Straight talk on business capital.

Before you take funding, write down one sentence: what is this money going to do?

Buy inventory you already have orders for. Cover payroll until a receivable clears. Replace the equipment that's costing you jobs. If you can't name the job, it's worth pausing.

Money with a clear job is easier to measure — you can compare what it costs against what it's expected to bring back. Money without one tends to disappear into the daily noise while the payments keep coming.

Every owner takes risks. The question is whether you've measured them.

Three numbers matter before any funding deal: the total cost in dollars, how the repayment sits against your cash flow in a slow week, and a realistic — not optimistic — estimate of the return.

If those numbers work, you can move with confidence. If they don't, you've just saved yourself a hard few months.

After 17 years in this industry, I've learned that the deal you talk someone out of can matter as much as the one you close.

If the cost is too high for what the money needs to do, I'll say so. My goal is a decision you'd make again — not a signature.