I firmly believe that every person and business should have a budget. You deserve to know exactly where your money is going each month… and where it’s coming from!
As a business owner, a budget could be what saves your company. Most businesses have seasons of ups and downs, and having a written budget can help you save money during the good days to help get you through the tough ones.
People tend to get overwhelmed when thinking about making a budget, but it doesn’t have to be difficult and there’s no way to get it wrong! This isn’t something that you turn into the IRS, it’s simply a tool to help YOU! (Read more about Fearless Budgeting.)
Here are some practical steps for getting started:
1. Take a look at last year’s numbers.
Go through your income and expenses from last year to see any patterns of gaining/spending. Your bookkeeper should be able to run a simple report for you in order for you to see this.
2. Make predictions based on growth/downsizing.
If you know you will be making/spending more money, take that into account when writing out what you intend to spend/save. Otherwise, keep the numbers close to how you performed last year.
3. Don’t be too hard on yourself.
It takes about 3 months of trial and error on a budget before you get into the swing of things. Ultimately, this is your business–you can spend as much as you want in any area, such as advertising or supplies, because it’s YOUR money. A budget exists to make sure that you are indeed doing what you want to do and not blindly making decisions that could cost you in the long run.
If you don’t have your income/expenses from last year categorized, I would love to help you out with that so you could get started with your budget! And if budgeting still sounds like a nightmare to you, I could take care of that for you as well!
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Blessings,
Valerie Johnston