How To Use Business Credit Cards For Your Photo Booth Business To Unlock Rewards & Benefits
Part 2 of 10 Valuable Lessons I Was Reminded Of While Running a Six-Figure Photo Booth Business This Spring
Like many people I know, I accumulated a mountain of debt in my twenties thanks to poor financial habits and lack of self control. After paying it off in my early thirties and shortly after starting my photo booth business I’ve been intentional about which credit cards I use and diligent about paying them down to zero dollars every month.
While some people choose to stay away from credit cards when they’ve had a bad experience with raking up credit card debt, I went the opposite route. I use two of my favorite credit cards for almost all of the purchases I make for my photo booth business — Chase Sapphire Credit Card for business travel purchases and Chase Business Ink Credit Card for photo booth business non-travel purchases — and that’s because I earn a crazy generous amount of credit card reward points (or cash back if I choose) each year through them that allow me to take relaxing vacations at beautiful places like Parker Palm Springs (book the spa, it’s worth it) as well as buy things for myself that my salary doesn’t necessarily cover (particularly, a whole lot of books because I am a reading fiend and love building my own home library.)
So this spring I ended up spending more than usual on equipment purchases (we had many things break due to normal wear-and-tear as well as misuse at events, and being a believer in always having backup equipment on-hand at events, I purchased a second 360 photo booth since we started booking a lot more 360 photo booth events.)
In total this spring I spent approximately $10,000 on equipment alone (my total 2024 budget amount for replacement equipment!) And let me tell you, I am so glad I put all of those purchases on my Chase Business Ink Credit Card.
That said, it never really feels good to spend hard-earned money on things like equipment, but knowing my purchases will help pay for a vacation thanks to the credit card rewards points I earned, it definitely makes me feel a lot more positive about my photo booth business expenditures. And a positive mindset (plus a little self-care in the form of a relaxing vacation) can go a long way when you’re a photo booth entrepreneur, trust me. Plus, I’d be spending the money anyway, so I may as well get a free vacation out of it, right?
Oddly, not many photo booth industry leaders talk about the benefit of strategically using a credit card like Chase Business Ink Credit Card or Chase Sapphire Credit Card for their photo booth business.
So let’s talk about what the second very important photo booth business lesson is that I was reminded of in Part Two of this series, as well as review some action steps you can take so you too can enjoy a free vacation courtesy of Chase Business Ink Credit Card or Chase Sapphire Credit Card reward points, perhaps even with the benefit of boosting your credit score to above 800 like I’ve done:
#2 Leverage Your Business Credit Cards
Utilizing business credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Credit Card and Chase Business Ink Credit Card for your photo booth business purchases offers numerous benefits including:
Instant cash flow for your photo booth business
Rewards points or cash back that can be used to pay for FREE vacations and fun stuff
Boosting your credit score so you can potentially unlock lower insurance and interest rates
Streamlining expense reports which makes filing taxes easier
I personally enjoy using Chase Business Ink Credit Card for my photo booth business purchases and Chase Sapphire Credit Card for photo booth business travel purchases (friendly reminder, as a best practice you should always keep your business and personal purchases separate, check with your CPA about this if you have questions!)
While you can’t use credit cards for some things that require bank transfers (e.g., I can’t pay my employee salaries via Gusto with my credit card, or taxes unless I want to pay a credit card fee which in my opinion isn’t worth it,) you can use them for most things…including the majority of your photo booth business overhead costs and business-related travel.
The trick is, if you’re using Chase Sapphire Credit Card and Chase Business Ink Credit Card you want to make sure you pay them off in a timely manner so you avoid paying interest to the bank. Otherwise, the rewards points (or cash back) you would normally earn for free come with a cost, which cancels out their value.
Also, you don’t want to dig yourself into debt and run the risk of destroying your credit score, so remember before opening up a Chase Sapphire Credit Card and Chase Business Ink Credit Card be sure you have a plan to pay off your balances beforehand. My trick? Don’t spend more than you make!
Now let’s talk about the fun stuff! What specific rewards/benefits do you get with each credit card?
Chase Business Ink Credit Card (this is my favorite credit card for general photo booth business purchases)
Bonus points or cash back when you sign up and spend a minimum amount in a specific number of months
Some cards include $0 annual fees depending on which one you choose (if you pay an annual fee for a card I believe this is a business deduction, but be sure to check with your CPA)
Rewards points or cash back incentives for spending year-round (be sure to check the fine print on this and have a strategy in place)
Examples of some things I pay for with my Chase Business Ink Credit Card include:
Photo booth equipment
Backdrops
Props
Slack
Canva & Adobe Photoshop
Business subscriptions for payroll, taxes, etc.
Website
Insurance
Google Ads
Chase Sapphire Credit Card (this is my favorite credit card for travel-related photo booth business purchases)
Bonus points or cash-back toward travel when you sign up and spend a minimum amount in a specific number of months
Both cards have annual fees but the incentives for travel spending specifically are big (if you pay an annual fee for a card I believe this is a business deduction, but be sure to check with your CPA)
Rewards points or cash back incentives for travel-related spending year-round (be sure to check the fine print on this and have a strategy in place)
Examples of things I pay for with my Chase Sapphire Credit Card include:
Anything related to photo booth business travel (gas, hotels, flights, etc.)
If you’re thinking about opening a business credit card — either Chase Sapphire Credit Card and Chase Business Ink Credit Card — my best advice is to do so right before you plan to make a lot of big purchases that total up to the minimum spending amount each credit card requires in order to bonus you out with reward points or cash back. Then, this ensures you get your rewards points or cash-back incentive — just make sure you also have a solid plan to pay off your credit card beforehand so you don’t pay interest!
So let’s review, how do you leverage credit cards for your photo booth business and make sure you have enough money to do so:
Checkout all the offerings currently available for Chase Sapphire Credit Card and Chase Business Ink Credit Card
After figuring out which credit card/s work best for you, identify the best month to open it up so you hit the minimum spending amount that will unlock your rewards points or cash-back and make sure you have enough cashflow to pay off your credit card bills on-time so you don’t pay the bank interest
Once you’ve opened your credit card/s put a reminder on your calendar each month before the payment due date to notify you to pay them off, then spend spend spend as much as you can afford (but no more than you make) and rake up those rewards points and/or cash back — redeem and enjoy your free vacation!
Stayed tuned for Part 3 that includes photo booth business Lesson #3 (Invest In Your Team.) I’ll be sharing my tips and specific examples for how to do this effectively so you can hire and retain a happy and productive team.
Friendly reminder: Affiliate links were shared in the above blog. That said, I do not believe in sharing affiliate links for the sake of making money alone; rest assured, all of the links are to resources I personally use and love. I may receive compensation for these things should you choose to purchase them, so I thank you in advance for this.