Product blog
Product blog
Product updates, field guides, and field notes—each with links to docs and the hub where relevant. High-level milestones also appear on the changelog.
Topic
ReadField guide · Jun 14, 2026
Due diligence before buying a small online business
A practical due-diligence checklist for a first-time buyer of a small online business: why the listing is the optimistic case, how to verify revenue and traffic from primary sources rather than screenshots, the concentration and platform-dependency risks that hide inside healthy-looking numbers, the all-important question of whether the business transfers to you intact, and the red flags that should end a deal. Education, not advice.
- Verify, don’t trust the screenshot
- Concentration is hidden risk
- Will it survive the handover?
Novus Stream Solutions (hub)
ReadField guide · Jun 11, 2026
Compound interest for operators: the one formula that runs your portfolio and your business
A plain-language walk through compound growth for people who run businesses: the mechanics, the rule of 72, why the curve feels flat for years before it bends, and how reinvested profits, content libraries, and repeat customers compound exactly the way money does.
- The curve is flat before it bends
- Rule of 72, in working terms
- Your business compounds too
Novus Stream Solutions
ReadField guide · Jun 11, 2026
Index funds vs stock picking when your day job is already a concentrated bet
Why the active-versus-passive debate lands differently for business owners: what the evidence actually says about picking stocks, why an operator's edge rarely transfers to public markets, and the case for letting the boring half of your net worth stay boring.
- Your business is the active bet
- What the SPIVA data shows
- Edge rarely transfers to markets
Novus Stream Solutions
ReadField guide · Jun 11, 2026
Diversifying when your business is your biggest asset
A personal-balance-sheet approach for owner-operators: why the business, your income, and often your skills are all one correlated position, what concentration risk actually costs, and the practical sequence for building uncorrelated wealth alongside a company you love.
- Your income and equity are one bet
- A personal balance sheet, drawn honestly
- De-risking without selling out
Novus Stream Solutions
ReadField guide · Jun 11, 2026
How small online businesses are valued: SDE, multiples, and what moves them
A plain-language guide to small-business valuation: what seller's discretionary earnings actually includes, why most online businesses trade at two to four times SDE, the specific factors that push a multiple up or down, and how to use valuation as an operating lens.
- SDE: the number buyers actually price
- Why multiples cluster at 2–4×
- Every fix is worth multiple dollars
Novus Stream Solutions
ReadField guide · Jun 11, 2026
Reinvest or pay yourself? A profit allocation framework for small business owners
A deliberate approach to the owner's allocation decision: why both extremes fail, how to read the business's real marginal return on reinvestment, the case for paying yourself a boring fixed salary, and a percentage-based waterfall that ends the monthly renegotiation.
- Both extremes quietly fail
- Pay yourself like an employee
- A waterfall ends the debate
Novus Stream Solutions
ReadField guide · Jun 8, 2026
Business loans and lines of credit, explained
A clear, non-jargon guide to small-business borrowing: why debt is a tool rather than a moral question, the core difference between a term loan and a line of credit and what each is for, how to read the true cost of borrowing past the headline rate, the secured-versus-unsecured and personal-guarantee traps, and the simple test of borrowing against a return rather than against hope. Educational, not financial advice.
- Term loan vs line of credit
- Borrow against a return, not a hole
- Mind the personal guarantee
Novus Stream Solutions (hub)
ReadField guide · Jun 2, 2026
A cash buffer and emergency fund for business owners
Why owners need buffers more than employees, sizing a business reserve and a personal one, where to keep the money, and how to build it from irregular income. Educational, not personalized financial advice.
- Why owners need bigger buffers
- Sizing business vs personal reserves
- Building from irregular income
Novus Stream Solutions (hub)
ReadField guide · May 30, 2026
Separating business and personal finances (and why it matters)
Why commingling business and personal money causes tax, legal, and bookkeeping problems, and the practical steps — separate account, business card, clean records — to keep them apart.
- Why commingling hurts
- A separate account first
- Clean books at tax time
Novus Stream Solutions (hub)
ReadField guide · May 30, 2026
Setting aside money for taxes when you run a small business
Why running your own business changes how tax works, why the bill blindsides people, the set-aside percentage habit, the separate-account method, quarterly thinking, and treating tax money as never yours. Educational, not personalized tax advice.
- Why the bill blindsides you
- The set-aside habit
- A separate tax account
Novus Stream Solutions (hub)