What are the credit cards I use in my business?
Take a look behind the scenes and learn about the credit cards I use in my financial coaching business and why.
I started my financial coaching business informally almost a decade ago, but it was a few years later that I decided to actually get serious.
I filed my paperwork with the state, opened a bank account, and waited for the money to start rolling in.
I’m joking of course! For years, I paid for basically all of my business expenses out of my personal pocket.
But I more or less went through the steps outlined in this listicle on how to start a business.
One of those steps, #7, “Get a business credit card” is one that I wanted to talk about today.
Because, you might ask, what kind of credit card (or credit cards) would I get for my own financial coaching business?
By a strange coincidence
In the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, when Arthur Dent is lying in front of the bulldozer that has come to demolish his house (this is right before a Vogon constructor fleet comes to demolish the Earth), Mr. Prosser, the construction manager, asks him:
Mr. Prosser: “Do you know how much damage this bulldozer would sustain if I just let it roll over you?”
Arthur Dent: “How much?”
Mr. Prosser: “None at all.”
And by a strange coincidence, “none at all” is the very same amount of credit cards I possess for my business.
Why not?
A business credit card is seen as an obvious step to proper business ownership. So why haven’t I bothered?
One reason, a simple one, is that it’s just not necessary.
A coaching business isn’t like opening a restaurant or other storefront. The work that I provide is “just in time”, meaning that it’s just me, the courses and content that I create, and the sessions I do with clients.
I mean, sure, I pay for my domain, webhosting, mailing list, quiz software, and other various expenses, but it’s not like I’m buying office space or anything.
I’ve talked about the times when I use personal credit cards. And none of those really apply for my business.
So it’s just not relevant.
Setting an example
There’s more to it though than just not being relevant.
It seems hard to justify getting and using business credit cards when I spend so much time in my business helping people stop using them.
It wouldn’t be totally hypocritical (as I’m not some Dave Ramsey anti-debt acolyte, just extremely skeptical) but if I can’t find a truly compelling reason for it, I don’t want to burden my business with it.
It’s also very nice to say that I operate my business without debt. It’s very clean, the guardrails totally in place.
I accept credit cards (and it’s awkward)
That said, I do accept credit cards in payment for my services.
Which is a little bit awkward. I know that some money people won’t let you pay for anything with a credit card, and others say that they don’t want your money until you’re out of debt.
And I would love to say something similar, because it would also be simple and clean. No debt, because I will help you get out of debt!
But I also recognize that this is a “cart before horse” problem. My job is to help you get money, to figure out the money you already have, and to make more of it, such that you don’t need to have debt anymore. If you already figured out how to do that, you wouldn’t need to come to me for help.
It would be like a therapist saying that you have to have achieved a certain level of emotional intelligence and have worked through a lot of your issues before they would see you. That’s crazy talk!
So while I’m confident that after I work with you, you won’t feel the need to buy things on credit again, the very fact that you’re coming to me now means that you’re not there yet. And that’s okay.
Credit shouldn’t be the default
If there’s one thing I’ve harped on for years, it’s that I don’t want you to use credit cards for your everyday spending. Everyone of your reasons I can refute. Every. Single. One.
Credit shouldn’t be the default. If you want to have credit cards, there are some small benefits to having one or two of them, but they are minor and not something you can benefit from every day.
And as for my business, there are a lot of reasons why my business wouldn’t benefit from a credit card, and nothing compelling to push me otherwise. None at all.
Originally published at https://empathicfinance.com on April 4, 2022.
