by A.W. Berry

Created on: March 05, 2008

Debt has the ability to be both a positive and negative catalyst for wealth. Too much debt becomes out of control, too little debt and opportunities may pass by. Debt has been used as a financial instrument for centuries and is means by which lenders can make a profit and borrowers can 1) engage in financial ventures otherwise unfunded 2) increase standard of living and 3) allow businesses to finance activities more profitably. This article will focus on the use of debt as a potentially wealth building business venture.

Financial ventures and expenditures financed through debt can go very well or terribly wrong if the debt is unrealistic, cannot be paid back or does not create a return higher than the cost of debt. An example of beneficial debt leveraging is Coca-Cola's use of "debt financing to lower the cost of capital, which increases return on shareholder equity" (Coca-Cola 10Q, 4Q 2007) In other words, the cost of debt is cheaper than other sources of capital for Coca-Cola company.

BUSINESS USE OF DEBT:

Businesses utilize debt to increase potential returns whether those returns be through expanded operations, more inventory, research and development, project development etc. It is not uncommon for businesses to use debt because business owners and directors realize the potential debt has in creating wealth. One need only look at the financial statements of the thousands of publicly traded companies to realize just how much debt is used to finance one or more aspects of a business. A few examples of business use of debt to generate profit are the following:

*Leveraged buyouts
*Debt funded price wars
*Increasing product quality
*Capital investments
*Vertical and/or horizontal integration

DEBT AS A TOOL FOR GROWTH:

Without debt, businesses are left only with liquid assets and equity. While assets and equity may be a wiser choice in a higher interest rate environment, there are some times in the business and economic life cycle in which debt may be a worthwhile risk for growth. For example, there may be times when a proven demand for a product is there, and market research has demonstrated both competitors and customers are fueling the supply and demand equation.

To illustrate the above point, if company A is a grower and seller of tomatoes however in order to expand its product line to include a greater variety of tomatoes it needs more greenhouse space. Company A decides to take on a debt of $10,000.00 at an interest rate of 7.5% to build the extended greenhouse and

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