Starting over
Can I open another company with a bad credit record?
Generally yes: a bad credit record doesn't stop you opening a company. A bankrupt not yet discharged and certain convictions can. Credit gets harder.
bairogonzalez.com team, drawing on Bairo's story · Published
"Can I open a company with a bad credit record" and "can I open a microbusiness with bad credit" appear among Google's suggestions in Portuguese for people who want to start over. The general answer is yes: having your CPF flagged at credit bureaus does not, by itself, prevent you from opening a company or an MEI. But there are important exceptions, and practical consequences you need to know first.
The practical path
- Separate "bad credit" from "bankruptcy." A bad credit record is a debt registered at credit bureaus (Serasa, SPC, Boa Vista). Bankruptcy is a court process. Under Law 11,101/2005 (art. 102), a bankrupt debtor is barred from running a business from the moment bankruptcy is declared until the ruling that extinguishes their obligations. If you had bankruptcy declared, talk to a lawyer about rehabilitation before opening another company.
- Check for other impediments. The Civil Code (art. 1,011, §1) bars people convicted of certain crimes from managing a company while the effects of the conviction last. Some professions and regimes have their own rules; civil servants, for example, have restrictions on managing companies.
- Sort out issues with the Federal Revenue Service. A CPF with irregular status at the Federal Revenue Service, or a previous MEI with outstanding issues, can get in the way of registration. Check your CPF status and fix what needs fixing.
- Know what gets harder. With a bad credit record, opening a business account at some banks, getting a card machine, credit and payment terms with suppliers can be harder. Plan to start with less dependence on credit.
- Don't use a front. Opening a company in someone else's name to escape debts or impediments can amount to fraud against creditors and expose both you and the person who lent their name to serious liability.
- Negotiate the old debts in parallel. Clearing your name improves the new business's terms. Use official channels: the creditor itself, renegotiation drives, consumidor.gov.br and federal renegotiation programs when they're open (check gov.br).
- Separate the accounts from day one. The new business's money shouldn't be used to pay old personal debts without records and planning. An accountant can help organize it.
This page is general guidance, not a legal opinion.
How Bairo went through it
Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez says he went broke more than once and opened businesses again after each fall. After losing the business to his partners, he went to work in events and digital printing. After going broke again, with many people depending on him, he decided to build something he didn't know how to do.
What he takes from those phases is that a fresh start doesn't depend only on paperwork. It depends on deciding not to spend your energy looking for someone to blame and using it to learn instead. Today, he is director of two companies registered in the United Kingdom in 2026 and administrator of the Brazilian company that operates the CEASA Bank brand.
The Method step
Before opening the new company, apply step 7 of the Seventh Attempt Method: go quiet and return to the circle. Taking stock of what each attempt left shows what to change in the next. Add step 5: with a bad credit record, count your runway in weeks and start without depending on credit.
Discover the Seventh Attempt Method