Why borrowing to grow isn’t a dirty word
I want to tell you about a check I wrote that scared the heck out of me.
It was for a coaching program. Not cheap. The kind of number that makes your stomach drop, your chest pound, and your neck clench when you sign the bottom. I didn’t have the cash sitting around; I had to use my line of credit to borrow it.
Every voice in my head said this is irresponsible.
Every piece of conventional advice said wait until you can afford it.
I did it anyway, and it changed my business. It paid back in spades.
That experience taught me something I think most people get completely wrong about money:
The idea that all debt is bad – it’s not. And believing it is, is costing you.
Here’s the truth:
Some debt drains you. Some debt builds you.
Learn the difference and everything changes.
The Two Kinds of Debt
Bad debt funds the stuff that’s already gone by the time the bill arrives. The vacation you couldn’t really afford — you’ve got the photos, you’ve got a couple of tchotchkes you brought home, and you’re still paying for it eighteen months later. The buy-now-pay-later plans stacking up on gadgets, gizmos, and clothes that somehow always feel free until you add them up. Money going out. Nothing growing in return. That’s the trap.
Good debt is the opposite. Good debt is borrowed money that produces a return greater than what it costs you. The business loan that lets you hire so you can double your output. The mortgage on a property that pays you rent. The coaching program that doubles your revenue. Good debt is a tool.
Here’s the simple test: If the borrowed money will produce more than it costs you — in interest, in effort, in time — it’s working for you. If it won’t, it’s working against you.
The Part Nobody Wants to Hear
Most real growth in a business and in life happens before you can afford it.
The program that could change your business costs twenty grand, and you don’t have it.
The equipment that lets you serve bigger and better clients costs twenty-five grand.
The hire that frees up twenty hours a week so you can stay in your zone of genius might cost sixty thousand a year — and you need them now, not eighteen months later.
Waiting until you can pay cash sounds responsible. In reality, it means watching the people who were willing to leverage smartly fly right past you.
The one thing you can’t borrow back is time.
Four Questions Before You Sign Anything
This isn’t a license to swipe the card on every shiny opportunity. Smart leverage requires honest math.
Before you take on any debt, ask yourself:
What’s the realistic return?
Not the dream scenario – the reasonable one.
What’s the payback period?
How much time do you have to pay it back, and is there a clear path to do it?
What’s your plan if it doesn’t work?
Smart borrowing always has a downside plan. Can you still make the payments if the investment under performs?
Is the interest rate reasonable for what you’re using it for?
A seven or nine percent loan for something that gives you back thirty percent – that’s excellent debt. A twenty-four percent credit card for the same thing? Problem – no good.
The Mindset Shift
The wealthy don’t avoid debt. They use it deliberately and leverage. The difference between them and someone drowning in credit card balances isn’t access to credit; it’s intention behind every dollar borrowed.
Your business and your skills are assets. Investing in them — through coaching, education, equipment, hiring, marketing — often produces the highest returns of any investment you’ll ever make. Sometimes that requires borrowing. Done thoughtfully, that’s not reckless. That’s how growth actually works.
The goal was never to live debt-free.
The goal is to make sure every dollar you owe is making you richer, not poorer.
I’m asking you to bet on yourself. Bet smartly, and watch what happens.