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, 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
Both platforms cost nothing. They answer different questions, and the difference matters for how you set up your screens.
Isabel Duarte · October 16, 2026
Meta'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
Reviews, red flags and a short checklist for choosing local vendors you can trust with your money.
Tanya Brooks · September 29, 2026A $52,000 salary is not the cost of a $52,000 employee: employer payroll taxes alone add 7.65%, and the fully loaded total typically lands between 1.25 and 1.4 times base pay, per BLS employer-cost data.
Tanya Brooks · August 26, 2026The SBA's pandemic-era fee relief on 7(a) loans expired September 30, 2023, and the upfront guarantee fee returned at up to 3.75% of the guaranteed portion — several thousand dollars on a typical $500,000 loan.
Tanya Brooks · August 24, 2026
The IRS expects tax as you earn it — miss the quarterly safe harbors and the penalty arrives as interest you never agreed to pay.
Tanya Brooks · March 8, 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
The first five financial steps worth taking, ranked by how much each one protects you.
Isabel Duarte · October 4, 2026
Amortization, 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, 2026The prime rate fell to 7.50% by December 2024, and if your credit line prices off prime, every $50,000 drawn costs $500 less per year than it did in September — here is how and when the change lands.
Isabel Duarte · August 28, 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