Case study: How one entrepreneur stopped “shooting in the dark” and started building business credit

Overview

Business Owner: Fabian Curry
Business: Rated R Cleaning Services
Location: Chicago, IL
Nav Product: Nav Prime’s Business Credit Coaching

Fabian received a free business coaching session from Nav.

Fabian Curry is no stranger to entrepreneurship. After launching a dog business a few years ago, he dove into a new venture in October of last year: Rated R Cleaning Services. By day, Fabian works a full-time job with the City of Chicago. By night and weekend, he runs a contracting business that's gaining serious traction. Less than a year after he started, he pulled in double what he expected in one month.

But with all that momentum came a challenge that many small business owners face: how to build and use business credit to fund growth. 

Like most entrepreneurs, Fabian was self-funding everything. “Right now, I’m paying for all this stuff out of my pocket. I need to position myself to leverage business credit.”

That’s when he turned to Nav — and discovered Business Credit Coaching, now included in the highest tier of Nav Prime.

The problem: a growing business without credit support

Despite his early success, Fabian knew he couldn’t scale Rated R Cleaning Services on hustle alone. He needed structure, tools, and a financial foundation — starting with business credit. His long-term goal? To have a financially self-sustaining operation with vehicles and equipment funded under the business name.

But navigating business credit on your own is difficult, even for a resourceful entrepreneur. Fabian had the ambition, the work ethic, and the revenue, but he lacked clarity on the next steps.

He had plans to get a business website, business credit cards, and formalize the brand, but the demands of his full-time job and side hustle left little room to focus on infrastructure. Access to business credit wasn’t just a want — it was a necessity.

Discovering Nav: from confusion to clarity

Fabian first found Nav while researching business credit strategies on YouTube. At the time, he was working on his dog business and applying for credit blindly. Nav’s value stood out immediately.

“It was the only platform [I found] clearly showing business credit scores,” he says. That transparency was the key to helping him understand not just where he stood, but where he needed to go.

With Nav, Fabian connected his business debit card and tracked income month-over-month. He monitored both personal and business credit scores and gained a better understanding of how lenders assess risk — including which metrics they care about most.

Still, Fabian hit a wall. After several months of monitoring his scores, he wasn’t seeing the upward movement he expected. Frustrated, he called Nav’s customer care team to understand why.

That’s when he learned something surprising: His business credit score was already high from the start, which explained the minimal changes over time. But it wasn’t until his score dipped that he truly felt the urgency — and that call led to an unexpected opportunity.

The solution: Business Credit Coaching

When Fabian called to voice his concerns, the Nav customer care representative offered him a discounted Business Credit Coaching session to see how they could help. Fabian decided to give it a shot.

What happened next shifted his entire approach to building business credit.

“That’s what I need — someone saying, ‘Do this, do that.’ He sent me a list of homework which is what I needed.”

In just a 15-minute session, Fabian’s coach delivered clear, personalized recommendations. This included strategies to improve his business credit, net-30 vendor suggestions, and even branding tips — like ordering uniforms for a more professional image.

That was the breakthrough. Coaching offered a curated path forward — a way to get to the point and apply only what mattered most to Fabian’s real-life situation. 

The outcome: a personalized roadmap to growth

Armed with his homework, Fabian began implementing the strategies. His plan now includes leveraging the follow-up coaching session to show off his progress and refine his next steps.

The fast-paced, focused nature of the coaching call fit perfectly into his busy schedule, giving him what he needed without draining his time.

Business credit is often an invisible barrier to growth — one that many business owners don’t fully understand until they hit it. Fabian’s experience highlights just how valuable it is to have a guide. 

For him, Nav coaching was more than a quick consultation. It was a catalyst for taking control of his financial future.

Why coaching matters

Many small business owners share Fabian’s story. They wear multiple hats, fund their operations out of pocket, and try to build a credit foundation with limited knowledge and resources. And while there’s no shortage of information out there, finding the right information — and knowing what to do with it — is a different story.

That’s why Nav now includes Business Credit Coaching in the highest Nav Prime tier. 

Every session is designed to be short, direct, and actionable. Whether you need help understanding your credit profile, identifying next steps, or deciding where to focus your efforts, a coach can help you build your business credit the smart way.

Like Fabian said: “You’re not shooting in the dark when you got Nav.”