Running a business comes with a lot of stress no matter what type of business you run. All businesses have two common factors—you must have customers and you need money. And without money, you can’t attract customers. Unless you have saved or had a financial windfall, you will need money just to start your business. And you must always be prepared for those emergencies that come with any type of business.

Don’t be afraid of getting a credit card. You may be concerned about interest rates and credit history, but used properly, credit cards can help your business grow.

Here are five ways:

You can establish a credit history as a business – unless you are a sole proprietor and use your Social Security number to do business, you will have an employee identification number, also known as an EIN. When you have no credit history under your EIN, creditors will look at your personal credit. This is great if your personal credit is stellar. It’s not so great when your personal credit is subpar.

But banks and other financial institutions are more likely to give you a credit card for business use, even if you have some credit trouble. And as you show you are credit worthy, you will establish good credit history that will give you more access to cash as you grow.

Just because you don’t have established credit or a great personal credit report, you do have an option for getting a credit card for your business by obtaining a secured credit card. The cards require you to make a deposit that will serve as your credit limit. Your limit will be raised as establish your payment history. Make sure you check the annual fees and interest rates.

It’s better than a conventional loan – applying for a loan is a long process and there is no guarantee that you will be approved. When you have a credit card, you not only have access to daily cash, most cards allow for cash advances. This will help when you need a smaller influx of cash.

And credit cards offer you a continuous line of credit, unlike the one-time funds you get from a loan. The more you pay on the credit card each month, the more you have available next month. You can use this available money to help your business grow.

You may get a higher credit limit – not only are credit cards easier to apply for, you may also get more money.

You can manage your finances better – putting all of your expenditures on the credit card gives you one record. You can simply look at your credit card bill to see what you spend during the month. And you only have one bill to pay.

If you have employees, they don’t have to wait to get a check or cash from you to make a purchase. You can get an employee a separate credit card or just give them authorization to make purchases on behalf of your company. Make sure you keep an eye on the purchases. Some employees will take advantage of you and use the card for personal use.

You can earn rewards – many business credit cards offer cash rewards or other incentives to users. For example, you could earn between one to five percent on your purchases with some cards. Or if you travel frequently for your business, you may want to look for a card that offers airline miles.  This puts more money in your pocket that you can use to expand your business. These are benefits that don’t come with conventional loans or loans from friends or relatives.

Paul J Paquin is the CEO at Golden Financial Services and the author of the book called; “A Complete Debt Consolidation Guide to Become Debt-free”. Paul spent the last 15-years engulfed in debt consolidation, as the CEO at Golden Financial Services, learning about the most effective debt relief options by researching and testing different methods.