The 10-year Treasury yield just hit its highest level since early 2025, and markets are pricing in better-than-even odds of a Fed rate hike at the September FOMC meeting. If your business carries a line of credit, a variable-rate loan, or financing on equipment or real estate, this isn't background noise — it's a direct hit to your monthly costs.

You can't control the Fed. You can control how exposed your business is when the decision lands.

1. Know What's Actually Floating-Rate in Your Business

Pull every loan, credit line, and lease and check which ones move with rates and which are fixed. Most owners know they have debt; fewer know exactly which pieces will get more expensive the moment rates move. That list is step one.

2. Consider Locking In Fixed Rates Before the Next Hike

If you've been putting off refinancing a variable-rate loan into something fixed, a looming hike is exactly the kind of pressure that makes the decision easier. It won't always be the right call, but it's worth a real conversation with your lender now rather than after the rate moves.

3. Delay Non-Essential Financed Purchases

Equipment or expansion plans that depend on new financing get more expensive in a rising-rate environment. If a purchase can reasonably wait a quarter, that patience has real dollar value right now.

4. Build a Cash Buffer Instead of Leaning on a Credit Line

A credit line is a great safety net when rates are low. It's a much more expensive safety net when they're not. Shifting toward cash reserves, even gradually, reduces how much a rate hike actually costs you day to day.

5. Talk to Your Lender Before You Need To

Lenders have more flexibility for a borrower who reaches out proactively than one who calls after missing a payment or scrambling for cash. A single conversation now can surface options — rate locks, restructuring, timing — that aren't available once you're already stretched.

Quick Self-Check

• Do I know exactly which of my loans and credit lines are variable-rate?

• Have I talked to my lender about locking in a fixed rate this quarter?

• Am I about to finance a purchase that could reasonably wait?

• Do I have a cash buffer I could draw on instead of a credit line?

The Business Doctor's Prescription

Rate cycles reward the business owners who look at their numbers before the headline forces them to. A 25-basis-point hike is a manageable cost when you've planned for it, and a genuine strain when you find out about your exposure after the fact.

If you're not sure how exposed your business actually is, let's look at it together.