A Credit Squeeze for Small Business Owners

Then the economy went into a tailspin, and took Advanta’s fortunes with it. The company last month announced that it would no longer pay for additional purchases, leaving many customers in a bind.

Now, small businesses “are really having to scramble because often they don’t have the kind of flexibility they had before,” said Todd McCracken, president of the National Small Business Association. Further, credit scores of small businesses have been hurt as banks cut credit limits, making it even harder to get other types of credit.

“It feeds on itself,” he said.

Mr. Allen, the owner of the financial and insurance marketing firm in Ohio, said he recently took some insurance agents on an Alaska cruise where he tried to charge drinks and several side trips on his credit card, only to be denied. To his astonishment, his limit had been cut with no notice.

After he returned to Ohio, Mr. Allen said he met some clients for dinner. Normally, he said he would have whipped out a credit card to pay the bill. Instead, he paid in cash. Mr. Allen said he has also scaled back travel because credit was tight and business was slower than normal.

“You’ve got to play a balancing act,” Mr. Allen said. “This is going to be a moving target.”

Mrs. Macone, the owner of the business in Florida selling equestrian-themed trinkets and home décor to retail outlets, said she had to retool her business in part because the credit lines on her cards were suddenly slashed, even though she maintained she paid her bills on time. Traditionally, she has relied on her credit cards to purchase inventory, which she then paid off as her customers settled their accounts.

But last fall, Ms. Macone, who took out a credit card with Advanta, opened her bill to find the company had raised her interest rate above 30 percent. A short time later, Advanta reduced her spending limit from $30,000 to $5,000. “When you have a business, it’s like, ‘$5,000? Please, what good is that?’ ”

Advanta said it was responding to worsening conditions. “Across the card industry, card issuers have been increasing interest rates and reducing credit lines to protect themselves against a riskier economic environment,” said Amy Holderer, a spokeswoman. “We are no different.”

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Ms. Macone said she has had to lay off three part-time workers who used to assemble orders for shipment in her warehouse, and cut the hours of two other employees. “I’m the warehouse help now — my husband and I,” she said. “I’m back out there picking orders. I haven’t picked orders in 10 years.”

This story originally appeared in The New York Times

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