For most of us, running a small business is something that we love to do. It gets us out of bed in the morning with a smile on our face and spring in our step. There's just something about having everyday to do with as you please that quickens the blood and makes work not seem like work. That said, of course you are running a business and do have client projects to do, bills to pay and people to keep in touch with. Still, there is not better feeling in the world than to know that although getting the job done is still priority number one, how you do it and when, is up to you. And as you might expect, small business loans are par for this particular course.

That said, it can be very easy to come to rely on small business loans to get you through lean times of which there will always be. But is this the best course of action? Consider for a moment that even if you pay for much of the startup costs of your business from your own pocket, you will still need to keep track of what you paid and when come tax time. Not only that but you need to remain profitable to maintain the tax advantages that small businesses get. Of course small business loans can help with this, however it can be tough to know where to draw the line.

Of course, there are times when you will need small business loans to help expand your business, or to streamline your processes, such as accounting, order taking or customer service. However, the thing to keep in mind here is to only apply for what you specifically need at that point in time. You'll have less to pay back, the interest on the principal will be less and you won't be tempted to use any extra for frivolous things. And this in fact, can be the main problem with small business loans: the temptation is always there, especially if it is just you, to use any extra for things that might not be necessary to grow the business.

So, in that case, how do you know when you're starting to rely on small business loans? One sure way to tell is if you have a lot of work and clients, but the money disappears at the end of the month and you need to get loans to stay afloat and keep services such as the Internet running. You might be wondering if that really happens. As a small business owner I can tell you that it does and it is not fun.

If you're using small business loans for personal expenses rather than strictly for the business (something else that happens frequently if you don't watch for it), then you need to do some serious rethinking about why you started your business as well as where you see it heading in the foreseeable future. Once you do this, you'll be able to have the discipline to avoid using loans for anything but your business needs.