Ever gotten that feeling of anger and despair when you thought of working out a business budget? Then the odds are good you’ve never looked up the word in a good dictionary to find out what this word really means, and thought about how you can use that to your business’s financial advantage.
Want some really good News? Running your business on a budget does not entail cutting back on the quality of the things you buy or denying your company anything it needs to operate. What it does mean, is that you have to figure out how to make enough money to afford the items your company has to have and to keep your spending within the limits of your income.
There’s more good news! The most valuable asset you have is you and your staff, and your income earning potential. If you want more money to spend, then figure out ways you and your staff can be more productive to bring in more money.
Another definition you need know is this: a BUDGET is the amount of money required for the business to operate, and to attain its financial goals.
Let’s consider the first part of the definition; how much is needed for you and your company to run. Add up all the money you spent in the past year to see how much money went out the door including what you put on credit cards plus interest. Divide the total by 52 weeks, and multiply it by 1.136. The result is what your weekly budget is. That is the amount of income your business has to bring in just to function plus barely keep up with increases in the cost of doing business. That doesn’t include paying compound interest on credit card debt.
More than likely, you have financial goals you also want your company to attain; That’s the second part of the definition. Reaching those goals must get added to your budget as well.
Here is an example: a company owner wants to purchase new office furniture 6 months from now that costs $2,000. They divide the cost of the furniture by the 26 weeks they have before the target purchase date and learn they have to set aside $76.92 every week to have the cash for the furniture. This gets added to the budget, meaning the additional amount of income they have to put into the bank every week.
Most importantly, if you, the company owner, want to attain the goal of financial freedom – working because you WANT TO instead of because you HAVE TO — then the most important part of the budget needs to be the wealth building cash you set aside in a savings plan and never touch.
Figure out how much money you would have to have in savings to live without working. Divide that dollar amount by the number of weeks until the time you would like to be financially free. Figure out how to make that much more income each week, and your budget is on the correct path to achieving financial freedom.
How badly do you want to be a millionaire in 20 years? Figure out a way to increase the company’s income enough to stash away $961.54 a week in savings for the next 1,040 weeks and you have made it to being a millionaire! The additional interest earnings on top of that will be a a nice add on perk that more than keeps up with the rise in the cost of living every year.
Today, with computers in every organization proper budgeting is accomplished much more efficiently than ever before by using the Cash Flow Mojo software, such as shown in this video. This software can work as a companion to your accounting software for really easy day-to-day operation.
Sandra Simmons, President of Money Management Solutions, Inc. specializes in helping business owners create their business budget and manage their company’s cash flow to achieve their financial goals.
BUDGET Is Not A Four Letter Word