A DUNS number is essential for today’s savvy business owners. DUNS numbers have become the world standard for tracking company details and for measuring trade and risk-related information across businesses in myriad industries. The DUNS system currently comprises more than 100 million business entries worldwide, and is used by more than 50 major institutions and organisations worldwide. DUNS numbers are clearly valuable to businesses, and are not only great for monitoring their current status, but for helping them grow, too.

DUNS numbers can help you examine business linkages

Major companies will have one overarching DUNS number, but many additional DUNS numbers to cover additional locations, branches, and areas. However, these DUNS numbers are linked into a “family tree”, allowing you to get a better idea of the true breadth and depth of the company you are planning to approach. Using a company’s DUNS numbers to examine its market reach is a great way for your company to get the most out of a potential relationship.

DUNS numbers can be used to test the quality of potential businesses

Entering into an agreement with another company has its share of risks, particularly when the company is overseas or is new. However, using your potential partner’s DUNS number as a means to obtain information about their trading partners and current credit standing can help you to assess the degree of risk associated with doing business with this company. Using a DUNS number, you’ll be able to narrow down your field of potential trading partners, make linkages with ease, and lower the risk to your company.

A DUNS number can make your company more appealing to businesses and institutions

Because your company’s DUNS number is essential to not only verifying the identity and standing of your business, but also to providing other valuable company-related information, it is a key factor used to determine whether other businesses or institutions wish to do business with you. If you have a positive credit rating and a number of linkages to high-performing businesses, for example, institutions will be more likely to loan you money or provide endorsements to your company.

A DUNS number can save you time and money by streamlining processes

Using DUNS numbers to assess the quality of relationships you’ll likely experience with potential trading partners can help you save time and money down the track by warning you about potentially risky partnerships. In addition, DUNS number-related data can also be used to streamline communications and B2B processes, cutting back on expensive and tedious admin work. D&B also provides a high degree of analytics, allowing you to assess and measure the quality of processes in your own company, giving you valuable information about the areas that could be streamlined or improved.

Obtaining a DUNS number might be free, but its benefits to your business can be invaluable. Obtaining a DUNS number can help improve the standing of your business, and can also help it grow, too.