For many small business owners, debt isn’t part of the plan—it’s what happens when survival takes priority over strategy. You take out a loan to make payroll. You swipe a card to bridge a slow month. You tell yourself you’ll catch up when the next client pays. But somehow, even when the money comes in, you’re still stressed, stretched, and one tough quarter away from total panic.
The truth is, debt isn’t just a numbers problem, it’s a behavioral one. It’s the byproduct of a pattern of reacting when things get tight instead of planning ahead. That reaction might look like taking on more work, skipping your own paycheck, or borrowing to buy breathing room. But the more you rely on short-term fixes, the more fragile your cash flow becomes.
Craig Dacy knows this pattern better than most. A former teacher turned financial coach and founder of DACY Financial Coaching, Craig helps small business owners untangle their financial stress and rebuild stability. His message: “Revenue doesn’t always solve the problem. Borrowing is a Band-Aid for an open wound.” The real solution is structure—and it starts with three simple steps.
This post draws on insights shared by Craig Dacy, owner of DACY Financial Coaching, in a webinar with Relay. Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity.
Relay is a financial technology company and is not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC. FDIC deposit insurance covers the failure of an insured bank. Certain conditions must be satisfied for pass-through deposit insurance coverage to apply.
1. Be Proactive With Your Money
Most entrepreneurs live in reaction mode. When a big payment lands, you finally exhale. When expenses spike, you tighten up and scramble to make the next bill. That cycle is exhausting—and it’s exactly how Craig found himself trapped in debt.
“Reactive payments create that financial yo-yo effect,” he said. “Every time a client paid, I’d dump it on the credit card and take a breath of relief—but my cash flow wasn’t any better. My habits hadn’t changed, so the next month I was right back where I started.”
Being proactive means flipping that script. Instead of reacting to what’s left in your account, you plan where every dollar goes before it arrives. You set rules for how much you’ll spend, save, and pay yourself—then stick to them even when business feels good.
Craig calls this “getting off the emotional roller coaster” of money. The goal isn’t perfection, it’s to give yourself a plan sturdy enough to handle both lean and abundant seasons.
2. Build a Debt Payoff Strategy You’ll Actually Stick To
Once your cash flow stops swinging wildly, you can finally go on offense. Craig teaches three tried-and-true methods for paying off debt: the Snowball, the Avalanche, and the Emotional Payoff approach.
The Snowball Method: Pay off your smallest debts first to build momentum and confidence.
The Avalanche Method: Tackle the highest-interest debts first to save the most money over time.
The Emotional Payoff: Start with the debt that weighs on you the most—because emotional relief often matters more than the numbers.
“We’re not talking math here,” Craig said. “We’re talking about the emotional, human side of debt in your business.”
He sees the Snowball method work best for most clients—not because it’s mathematically perfect, but because it builds quick wins. Each cleared balance creates visible progress and frees up more cash to attack the next one. “We’re really trying to free up cash flow,” he said. “That’s what gets you in this mess in the first place.”
Craig also stresses flexibility: if you have a chance to clear a big debt that frees up thousands a month, “jump the line.” The goal is to create momentum that compounds, not follow a formula to the letter.
3. Use a System That Keeps You Accountable
A payoff strategy is only as strong as the system behind it. Without structure, even the best intentions unravel. “Trying to do a strategy without a system isn’t going to work,” Craig said. “You don’t have a way to fund it, seed it, or track progress.”
For Craig and his clients, the Profit First framework provides that accountability. It’s a simple but powerful system: separate your income into distinct accounts for Profit, Owner’s Pay, Taxes, and Operating Expenses, so every dollar is assigned before it’s spent. When money comes in, it already knows where it’s going.
Craig practices what he preaches. “Every Friday, when I do my profit allocations, I move money through my accounts manually,” he said. “I still like to do it myself. Then I pay down the balance to zero.”
That weekly ritual creates discipline. It’s not glamorous, but it’s the kind of rhythm that builds control, confidence, and calm.
Craig’s 3-Step Debt Freedom Framework
If you strip away the stress and emotion, Craig’s approach to debt payoff boils down to three simple, repeatable steps.
Step 1 — Be Proactive
Plan your spending before the money arrives. Assign every dollar a purpose.
Step 2 — Choose Your Strategy
Commit to one payoff method (Snowball, Avalanche, or Emotional). Stick with it until you build traction.
Step 3 — Systematize Everything
Use a structured process like Profit First—or your own repeatable routine—to ensure consistency and accountability.
Once these three pieces lock together, debt payoff stops being chaos management and becomes a sustainable rhythm.
4. Stay Debt-Free by Managing Habits, Not Just Numbers
Getting out of debt is hard. Staying out is a lifestyle. Craig teaches three simple habits that prevent owners from sliding backward:
Pay credit cards weekly instead of monthly. “It keeps you from letting a month’s worth of spending pile up,” he said. Treat each week like a self-contained cycle: pay this week’s expenses with this week’s money.
Build a cash reserve. “We want to build a cash reserve—three to six months of expenses,” Craig said. “It doesn’t have to be perfect—just something that gives you breathing room.” Even a few payroll cycles’ worth of savings can transform panic into peace of mind.
Know yourself. “Maybe you shouldn’t be using credit cards right now,” he said. “Take a break for a year or two until you can manage purely on debit and cash flow. Once you’re steady again, go back to leveraging points.”
These aren’t complicated habits, but they’re powerful ones. They help shift the question from “Can I afford this?” to “Does this fit my plan?”
Putting It All Into Practice
The systems Craig teaches—proactive money management, structured debt payoffs, and disciplined account separation—become far simpler when paired with tools designed for visibility and automation. That’s where Relay fits in.
Relay lets small business owners:
Create multiple checking accounts to mirror Profit First or Craig’s 3-Step framework—keeping debt, expenses, and profit funds separate.
Automate transfers and allocations, so money moves to the right place on a set schedule—helping you stay consistent even when you’re busy.
See real-time balances across all accounts, giving you instant awareness of what’s available to spend, what’s committed to bills, and what’s reserved for profit or payoff.
With that structure in place, the behavioral discipline Craig teaches becomes second nature. You stop reacting—and start running your business on purpose.
Debt doesn’t have to define your business. The hardest part isn’t paying it off—it’s changing the habits that caused it. Craig’s three-step framework offers a way forward—one built on clarity, rhythm, and control. When you combine that mindset with the right tools, structure replaces stress, and progress replaces panic.
“That’s how you take care of debt,” Craig said. “That’s how you get ahead.”
Relay is a financial technology company and is not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC. FDIC deposit insurance covers the failure of an insured bank. Certain conditions must be satisfied for pass-through deposit insurance coverage to apply.
Quick Answers
Q: What’s the best way to pay off business debt?
A: Choose one strategy—Snowball, Avalanche, or Emotional—and stick with it until completion. Consistency beats complexity every time.
Q: How do I know if I should take a break from credit cards?
A: If balances keep climbing or payments feel out of control, pause usage until you’ve rebuilt savings and stability.
Q: How can I avoid falling back into debt?
A: Pay credit cards weekly, build a small cash reserve, and give your money a clear structure so every dollar has a job.
Q: How can Relay help?
A: Relay’s multiple accounts, automation, and real-time visibility make it easy to implement systems like Craig’s—so financial discipline feels less like effort and more like design.
Relay is a financial technology company and is not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC. FDIC deposit insurance covers the failure of an insured bank. Certain conditions must be satisfied for pass-through deposit insurance coverage to apply.
