Savvy Debt: Using Other People’s Money to Grow Your Business

Guest post by Melanie Benson Strick, Million Dollar Lifestyle Business Coach.  

How much debt do you have? That’s right, I’m just going to come straight out and ask. Is it $10,000? $20,000? $50,000? More?

And how did you get that debt? Investing in your business? Or was it buying TVs and traveling to Fiji? Chances are you obtained most of it while making purchases for your business like computers, coaching programs, and marketing tactics to help you grow. While you might refer to this as debt, it’s called leveraging Other People’s Money (OPM.)

Whatever you call it, the most important question is: How do you feel about that debt?

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Dangers of Financing with Debt

Debt financing, one of the 3 primary methods of financing a business (the other two are self-financing and equity financing), is obtaining money that must be paid back to the lender, usually with interest.  Similar to self-financing, debt financing may include both using your personal credit as well as the credit and security of the business to obtain a loan or line of credit.  Read more

Danger of Credit Card Financing

Why Using Your Personal Credit Card is Dangerous for Your Business

Many of us (include yours truly) have used personal credit cards to finance the start up or growth of our business.  It’s easy, fast, and available.  The interest rates may be lower than business credit cards.  And, you may have exhausted your business loans or lines of credit.  But there are a few dangers in using your personal credit cards to finance your business, instead of using business credit cards or loans.  Read more

Self-Financing and Bootstrapping to start or grow a business

"It takes money to make money" is somewhat true.  Whether you are just starting a new business, growing your business, or adding new products or divisions, you need financing to provide the money (or capital) it takes to realize your vision.  But what type of financing is right for you (and which can you actually get)?  Today’s post discusses the first type of financing — self financing and bootstrapping.  Read more