Paying it Forward, a podcast by Square

You may have seen interest rates before, shouting at you from a brightly colored advertisement enticing you to apply for a loan or a credit card but what exactly does APY or APR mean and...is it a good thing if those rates are low? When it comes to Vanessa Acosta’s small business, setting aside savings has meant being able to reinvest in her business, buying new equipment, and this year...hiring new employees.

There’s no primer on managing debt, in fact, there’s no $200 to collect as you pass “Go”. But, what if there was? There are a few good habits you can build to better manage debt from checking your credit report to seeing where you consolidate your debt. Hear from one business owner who managed his debt, and grew his business from a few farmer’s markets to hundreds, distribution through major retailers and now, nationwide shipping.

Marketing online can be daunting, it may even sound like something only large companies have the budget to afford. By leveraging a few new tips and tools, your business can become more discoverable to future customers. Fybr Bamboo owner Kamala Allison dipped her toes into SEO last year. Hear how prioritizing marketing and eCommerce set her company on course to weather the storm of business uncertainty.

There are so many documents you need as a business owner to quantify how your business is doing throughout the year. We’ll start at the profit and loss statement then show how this connects to a balance sheet and a cash flow statement. It may sound overwhelming at first but one business owner tells us how measuring her businesses’ profit and loss was the gateway to better managing cash flow for the business as a whole.

When it comes to pricing your goods or services online, it can be tricky to offer reasonable prices and great quality while keeping your business’ health in mind. From key calculations you should keep in mind to unexpected costs like warehousing or customer service, we hear from one Atlanta based business owner who is optimizing its unisex lifestyle clothing brand for eCommerce.

As you grow your business, hiring employees might have always seemed a part of the plan, so how did it become so complicated? You hire your first employee, maybe several, and suddenly the right deductions, forms and deadlines become crucial to operating your business. Hear from a small business owner who went from no employees to just under 100 in a short amount of time while still evoking his business’ mission.

Lines of credit, small business loans, even credit cards. There are so many financing options to choose from it can be difficult to decide what’s best for your business, let alone what all your options are. Hear firsthand from a small business owner who has taken out a loan for her hair salon and some of the unexpected obstacles she encountered along the way.

It can be tempting to mix business and personal finances, however, the consequences for your business outweigh the convenience of blurring those lines. From optimizing their finances for credit to managing day-to-day expenses, hear how one mother and daughter-run business keeps things in the family, but separate accounts.

When it comes to running a small business, tackling financial decisions can be daunting and often overwhelming. Each week, we'll focus on a common financial issue bringing in an expert in the field with actionable insights and a fellow business owner who has tackled it first hand.