First-Time Business Owners

First-Time Business Owners

How should a first-time business owner utilize credit cards?

That's a risky game to play. And if you're going to use credit cards, of course, you can be smart about it. Take your time with the decision. Do your research. And I mean weeks of research. A lot of young entrepreneurs, myself included, don't really know a lot about raising capital and how to get funding. I didn't do the right research. I didn't do the proper due diligence. That was a mistake.

I used multiple credit cards and had a really good credit score. So I leveraged that and I had assumed that I would be able to pay off. All the charges that I racked up, basically maxing out the card because I'd be like, Oh, we're fine. In six months we're going to be at X, Y, Z. I think that was a little bit of ego, maybe it was just confidence.

I would still maybe use credit cards because at that point I wouldn't have been able to leverage revenue or, anything else. It's very difficult to get just capital as a startup.

But with those even thousand, 5,000, limits, it does help, right? And so as long as you keep your credit score at least decent and don't tank it by just maxing credit cards out. It's going to open you up for the opportunity to get more funding, bigger amounts, when the time is right, when the time comes, and when you have the revenue that you can show for.

*This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.*

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