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How to Create and Control Your Business Budget

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By Kayla Matthews

Striking out with your first startup? Been in business for a few years but still stumped by budgeting? You’re not alone. Budgeting doesn’t come naturally to many business owners, but you can develop the skills needed to create and manage your business budget.

Many scenarios require a business budget to ensure company success and direction. Matching business expenses, both anticipated and real, to revenue helps you determine if you possess enough money to put into operations, expansion and income generation, among other needs. New startups should research their market to replace a history of financial reporting while being realistic about their goals and ambitions. Businesses will use their budget to direct company growth toward income, profit and spending over the future months and years.

Without a budget plan in place, businesses risk going into debt or not spending enough of their financial resources to grow a business to compete in the market.

Starting and Maintaining Your Business Budget

Think of your company budget as a roadmap for your business. A business plan outlines directions and goals, but your budget also informs the end goals of your company. Here are five ways to create and control your business budget:

1. Make a List and Check It Twice

Base your budget off of realistic profit you desire to produce in the coming year. Don’t fret over accuracy too much because budgets focus on realistic forecasts and forward-thinking. Start with a list and build your budget from there.

Pull out your most recent business financial statements. Look at the current profit brought in since it drives other estimates for capital expenditures, expenses and costs. Consider outside factors such as the loss of a major client or a downturn in the economy in your estimates. Don’t forget your operating costs: rent, utilities, research, insurance, taxes and travel. As you would in a personal budget, create an emergency business fund or plan to seek out a loan should the need arise.

2. Don’t Be Afraid to Shop Around

Staying on top of your long-term success means continually looking for what’s best for your company and its budget. Why waste money on suppliers that deliver little but issue a hefty invoice every month? Why continue to use lead generation tools that fail to produce results?

Don’t be afraid to shop around for the tools, suppliers and services that best accommodate your company and its success. You may even consider seeking outside capital to grow your business in order to expand your resources using external finances. No matter where you invest, it’s important you get the most out of your money without wasting it.

3. Make a Budget Spreadsheet

Spreadsheets feel intimidating but remain the classic business budget tool for a reason. When opening or operating a business, use a spreadsheet to calculate estimates regarding revenue percentage and total amounts you’ll need to direct to raw materials and other resources. Do the same with your taxes, insurance and operating costs, for example.

Templates will help you plug in the right information to make conservative estimates, and you should pull out your budget spreadsheet every month for review. You’ll track business outcomes against the estimates as you move along in the following months to monitor whether your business is profitable and achieving goals.

4. Show Restraint, Not Rigidity

It’s better to go under budget than over budget in most opinions. Conduct restraint in your budget over rigidity. Going too under repeatedly sets up your business for stagnancy. Invest in new technology or other resources that will help grow your business.

When you go over budget, review areas to cut costs. Focus reduction strategies first on analyzing profit margins on services and products offered. Direct investments primarily in your most profitable services and products. You don’t need to cut positions needlessly, either. Implement a telecommute plan or reduce the workweek for applicable positions to conserve costs and keep employees. Stay on top of tracking your business expenses.

5. There’s an App for That

When it comes to managing expenses, there’s an app for that, too. Many aspects of conducting business are now automated, and budgeting is no exception.

Many budgeting apps focus on various areas of spending, from clocking hours for employees to allowing receipts to be scanned for tax purposes or reimbursement. Examples of helpful apps include LearnVest (tracking goals), DollarBird (includes past and present income) and Level Money (subtracts reoccurring expenses to show what’s left to spend). For those getting started, apps help business owners separate their personal and business lives.

Budgeting feels intimidating for many business owners. To build and maintain an effective budget, companies must see budgeting as a roadmap to future success with forecasts to weather the sunny and stormy business days.

Stay realistic, but don’t be too rigid with your budget. The ultimate goal of your budget is to keep your business running with an eye to the future for competition and growth.

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

Featured image: Photo by Fabian Blank on Unsplash

What Makes Your Business Stand Out from the Rest?

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As you take a moment to reflect on the success of your business, what has made it achieve greatness up to this point?

Some business owners will state that it is the employees that make the company tick.

Others will also point out that they could not be doing this well if not for a great marketing plan being in place.

Still others would highlight they learned from their mistakes. As such, they improved business operations over time.

No matter what makes your business stand out from the rest, always strive to make your company better.

Remember, standing still can be a recipe for disaster.

Does Your Workplace Run as Smooth as It Can?

In having a smooth running workplace to stand out from others, remember the following:

  1. Employees – Hiring top-of-the-line employees gives you a competitive advantage over your competitors. That said there may be times when employee issues come to the surface (see more below). If they do, will you handle them the best way possible? In having the best human resources solutions, you can more times than not avert problems. With that in mind, be sure when hiring anyone that they know full well what you expect of them. You don’t want a workplace where rules are not followed and mayhem is the order of the day.
  2. Meetings – Yes, there are employees and even bosses who dread regular company meetings. The same is true for one-on-one meetings between an employee and his or her supervisor. Even with that in mind, meetings are productive on several fronts. They allow you and your team to chart a business course each week. You can also hash out any issues that are within the framework of everyone can know about the situation. For example, one or more clients are being difficult when it comes to renewing contracts with you. By sitting down as a team, your employees share ideas on how best to keep those clients on-board for the future. Among those issues to deal with on a more personal level would be some workers not getting along with one another.
  3. Personalities – While you are not running a dating service, you do expect your co-workers to at least be cordial with one another. Running a company also means being a part-time psychologist. Doing your best to know office personalities and which ones need a little more attention is key. With human resources consultants along for the ride, you are better set to receive H.R. advice to take to the bank. Such consultants can also remind you how to go about staying within the framework of your legal responsibilities in running a business.
  4. Goals – Last; always be thinking about what tomorrow may bring. One of your goals as a business owner is to have a plan in place not only for today, but also tomorrow and beyond. If you end up becoming complacent, it can backfire on you. In fact, it could one day lead to your business closing its doors. Always keep an eye on what competitors are doing and how you can surpass them.

In having your brand at the top of the heap, strive hard to be the most resourceful business owner possible.

Photo credit: Pixibay

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.

 

 

Traits of a Great Founder – Being Your Own Brand Evangelist

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By Tim Brown

One of the most important traits of a great founder is learning how to be a brand evangelist. Not only is this vital when you are growing a new business and trying to attract customers, but it’s also crucial once you start looking for funding or liquidity events with investors.

At all points throughout your business journey, you will need to ignore the naysayers and continue to trump the benefits of your company which is why you must be an evangelist. If not, you will struggle to attract new customers, the talent for your workforce or investors to fund your dreams.

What is a Brand Evangelist?

An evangelist is somebody who believes in everything that your company stands for and who is willing to dedicate their time to helping your mission without any personal gain. Therefore, by being your brand evangelist, you should be vividly telling everybody possible about your business and trying to further your progress.

How to Be a Brand Evangelist

The first step in being a brand evangelist is dedicating yourself to sales and marketing. You don’t have to be engaging in minuscule campaigns actively, but you should be focussing your time on figuring out how to further your reach through sales and marketing.

Most of the great founders of our time have been extremely involved in marketing, and that’s what’s allowed them to succeed. In many cases, the sole reason why customers choose to buy from the brand was that they believed in the evangelist and their mission.

Creating Something Truly Brilliant

However, if you’re going to learn how to be a brand evangelist, then you must entirely buy into your own business and your mission. But to do this, you must create something that is truly brilliant because it’s impossible to buy into something entirely if it’s low quality.

After all, there’s only so much you can do to convince people to follow you if you’re leading them in a terrible direction. Instead, part of being a brand evangelist is being exceedingly obsessed with the quality of your products and services, so that you create something beautiful so that it’s easy to be an evangelist.

Telling a Great Story

Thirdly, you must learn how to tell a great story, the same way that the mystical Steve Jobs did. Perhaps his best skill was his ability to tell a compelling story that made people attached to Apple, making them want to join in with his mission which was far greater than just his company.

As a business founder, you will have to convince everybody that you meet to join your mission and the only way that you can achieve this is by learning to story tell.

In most cases, the best way for a small business to tell a story is by identifying a mission that is far greater than just the reach of a company. Steve Jobs did this with Apple; he would often talk about bringing fantastic design and software to the world, he wasn’t only interested in growing his sales revenue.

Then, you must learn the basics of public speaking so that you can craft your story and tell it in an efficient and compelling way that keeps people enthralled and amplifies its effect. Most likely your business idea isn’t that exciting to most people, but that’s only because of the way that you are telling it and the direction in which it is spun.

Building Your Audience

Unless you are already famous, then it’s vital that you build up your audience so that once you know how to be a brand evangelist it has an impact on others. You could tell everybody around you about your company, but if that’s only ten people, the effect will be tiny.

In this day and age, there is no excuse to have a reach less than a thousand people. Networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram make it easy to build a following, people who will listen to you and who in-turn could become brand evangelists of their own.

Why Must a Great Founder Be an Evangelist?

It’s easy to hire salespeople, and it’s often not difficult to find competent CMO either, so, why is it vital that a great founder must be an evangelist? Primarily, all organizations take the lead from the person at the top and if you as a founder aren’t energetically and passionately telling every person about your company, nobody else will, and you won’t attract the right customers, employees or investors.

Being an evangelist is critical in the early stage of your company when you have little to no capital and must convince people to take the risk of joining your rocket ship. This statement includes customers who will often have a more established alternative and who are taking a chance by purchasing from you instead.

Every step in the right direction will be difficult, you will have to force people to do everything, and unless you are an inspiring evangelist, this will never change. If you look at Steve Jobs, the greatest brand evangelist of all time, people chose to move across the world to work for him, they paid more for his products and investors fell over themselves to join in.

Why? He told a compelling story about an incredible story to his growing audience that got them excited about his mission and the vision that they could be a part of.

About the Author: Tim Brown is the owner of Hook Agency- Web Design Minneapolis, and is a web designer and SEO Specialist out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tweet him at @hookagency

Featured image: Photo by Marcos Luiz Photograph on Unsplash

Are You Hiring the Right People for the Job?

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Making sure you have the right people in place in your office may not seem as easy as you think.

First, you never know when hiring someone if their personality is going to be a good mix for your workplace.

Sure, someone may have a stellar resume and come across great during the interview. That said what happens when they end up working with dozens or more of your staff on a daily basis? Can you guarantee that harmony is going to follow suit?
In hiring and retaining your workers, you want to do all you can to make things fit the first time around.

So, are you hiring the right people for the job?

Put Different Resources to Work

So that you have improved odds of getting the right people more times than not, remember a few pointers:

  • Resources – Having good human resources consulting can help you hire the right folks. For example, are you following all the necessary human resources procedures? It only takes one slip-up to put your company in jeopardy of a lawsuit. By working with an H.R. expert or experts, you lessen the chances of making gaffes that can prove costly.
  • Interviews – Some companies use phone interviews before an actual face-to-face interview. Does that sound like your company? Those phones interviews can help weed out some candidates that are likely not a good fit for your office. With face-to-face interviews, not only listen to what candidates say, but watch them. Do they seem comfortable talking to you or your staff? Is their personality one that would at least now appear to be a good fit for your workplace? Are they anxious to be a team player and contribute from day one if hired? Watching and listening are two of the most important aspects of any interview.
  • Goals – What goals do you have in mind when it comes to hiring more employees? Some companies hire due to the fact they have a manpower shortage. Others will hire to fill an important chair at the company. Know ahead of time why you need to add one or more individuals to your payroll. Doing so will give you more clarity and improved chances of avoiding a revolving door.

Knowing When It is Time to Pull the Plug on a Worker

Knowing when and then having to fire someone is something most company heads do not enjoy. That said it is all but unavoidable in running a company.

To make the matter clearer on you and your team, look for these signs to know when it is time to pull the plug on a worker:

  • Employee is not doing the job expected of them
  • Employee is late for work on regular basis or abuses breaks
  • Employee does not get along with others in the office
  • Employee speaks badly about the company and even its customers

Although training new folks is costly and time-consuming, you do not want to keep someone around who is a bad fit.

In taking time to see if you are hiring the right people for the job, make sure your human resource person or team is quite involved.

Photo credit: Pixabay

About the Author: Dave Thomas writes about business topics on the web.

 

 

 

Should You Grow Your Solo Business? 5 Things to Consider

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By Kayla Matthews 

When looking ahead to 2018, solo entrepreneurs may wonder if they should take the next steps to grow their business. Alternatively, they can stay where they are for now.

Several aspects should dictate the final decision, including these five important considerations.

1. More Fiscal Responsibility

As business continues to grow, there are more financial figures and data to analyze. Whereas a small business’ finances can undergo analysis mostly in-house, businesses that start to eclipse sales in the $5 million range find that keeping track of finances gets more difficult, requiring the use of an accountant —or several.

Well beyond tax time, growing businesses may need to hire accountants and financial professionals to ensure that growth and maximized profits are continuing. Solo entrepreneurs likely lack the financial experience at a certain point to confidently manage finances and resources for a larger business.

2. Good Hiring Is Vital

As a small business grows, gauging the performance of individual employees becomes a more difficult task. The number of employees will grow alongside the growing responsibilities of a budding business, making the hiring process more important than ever. As a business leader making the transition to a larger business, the increasing responsibility on your plate makes monitoring the effectiveness of every employee unrealistic.

As a result, it’s more important than ever to hire quality employees who work together and keep each other in check. Further, if you hire trustworthy managers who can monitor employee performance, you can have a solid structure in place without sacrificing too much of your own time. The people you hire defines the culture of a company. As a company grows and more employees become involved, hiring the right people is vital to success.

3. Customer Service Concerns

A growing business also means more customers. An increase in customers can translate to an increase in profits, but also an increase in demand for customer service. An increase in sales ramps up all aspects of production, which for a newly growing business can translate to certain products and services being subpar for consumers. Customer service is important for addressing customer dissatisfaction, with poor customer service resulting in a lack of growth.

A growing business will find that an uptick in resources and budget for customer service is necessary to curtail the imminent growing pains they will experience.

4. Moving Your Office

Moving locations is common for a new business, with one in five small businesses reporting they plan on moving to a new office space in 2017. Especially when moving from a home office to a commercial building, there are costs involving general liability insurance and commercial property insurance that the budget should regard.

Also, moving to a new location that’s far away from the current location can result in some employees departing or requesting additional compensation. Moving is a part of a growing business, though you should prepare for its fiscal and employee-based impact.

5. Use Data, Market Analysis and Economic Analysis

Growing businesses tend to overvalue their sales when evaluating whether to take the next step in growth. Although great sales numbers are certainly a positive, you should evaluate your industry and niche as a whole before deciding to take the next step.

Specifically, it’s important to evaluate market studies, economic analysis and other factors beyond your control that can dictate whether or not growth at present makes sense. Growing a business is one thing, though growing a business alongside a growing industry is another.

It may very well be time to grow your solo business, taking the next step by expanding your staff and resources.

It’s also possible that substantial growth would be better planned in another year or two.

You should consider the five aspects above when deciding whether to take the next step.

Have you grown your business? What else would you consider important?

 

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

Photo by Daniel Hjalmarsson on Unsplash

Hiring Freelancers? Here’s How to Find the Right Ones

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By Kayla Matthews

If you’re a growing business, you can easily find yourself with more work than your team can handle.

While busy times may come and go, biting off more than you can chew can cause your work to suffer. If your team becomes overwhelmed, they could rush projects or make mistakes.

Outsourcing some of your work is a great way to take some of the pressure off your team without having to stunt the growth of your business. However, if you’re hiring freelancers, you want to make sure you’re working with the right individuals.

As a representation of your company and brand, you need to be sure you’re working with experts and professionals.

If you’re about to hire some freelancers, here are a few tips you should follow to ensure you’re only working with the best of the best.

1. Use Your Network

As a business owner, you’re probably in contact with at least a few other entrepreneurs in your space or area. When looking for a high-quality freelancer, your best bet in finding someone who will fit your needs and provide you with excellent service is to get a referral.

Ask around to see if anyone knows of freelancers in the area. Getting the stamp of approval from a trusted friend, family member or business connection can reduce some of the risk you take when hiring freelancers.

2. Check Your Expectations

One of the biggest struggles of working with freelancers is determining a rate you’re both happy with. As a small business, you may be a bit strapped for cash. However, when it comes to freelancing, you’re going to get what you pay for. Keep in mind that you’re saving money on payroll fees, healthcare and other costs that explain why many small organizations can’t afford to hire new team members.

Finding the right freelancer for your budget and needs will depend on your expectations. If you’re approaching freelancers with unrealistic expectations for the amount you’re willing to spend, you’re going to struggle to find someone you’re happy with. Instead, check your expectations to ensure you’re on the right path.

3. Know Your Needs

While you may know you need someone to take a project off your hands, you need to understand what expertise is needed to get that task completed. If you don’t know what you’re looking for in a freelance writer, you’re going to struggle to find someone who can get the job done.

Before reaching out to any potential freelancers, make a list of the skills you need to have in the freelancer you hire. Having this list of requirements will make it easier for you to know who’s right and wrong for you when you start interviewing.

4. Post a Gig Description

While you can turn to many gig websites to find freelancers, you’ll typically find the best quality workers through submitting a gig description of your own. However, you must craft your job description to ensure you’re only attracting qualified individuals.

Just as you would with a traditional job description, you need to make it clear what you’re looking for and what expectations you have. If you have any requirements for your freelancers, make them known in the description to weed out individuals who may not fit your needs.

5. Provide Clear Communication

When you’re talking with potential freelancers, communication is essential. Both you and the people you’re talking with need to understand what you’re looking for in this partnership. With the right communication, you can build a healthy relationship with your external worker.

Clearly explain what you’re looking for and what direction you hope the relationship goes. Whether you’re looking for a one-off project or someone you can keep on retainer, you need to ensure both you and your potential freelancers are looking for the same level of commitment. Clear communication can ensure this happens.

Hiring freelancers can be a great way to take some stress off your hands. However, if you hire the wrong external team, you may end up with even more stress than you thought.

You’ll save time and headaches by going through the appropriate processes to ensure you’re working with a high-quality individual.

Follow these five tips the next time you’re looking to hire a freelance team to make sure they complete your projects promptly and to your satisfaction.

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

 

Featured image by rawpixel.com on Unsplash