The $100K Mistake: How SMBs Waste Points Without a Strategy

🎧 Always Turn Left: SMBs Untapped Points Value

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It’s easy to swipe the same credit card every time you book a flight, pay for software, or run your next ad campaign. Most business owners default to the card that’s already in their wallet or rely on whatever setup their accountant suggests. After all, it works, and it’s convenient—so why complicate things?

But that “set it and forget it” mentality often comes at a steep cost. For businesses spending tens of thousands—or even hundreds of thousands—of dollars a year, there’s a hidden lever for ROI that goes unused every day: your rewards strategy.

We’re not talking about gaming the system or chasing luxury. We’re talking about deploying the same spend you’re already making but doing it smarter—so you can unlock free travel, fund team incentives, and create new growth opportunities without ever increasing your budget.

The Invisible Leak in Your Budget

Let’s consider a real-world example. A creative agency in Denver had about 10 team members and a monthly credit card spend of over $120,000. Like many small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), they used a mix of cards, most of which offered 1.5% cash back or the occasional points program. They weren’t mismanaging things. In fact, their accountant thought they were doing great.

On paper, it looked fine. But when we sat down to analyze their spending categories, rewards setup, and redemption choices, the gap became glaring. With a few optimizations, their existing spend had the potential to generate more than $135,000 in travel value per year. But in practice, they were only redeeming about $21,600—barely 16% of what was possible.

Where Most SMBs Go Wrong

1. Using the Wrong Cards

Flat-rate cash back cards—like the classic 2% card—seem like the gold standard. But for businesses with specialized categories like advertising, software, or travel, they’re often leaving rewards on the table. Cards like the Amex Business Gold, which gives 4X points on your top two spending categories each month, or the Chase Ink Preferred, which offers 3X on travel, can easily outpace flat-rate returns—especially if those points are transferred to partners for high-value redemptions.

This is where strategy matters. Not all points are created equal. And not all spending should go on the same card.

2. Mixing Business and Personal Spend

It’s shockingly common: a founder using their personal Chase Sapphire Preferred or Amex Platinum for business expenses, or worse, blending personal expenses onto the business card. Not only does this complicate bookkeeping and create tax headaches, it also limits your ability to use tools that make managing team spend and rewards easier.

3. No Central Points Pool

Many teams let employees earn points into their own accounts without centralizing them. While this might seem like a nice perk for the team, it fragments your rewards. If one person is sitting on 30,000 Amex points and another has 80,000 Chase points, you’re losing out on the ability to combine and redeem for high-value business use—like team travel or client events.

The fix is simple: choose programs that allow for pooled points or admin control, and centralize the accounts.

4. Redeeming Points Poorly

This might be the biggest leak of all. Many businesses redeem points for gift cards, statement credits, or even merchandise. These options offer some of the lowest redemption rates, often under 1 cent per point. Contrast that with high-value redemptions like business-class flights, hotel stays, or partner bookings through transfer programs, which can yield 3 to 5 cents per point—or even more.

What a Thoughtful Points Strategy Looks Like

Let’s revisit the Denver agency. After reviewing their spending patterns, we made several changes that required no additional out-of-pocket cost:

• Shifted their ad spend to a card earning 4X points on that category.
• Moved travel bookings to a card netting 3X on airfare, hotels, and car rentals.
• Consolidated all points into one master rewards account under the owner.
• Established a redemption policy: points could only be used for business travel or team incentives.
• Created an internal points tracker and policy doc so staff understood how and when points could be used.

Before the overhaul, their average redemption value was around 1.2 cents per point—pretty typical for businesses using the default cash back or statement credit options. After the shift, they averaged 4.3 cents per point. The total annual return jumped from $21,000 to $111,000, with zero increase in their total spend.

Why This Actually Matters

Optimized points are more than just a cool perk—they can be strategic tools. Think of them as a parallel budget line you didn’t even know you had. When used well, points can support:

• Sales contests and incentives. One client used points to send their top three salespeople on a beach retreat, boosting morale and performance.
• Client engagement. Another firm used points to fly out key clients for an in-person strategy session, deepening the relationship and leading to a contract renewal.
• Founder travel. A New York founder uses points exclusively for quarterly trips to conferences, which have led to several new clients.
• Staff training and development. A construction firm in New Jersey flew 20 field reps to a training event using Amex points—flights that would’ve cost over $35,000 out of pocket.

These aren’t luxury perks. They’re strategic moves funded by rewards that would otherwise go underused—or be burned on Amazon gift cards.

Why Your Accountant Probably Won’t Flag This

Your accountant likely sees credit cards as a compliance issue. Their job is to make sure the books are clean, the expenses are categorized, and the bills are paid. And they’re probably great at it. But that’s not the same as maximizing rewards value.

The typical accountant doesn’t have time to analyze transfer partners or redemption charts. That’s not their fault—it’s just not their focus.

A Simple Framework to Get Started

If you’re wondering whether your business is leaving value on the table, use this framework as a quick diagnostic:

1. Audit the last 3 months of spending. Identify your biggest categories: ads, travel, software, contractors, inventory?
2. Pick 1–2 main credit card ecosystems. Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards offer the most flexibility.
3. Centralize your points. Ensure they’re all accumulating under a business owner or admin account—not scattered across team members.
4. Create a redemption policy. Will you use points for team flights, client travel, or offsetting large event costs? Be intentional.
5. Track your return. Calculate your redemption value (e.g., 80,000 points for a $1,200 flight = 1.5 cents per point). Aim for 2+.

You don’t need to be an expert on all 20 airline transfer partners. You just need to be slightly more intentional than the average business. That alone puts you ahead of 90% of your peers.

Signs You Need to Rework Your Setup

• You don’t know how many points your business has—or where they’re held.
• You’re redeeming points for statement credits or Amazon purchases.
• Team members have cards with no centralized rewards strategy.
• You’ve never transferred points to a travel partner.
• There’s no written policy for how and when to use rewards.

Final Thoughts: Intentional Spend = Hidden Revenue

Let’s be clear: this isn’t about hacking first-class tickets or living the influencer lifestyle on points. It’s about operational excellence. Every dollar your business spends should be working for you in multiple ways—whether it’s generating revenue, building equity, or earning rewards that fuel future growth.

A deliberate points strategy won’t change your business overnight. But it can quietly, steadily deliver real returns. And for many SMBs, this can mean:

• Attending that trade show without worrying about airfare.
• Sending your team to a training event without blowing the budget.
• Treating a top client to a business-class flight without cutting into your margins.

In most cases, setting up a points strategy takes just a few hours. But the payoff can last for years. If you haven’t audited your credit card rewards strategy yet, now is the time. You’re probably leaving more on the table than you think.