required and where the structure can avoid it, so you know what your file can and cannot reach.

We do not work on personal credit standing. If that is your binding constraint, we will tell you plainly on the first call.

My business is only a few months old. Is it too early?

It is the best possible time. Almost every defect in the observed list above is created at formation and gets more expensive to correct the longer it sits.

A business with no credit history and a clean structure is in a better position than a three year old business with a name mismatch and a restricted classification code. Starting early means the twelve month record is already accumulating when you actually need capital.

How much of my time does this take?

Roughly two to four hours in the first month, mostly gathering documents and confirming details. After that, under an hour a month plus one strategy call per quarter.

The work you cannot delegate is paying vendor accounts on time. That single behavior drives more of the outcome than anything else in the program, and no service can do it for you.

What are the third party costs on top of the fee?

Real and worth planning for. These are paid by you directly to the provider, never to Netrix, and they are not included in the package price.

Vendor accounts are the one people underestimate. A net 30 account only reports if you actually buy something, so the build requires modest real purchases each month across several accounts. Your Foundation Report itemizes the specific costs for your situation before you commit to the full build.

State filing fees, if entity work neededVaries by state

Registered agent, annual, optionalVaries by provider

Bureau monitoring products, optionalVaries by bureau

Vendor account purchases, per accountSet by each vendor

What happens if it does not work?

Foundation fees are refundable on a pro rata basis until the Foundation Report is delivered. Complete fees are refundable pro rata for the unexpired portion of the term. There is a three business day full cancellation window at the start. Watch cancels any time.

What I will not do is guarantee an outcome in order to close you. Creditors make credit decisions using their own criteria, and any firm promising you a specific approval or amount is telling you something they cannot know.

Scope

What Forge 28 does not do

This category has a long enforcement history. These lines are where it comes from, and we hold them.

We do not apply for credit for you

No power of attorney. No applications submitted on your behalf. No authorized user arrangements. We build the file, set the sequence, and review the application with you. You submit it and you own what is in it.

We do not promise an amount

No dollar figures, no approval odds, no funding guarantee, no representation that approval is likely. Forge 28 delivers a complete and accurate business credit file and a documented process. Every credit decision belongs to the creditor.

Business credit only

Forge 28 builds the credit file of a business entity for business purposes. It does not extend to any individual personal credit standing. Where a guarantor profile affects a business application, we tell you that it does and stop there.

We are not a lender

Netrix Capital places commercial debt with third party lenders. We make no commitment to extend credit and we do not fund transactions on our own balance sheet.