What about a mortgage on a building?

Generally the most defensible kind: an asset you use, that holds value, with a payment you can test against real rent you already pay.

Is it better to grow slowly with no debt?

Often, and it is underrated. Slower growth you own outright leaves you free to say no, which is worth more than most owners realise until they cannot.

Should I borrow to make payroll?

Treat that as an alarm rather than a plan. It is usually a symptom of pricing or collections, and borrowing without fixing the cause buys weeks and adds a payment.

← Answers

Is it wrong for a Christian business owner to take on debt?

Debt is not treated as sin, but it is treated seriously — the borrower ends up serving the lender, and that is a real loss of freedom rather than a metaphor. The question is not whether borrowing is permitted but whether this particular debt can be serviced when the optimistic case does not happen.

What borrowing actually costs

Not just interest. It costs options. An owner with a payment due each month has fewer choices about which work to take, which customer to walk away from, and how long he can survive a quiet season. That is the part people underestimate, and it is the part that changes how you behave.

Test it against the bad case, not the good one

Anyone can service a loan in the year they planned for. Run it against the quarter where your biggest customer pays sixty days late and a truck needs replacing. If it only works when things go well, it is not financing, it is hoping.

Borrowing for an asset is different from borrowing for a hole

Debt against equipment that earns is a different decision from debt covering a shortfall you have not diagnosed. The second usually returns, larger, because the cause was never found. Fix the leak before financing it.

Presumption is the actual risk

Taking on an obligation on the assumption things will work out — and calling that faith — is the failure mode worth naming. Diligence and planning are not the opposite of trust. "It will come" is not a repayment schedule.

Also asked

What about a mortgage on a building?: Generally the most defensible kind: an asset you use, that holds value, with a payment you can test against real rent you already pay.
Is it better to grow slowly with no debt?: Often, and it is underrated. Slower growth you own outright leaves you free to say no, which is worth more than most owners realise until they cannot.
Should I borrow to make payroll?: Treat that as an alarm rather than a plan. It is usually a symptom of pricing or collections, and borrowing without fixing the cause buys weeks and adds a payment.

Written for your trade

This is the kind of thing Solomon works through with owners using their own numbers. See how it works →