Big bank small business lending units run on credit-score scripts and SBA wraps, Fed survey data shows. Small banks still approve more files. Here is how the model works and who clears it.
Isabel Duarte · November 4, 2026From parking-garage sources to newsroom standoffs, the best reporting movies are really about process — and process is something business owners know cold.
Tanya Brooks · November 1, 2026
Broker fees on SBA 7(a) loans follow a written cap schedule: 3 percent on small loans, 2 percent up to $1 million, with an aggregate ceiling of $30,000. Every agent fee must land on Form 159, signed by all three parties to the deal.
Isabel Duarte · October 31, 2026
SBDC advising is no-cost and training low-cost, per America's SBDC. What an entrepreneurship course covers, what sessions look like, and what it cannot do.
Priya Vaithilingam · October 30, 2026
A federal visit to one metal shop shows where small-business policy attention is pointed right now — and what an owner can do about it.
Tanya Brooks · October 29, 2026
SBA caps a 7(a) lender’s margin at prime plus 3.0 to 6.5 points by loan size, and prime stood at 7.00% in October 2026. Here is how the guarantee, the caps, and bank pricing compare.
Tanya Brooks · October 25, 2026A new national survey puts a figure on the quietest cost-cutting move in business: owners paying themselves less, or nothing, to keep the doors open.
Tanya Brooks · October 23, 2026Meta's AI agent now connects to Shopify, QuickBooks, Stripe and more — here is what it does, what it costs, and where the guardrails sit.
Tanya Brooks · October 2, 2026
Same-day market coverage is built for attention, not for your ledger. Here is how to read it without the noise.
Michael Hayes · October 21, 2026
Gov. Braun's new program expands Buy Indiana. Here is how a qualifying company gets on the list and what the state buys.
Priya Vaithilingam · October 11, 2026
Founder drive lasts longer when it runs on systems, feedback, and other people — not on 5 a.m. mythology.
Priya Vaithilingam · September 30, 2026
Entrepreneurship through acquisition trades the startup grind for an operating company with customers, cash flow, and a history you did not create.
Priya Vaithilingam · September 20, 2026
The chief minister used World Bamboo Day to frame bamboo as a jobs and entrepreneurship engine. The message matters less for what it says than for what it leaves out.
Priya Vaithilingam · September 18, 2026
Both platforms cost nothing. They answer different questions, and the difference matters for how you set up your screens.
Isabel Duarte · October 16, 2026
The first five financial steps worth taking, ranked by how much each one protects you.
Isabel Duarte · October 4, 2026Amortization, compound interest and payment schedules, worked out step by step.
Isabel Duarte · September 26, 2026Budgeting, interest and credit are one system. Here is how the pieces fit together.
Tanya Brooks · September 24, 2026
The base's Small Business Office says it opens doors for local vendors. A closer read shows the real gatekeeper is a warrant, not a handshake.
Tanya Brooks · September 17, 2026
The Fed left its target range unchanged on a 9-3 vote, keeping the prime rate that indexes most small-business credit lines flat for now.
Michael Hayes · August 19, 2026Banks post the prime rate, the Fed publishes it, and your note decides when it lands. The spread and the reset date do more work than the headline number.
Michael Hayes · August 17, 2026When input prices swing, the businesses that survive are those whose contracts specify who bears the swing — indexed pricing, bands, and hedges beat hope.
Michael Hayes · August 1, 2026
How low-interest disaster and emergency loan programs work, the paperwork they demand, and why the smartest operators prepare before the storm, not after.
Michael Hayes · October 5, 2026
Depth, speed and bias profile differ more between outlets than most owners expect. Here is how to match one to the way you actually run your day.
Isabel Duarte · October 1, 2026The gap between delivering work and getting paid is a financing decision you are making on every invoice. Here is how to set it deliberately.
Isabel Duarte · September 13, 2026SBA 7(a) variable-rate loans are capped at the prime rate plus a size-based spread, and a 2026 rule change gave lenders new base rates to peg them to — here's how to read your own note.
Isabel Duarte · August 10, 2026