Greener Business Bureau

Archive for the ‘Business Budgeting’ Category

Starting a new business can be an exciting and challenging endeavor, and the first step that people recommend is to do extensive market research as well as competitive analysis. This will give you a clearer idea of the business as well as a chance to find out all you can about the business. You have to analyze if you are capable of running the business, have the necessary resources, and also determine if the return on the investment is good.

Competitive Analysis:

This is necessary to study your competition and ensure that you offer better services or products than they do to capture the market when you commence operations. It will help devise a competitive edge to your products or services.

Determine the Services or Products That You Want To Sell:

Extensive market research will give you a better idea of the demand for your product or service. You can design better products or services in such a way as to make your offer irresistible to the customers. Pricing of the services or products you sell also has to be calculated carefully, making sure you are not under-pricing.

Business Plan:

The experts cannot emphasize enough the importance of drafting a business plan. A business plan is a valuable performance assessment tool. A good business plan will include a brief description of the business, its history, and a list of the owners or partners. It will describe the target goals and objectives, the services or products that you are offering, the demand for them, the target market, and the strategies to be adopted. It must include cash flow projections, as cash flow too has to be planned carefully. Many are the businesses that have failed because of insufficient cash flow as well as mismanagement. A good plan will identify areas where improvements are necessary and how to achieve them.

Planning a Loan Proposal:

It will be necessary to plan a loan application to ensure that your loan is granted to finance your start-up. A well-drafted business plan, cash flow projections, bank statements, articles of incorporation or partnership documents, collateral if necessary, and tax returns need to be submitted along with the loan application. You have to convince them you are a low-risk investment for them.

Planning Effective Marketing Strategies:

Advertising and marketing are crucial aspects of a business that have to be planned extremely carefully. Budget your resources carefully and make sure your ads in the newspaper, radio, and other media appear at regular intervals. You can also send out occasional fliers. Make sure your advertisement extols the benefits of using your products or services.

When all these factors are carefully considered, planned and implemented, your business is sure to succeed if under good management. You could make use of the services as well as products that are designed to help new entrepreneurs manage a business successfully.

These are a few things that have to be taken into account while planning a business to ensure its success.

There are quite a few software programs available for the small business owner. Some of the expensive software programs of the past were very large and intended for large business concerns. The small business owner was often overwhelmed by the complexity of them and by the cost. Lately, there have been programs that have been designed for the small business owner. Although most of these business programs are broad based and cover all aspects of the small business, some have become directed at specific elements. Forecasting software has been developed that can evaluate trends and predict upcoming investment opportunities. Another more specific software is budgeting software. This type of software helps to design and flesh out an operating budget and then measures performance in maintenance of the budget.

The budget is an essential element of the business process. It allocates the financial resources of the company according to a preset plan and forecasts cash flow. How well the business adheres to the budget and how quickly it can react to deviation from the budget are often determining factors in the success or failure of the enterprise. Budgeting software that can assist in this becomes a great aid to the small business owner. The following are three of the top budgeting software programs available on the market today that are geared for small business.

Microsoft Forecaster is the first. It works well with a variety of general ledgers and coordinates with other Microsoft small business software to automate and simplify the entire budgeting process. It is considered a very intuitive type program, and the fact that it is so similar in its appearance to other Microsoft programs makes it very easy for the small business owner, and his key people to quickly grasp its operation and to benefit from its features.

Budget Maestro by Centage is the second entry. It has a very sophisticated logic that is built into the program and continually tracks the income statement, balance sheet, and the cash position. It allows manager to see the bottom line impact of plans and combines forecasting software and budgeting software into one easy package.

The third on the list is the Applix Budgeting TM1 program. This software has been designed to work well with Excel spreadsheets. It takes the spreadsheet past the limitations of Excel and is also very much a forecasting software with its “what if” modeling features. There are many good budgeting software programs and another’s Top 3 list might appear different, but the bottom line is that the small business owner has the help he needs for this important business function.

Creating and managing a business budget for any business is the key to a successful business organization. Budgeting is the one of the most effective tool for investing in your business’ future.
A business budget is a overall plan to:

~ manage and control expenses.

~ make certain you have enough funds available for future projects and work.

~ meet objectives.

~ feel confident about financial decisions.

The benefit of planning a proper business plan is the power to manage profits more responsibly and securely. A business budget will also allow the ability to monitor your company’s performance. The business budget is a potent way to discover problems before they come about. Additional benefits include the increase and the motivation of your staff and improve your decision making skills.

Money-saving tips & ideas for business operations:

1. Keep receipts of every expense you pay out. Later that can be ‘written off’ at tax time making your business taxes lower and more manageable. Prepare to pay business taxes ahead of time and hire an professional accountant whenever possible. Accountants know of ‘tricks and secrets’ of the trade when filing taxes, that you may not be aware of, which in the end could save you thousands of dollars in taxes.

2. Set aside a specific amount of money first as a float, in a separate savings account for the business, and then pay the other expenses. Doing this will help you in the future if any emergencies arise. The money will already be there to cover the extra expenses.

3.If your business requires shipping of physical products, choose FedEx shipping. Obtain a business account (generally the most savings come with a business account of FedEx ground services.) This could save you up to 40% on your shipping costs. Also, using an American Express account will save an additional 5% with FedEx.

4. Organize your office properly. Have your unpaid bills in one file cabinet drawer or folder for easy access that you can check randomly for what is owed and when it’s due. Do the same with bills that are paid. Keep the appropriate records from past and present work.

5. Use your available in-house resources. For designing of your company website you can outsource the work (usually free) to a designer from a foreign country and save up to 50% of the costs of the project. The same can apply to letterhead and office stationary, business cards, ect. Or it is possible that some of your family, friends, staff, etc. has vast knowledge of these things and could offer assistance in those areas. Things you can outsource and have a family member or fried do are: web design, graphics, accounting or sales and marketing and the copyrighting of your advertisements. Invest in a good inkjet printer or even a combination printer/fax machine/phone line. Print your own business cards and letterhead on good strong business paper for the printer. In the end this could save you up to 75% of printing costs.

6. Buy your office supplies in bulk and your office furniture, etc., from a discount store. You can save up to 50% just by being careful where you shop.

7. Follow your business budget. By doing this you will become better adjusted to ‘knowing’ the amount of certain expenses and you will be aware of how much you can afford to pay out for other things, etc.

8. Back up all of your records. Make double copies of all of your files and keep them in a secure place. If on the computer, back up everything in an external harddrive, cd or dvd separately from the original.

By following these easy steps towards balancing your business budget, you’ll be a good step ahead towards your business success.

If you are manager in an organisation, chances are that one of your key responsibilities is to manage a budget. Non-financial managers often believe that managing a budget is difficult. The reality is that just about any manager in any discipline can become a brilliant budget manager. So how do you do it?

1. Be actively involved in the budget setting process

When I worked in accounting, it never ceased to amaze me when managers, whose performance was being assessed on a number of areas, including budget management, were reluctant to get involved in the budget setting process.

Cancelling meetings with the accountants was all too common and some were even more reluctant to re-schedule. If you don’t get involved, assumptions have to be made, probably by people who know a lot less about your function than you do. What would you rather be measured on. Something that you were involved in or something imposed?

2. Know your income and expenditure drivers

If you are managing a budget it is vital that you understand those things that you do operationally that contribute most to the levels of:

o Income generated
o Costs or expenditure incurred

On the cost side, a decision to hire someone or give someone a pay rise will impact on expenditure. What are the big drivers of income generation and costs incurred in your function?

3. Think about how your decisions impact on your budget

Every time you take a decision it impacts on your budget. It might be replacing furniture or getting some temporary resource or even a major purchase of equipment. If you are someone who looks at decision in terms of both the operational and financial impact, you will be in the top tier of budget managers.

4. Monitor performance and act at the earliest opportunity

Most businesses have some form of monthly budget report (more frequently in some organisations). You need to be carefully tracking your actual performance against the planned performance. In those cases when actual performance is not at the planned level, take action to do something about it at the earliest opportunity. It is much easier to deal with challenges when they are small.

5. Work with your accountant

Contrary to what most people think, the majority of accountants love to be involved in the business rather than just crunching numbers. Your accountant or finance manager is in effect a business partner or advisor who can help you with the financial challenges. Make a point of meeting with them on a regular basis and keep them up to date what is going on in your area of the business. It is even better if you invite them to management meetings.

Bottom Line- All managers have the potential to be brilliant budget managers. Those who can show that they are strong in this area will have greater opportunity to progress in their career. So what steps will you take to become a brilliant budget manager?

It is a common misconception that advertising your small business will cost an enormous amount of money. The cost deters a lot of small home-based businesses from advertising. This leads to slower growth, as not many customers are aware of the enterprise. Keep a small budget and spend it wisely on some low-cost advertising methods.

Low cost advertising:

o Word of mouth – A good product and a happy customer is your best bet for informing others of your business and contact number.

o Business cards – Get some attractive business cards made. Hand them to people when networking on any occasion, socially or professionally.

o Press releases – Send in an interesting, informative and inspiring business story to local publications, aiming at their core readership. Many business editors will be happy to run it. Cultivate friendship with local press reporters. Add your contact details at the end of an informative article on your small business, for reporters or other people to get in touch with you.

o Non-prime time radio/TV ads – Check your local radio or television rates for non-primetime hours. Run your advertisement in those hours to catch public interest.

Effective marketing on a shoestring budget:

Expand your client base and spread word of your services by resorting to some cheap but effective marketing tactics.

o Talk to your clients. Talk to existing customers and assess their perceptions. Invite a few clients for a phone interview to make them aware of your business, its aim, product/service, value of the work, and its importance. Compile the information to discover trends and themes. Rectify any changes; send the compiled information along with a thank-you note to participating customers. This will help in making your business at par with customers’ needs in the initial stages.

o Creatively packaged marketing – Pay attention to details and make imaginative marketing campaigns to have more impact.

o Publicity – Do your own PR to spark public interest. Create a news page on your website and add your marketing kit to send to clients. Send information interestingly in your newsletter.

o Leverage existing relationships – Build relationships and always be on the lookout for improving networking as a valuable marketing tool. Create credibility and trust in your product for people to refer to your business.

o E-mail marketing – It is a very flexible, easy, high-impact and cost-effective marketing medium. Develop appropriate messages reflecting your brand by using information to catch the eye quickly for response. List your company URL on business and personal checks.

o All company material – List your URL on letterheads, business cards, notes, brochures, and newsletters of your company.

o Yellow pages – Mention your business along with URL in Yellow pages.

o Sponsor contests – Your chance to build good will and name recognition by funding local school or college events.

Use various means to advertise your business locally on a shoestring budget to reach out to prospective clients. Keep in touch with your local chamber of commerce to reach out to more people. Distribute freebies to target audience to build your small business.

When building your 5Linx business, there’s a few things you need. And one of them is leads. You need a lot of leads. You’ve already been trying to generate leads by talking to your relatives, friends, people at the store about your services and business opportunity.

Well, what I’m going to share are easier ways for you to generate leads. And marketing tips that will show you how to build your 5Linx business fast, even if you’re on a budget.

5Linx Marketing Tips #1: Without doubt, the internet is a great business growth tool for network marketers. A good way to use the internet to grow your 5Linx business is by using video marketing (example: YouTube.com). It’s simple to set up. And free to use. Not only that, but it’ll help you generate hundreds of leads (or people who’ll probably be interested in what you have to offer).

I’ll explain how video marketing works. Remember seeing the “top guys/gals” in you company giving a presentation or doing some kind of business training, and remember how it felt. Well, when people see your videos, the same thing will happen to you. You’ll be attracting dozens of people into your 5Linx business.

When setting up your video, you can talk about your service and how it’ll help people. You can also mention how they can save money on the phone bill. Be sure to include your phone number or email address. That way, you’ll only be talking with people who are interested in joining you in your 5Linx business.

5Linx Marketing Tips #2: Another cool way to build your 5Linx business fast, even if you’re on a budget is by using blogs. You can grab a free blog at blogger.com. Using blogs will also help you generate a lot of leads. And only people who are interested in your services and business will call or email you asking about your service and business opportunity.

When you set up your blog, you can talk about a few things. One of which should be how your services can help people save money. You can talk about how it’s helped you, your upline, or someone you know. You can also mention 5Linx business opportunity. Don’t forget to include your phone number or email address.

This will have you adding dozens of people a week into your 5Linx business. You’ll be able to help people, while growing your team. This is what being in business is all about.

5Linx Marketing Tips #3: After using these internet tools to grow your 5Linx business, you should teach your downline these same techniques. This will make it easy to train them. And they’ll be able to add people into their downline the very first week they sign up. This will make growing your business simple and fun. And your downline will be glad they joined you.

Use these tools and techniques to grow your 5Linx business fast, even if you’re on a budget. These marketing tips will have you attracting the right people into your downline. And have you growing your business, starting today.

This article can be freely published on a website as long as it is not modified in any way including the author bylines and active hyperlinks.